Cold turkey or ease into it slowly?

[bsnyder]

If your bedtime and getting up times for your kids change during the summer months, how do you handle the transition back to school?

Do you start easing back into getting them up early, a few weeks before the first day.

Or do you enjoy every last minute without a schedule, and go cold turkey on the first day of school!

[snoopy]

Cold Turkey.

I think I am seriously going to regret that decision with my night owl child. :rolleyes:

[Lars624]

We just had this conversation yesterday. I told my kids that starting on Monday we were gonna start adjusting bedtime to get prepared for school.

[dizneenut]

We start easing back into it slowly

[WilmaBud]

I always mean to do it slowly, but I'm never that successful. So it usually ends up being pretty cold turkey. It's my fault, though, I'm just not conscientious enogh about getting my kids to bed early. They are a couple of night owls, though, so that doesn't help!

[bsnyder]

WilmaBud, that's what happens to me too! I always have the BEST intentions, though! ;)

[bumcat]

We start 3 days before school starts but my 8 yr old will still lay awake for hours!! just doesn't work but we try.

[nativetxn]

My mother always dampened our last few weeks of summer by making us go to bed early. I always let my ds go cold turkey. He handled it well.

It was my mother's announcements that we had to go early because school was starting soon that was the dampening part :)

[Serena]

I usually do it almost cold turkey, with maybe a couple days adjustment. For example I make sure they don't sleep in two days before the first school day, and I make sure we aren't staying up extra late either.

[Cindy B]

We;ve cut back, but this plan will backfire on us.. we will be in Florida until two days before school starts...

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

[The Mystery Machine]

Already easing my 11yodd into going to bed early (9-10pm) this week, we were letting them stay up till midnight, sometimes 2am.

I am not letting her sleep past 8am this week. Next week I will get her up at 7am. The week after that I will be getting her up at the time she needs to for school, 6am...ugh. The week after that will be school!!! YEA

[Michelle]

We take a trip to the East (WDW, of course!) right before school starts and that naturally makes my DD go to bed earlier once we return, she is still on East coast time.

Works like a charm. ;)

Before we did that, we did the easing method, way too stressful to do the cold turkey thing for us.

[Pooh93]

I am trying to back up oldest dd's bed time now. During school year she goes to bed at 8:00. Summer has stretched it out til about 8:45. I'm now trying to get her in bed no later than 8:00-8:10, but am finding she is still lying there awake until about 8:35-8:45. So, even though I'm trying, it may end up being cold turkey!:D I am taking vacation that week, so I can get the routine going again in the morning. It will be interesting.

[Lars624]

It's difficult to get them to fall asleep when it's still light outside.

[SDAngel101]

I allways go cold turkey. For some reason it allways works easier for me.

[Mary Jo]

<font color=navy>I usually have them go to bed a little earlier that weekend before school starts. It's easier w/ds, as he will go to bed earlier on his own to get his rest. My dd, on the other hand, is a true night owl.

[nsyncraider17]

I always say I'm going to ease into it, but never actually do that.:rolleyes: I want to cherish every opportunity I have to sleep! And I don't think it would help if I did ease into it, because I can never sleep the night before school starts anyway.

[Boots]

My children are grown now but we always ended up doing it cold turkey!

[Lola]

We usually go to WDW during the third or so week of August, and by the time school starts in the beginning of September, we're ready for it .. After having gotten up early every day in Florida to start our busy days :)