Bedtime for a 5 year old?

[ChiTownZee]

What time do your children around the age of 5 go to bed? Our DD is such a night owl! Even when she is in bed with the lights out, she STILL doesn't fall asleep until almost 11, EASY. It makes the morning hard, (she has to get up around 7:30) and then she's very tired at school after lunch and takes a nap (about 45 min. power nap) during school. I don't know about how to go about getting her to sleep earlier. Another problem we have is sometimes DH works late and doesn't get home until 9-10 or so and when she hears him she wants to get up and see him and I have a hard time saying no to that because she hasn't seen her dad all day (and the time she has with him is limited anyway because he's currently working a LOT of hours)
I'm clueless as to what to do about this.

 

[Kissimmee JP]

Discontinue the nap....trust me. We did that with our 6 yo and 3 yo and now they're in bed ASLEEP by 8:30.

It'll be rough at first (on her and you), but well worth it...your kid's teacher will thank you.

 

[debster812]

I second losing the nap. Maybe wait til summer vacation to try it though. I know my son will still be getting up to go to Day Care, but it will be a lot less structured, and easier. I have found if DS even catnaps for 20 minutes anytime after 2pm, we are HOSED as far as bedtime goes. If you drop the nap, then you just do the "trying to get the baby to sleep through the night, in reverse" Instead of pushing up the time, start pushing it back.

Good Luck!

 

[ltldeb]

Up until a couple of years ago, our DD(11) went to bed at 8pm. She has done that since she was born. I agree with Kissimmee JP about discontinuing the nap. It'll do a world of good.

 

[mrsmom]

Three of my four kids go to bed at 8:30.they are 5, 10 and 9. they get up for school at 7:00am ,
I say too get rid of the afternoon nap and your'll see a big difference.
Mrsmom

 

[jel0511]

I agree with discontinuing the nap. DD 5 goes to bed around 8:30 every night. There are times wneh she's had a rough day at school and basically collapses around 4:00 pm. If she does, I'm toast!!! She won't go to sleep until after 10:00 then!!!! Which then means she doesn't get her sleep for the next day, and she wants another nap. I usually try to stop the nap the next day, so she's not up all night again!!!

 

[Wendy]

Yep, gotta agree with everyone else. Lose the nap. My 5 year old goes to bed at 8:00 PM every night and wakes up at 6:30 AM for school. If he happens to fall asleep during the day, even for 15 minutes, he won't go to sleep at night until at least 10:00 PM. As long as he doesn't sleep during the day though, he has very consistent sleep patterns.

 

[cgcw]

We went through this with our DS3. If he napped, he'd easily be up until 11-12. DH and I would dread it and have to take turns staying up to keep an eye on him. So, even though he's young, we took away the nap. Has been working wonders. He still has a lot of energy and some nights will last until 9. But, most nights, he's out by about 7:30. It cuts into family time but I know as he gets a bit older he will start staying up a little later. The bad side of no nap is if we have to go some place later in the day -- then we have to make sure he doesn't fall asleep in the car.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have to agree with everyone else. If my 6yo dd takes even a cat nap she can't fall asleep until 10pm. Otherwise she is in bed by 8:30pm.
She is much happier being well rested throughout the day.
Good Luck

 

[Kissimmee JP]

Originally posted by cgcw
The bad side of no nap is if we have to go some place later in the day -- then we have to make sure he doesn't fall asleep in the car.

Now that I read this, maybe the solution is putting a car seat in her bed.

 

[jennz]

This is a tough one, we're struggling with it right now too, although DD is not a night owl like yours! Her bedtime is 8 - 8:30 and she gets up between 6:30 and 7:00. If she doesn't nap she still doesn't get to bed any earlier. Like you mentioned, that's her only time with Dad and they both drag their feet. I've given up on it. I do however still make her nap when she seems tired, she naps on weekends with her dad, and it doesn't affect her nighttime sleep. Whatever time she goes to bed, she usually spends about 1/2 hour "writing" in her journal iwth a flashlight.

What seems to be the toughest for you right now...you don't have control of the nap do you? It sounded from your post that she sleeps during nap/rest time at school.

A friend's doctor had her give her daughter Benadryl at night for a few nights to change her sleep pattern - that really helped her! We were just talking about that today.

Good luck! I know this is frustrating.

 

[snoopy]

My almost 5 year old has never been a problem going to sleep. He falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow at 8:30. He's up early every morning though, he's like me in that he is an early bird.

The oldest child is another story. Naps or no naps, the kid has never in his life fell asleep before 10 pm. He's 8 now, but when he was younger I tried everything - taking away the naps, decreasing his bedtime by 5 minutes every night, turning out the lights and insisting he stay in bed - you name it, I did it. I have finally given into the fact that his body is just that of a night owl. He goes to his room at 8:30, but he knows its fine to do something quietly in his room (read, draw, no TV in his room though) and usually goes to sleep at 10.

 

[Cthia]

Snoopy, my DD is the same way. I was starting to get jealous of all the parents whose kids were going to bed at 8:30. My DD who is 8 does not go to sleep until 9:30-10:00 and gets up at 6:30. I did the no naps when she was younger but she just did not require that many hours of sleep.