Let's talk bedtimes

[moredisneyplease]

WOW! Late bed times by my terms! My 3 year old and 8 month old both go to bed between 6:30 and 7pm. Both are up around 7am in the morning. We dont really have to worry about school schedule yet so i never wake them up.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

OP ... thanks ... bed times have been much on my mind lately.

It's nice to see the range .... makes me feel better. We are ALL night people in my family. Plus with jobs AND show horses, getting inside and in bed before 10 or 10:30 in the summer was nothing short of a miracle. Getting adjusted to the new school year is hard. We're taking things on a "let's see" basis ...especially w/ a first-grader doing the all-day thing for the first time.

DH wants to put the girls to bed at the same time. Think that's just because it's easier for him. Now that they are 6 & 9, I no longer think identical bedtimes are realistic. Trying to give the 9 yr. old a little more flexibility and responsiblity for her own actions.

So ... for this first week we're trying....
Wake up for both - 7:15 a.m.

Bed Time
6 yr. old ... start process around 8 w/ goal of rituals, reading, etc., done & her asleep by 8:45-ish. (Missed it tonight) Shooting for 10 - 10 1/2 hours of sleep

9 yr old .... nightly rituals done by 8:30-ish so she can read in her room until about 9:15 to 9:30. Problem w/ her is getting her to STOP reading. We can turn off lights & think she's heading off to sleep.... only to find her reading again.

So far, schedule is working but we're watching. It's only the first week and first grader was more tired this evening. May adjust a little more to try to have her asleep closer to 8:30. But, she's our poor sleeper. Getting her down is a struggle. And, she'll be up any way during the night. You can guarantee I'll find her in her sister's bed by morning.

Was wondering if I could find a sight for "recommended" hours of sleep. Haven't looked.

I appreciate seeing this topic here.... thanks!

 

[4forMe]

My kids are 9, 7, 7, and 5. We have the same bedtime throughout the year which is 8:30 p.m. There are occasional exceptions such as allowing an extra hour to watch the Olympics. They all wake up like clockwork by 6:30 a.m. regardless of the time they went to bed the night before. On nights they've been up much later, they are VERY crabby by the middle of the next day; thus, the need for our agreed upon bedtime.

Was wondering if I could find a sight for "recommended" hours of sleep. Haven't looked.

This link should help: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2419131/k.6C23/How_Much_Sleep_is_Enough.htm

 

[CruisinEars]

My kids are 7 and 10 and go to bed on school nights at 9 and weekends between 9:30 and 10. Once school starts (next week) they will need to be up by 7 so they can shower and get ready for school with a leave time at 8 am and school start time at 8:45. They go to private school a 20 minute drive away and I need to be at work by 8:35 or so. My youngest is the night owl and hates to go to bed so she is the biggest challenge.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

This link should help: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2419131/k.6C23/How_Much_Sleep_is_Enough.htm

Thanks for the link. Makes me feel much more at ease... seeing a "range" of enough sleep for my kids' ages. For ages 5-12 it says 9 to 11. My kids usually range from 9.5 - 10.5 so I feel better knowing we're "officially" close. Our girls are different ... 1 sleeps like me (has difficulty falling asleep & wakes up easily) and 1 sleeps like dh (out by the time head hits the pillow & sleeps the sleep of the dead). It's hard to treat them the same. Bottom line, we'll see how they do this week & adjust as needed. We'll never be the kind of parents to do "early" bedtimes. We're night people. The first time my kids got up before 7:15 would make for a later bed time for sure!

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

DD is 6, first grade, and goes to bed at the same time all year. 7:30, need to get ready (brush teeth, pj's, read a book, turn on nightlights so forth) be in bed by 8. We let her watch tv in bed until 8:30. She usually falls asleep before 8:30 and we just turn it off.
It is a rare treat in our house to stay up past bedtime. DH and I enjoy our "alone" time too much. =)

I liked the previous posters web link. (Thank you) DH always razzes me b/c I need 9 hours of sleep to feel rested..but I will have to print this out to prove that it is normal for an adult to need that much sleep!! lol

 

[tonilea]

Bed time is around 10pm for DS (4). DH works nights so we stay up late and (hopefully) sleep late. Sadly naps went the way of the DoDo bird this time last year.

 

[Goofy'slady]

I'm glad to see so many ranges in regards to kids bedtimes. I think for us switching our DD from 9pm to 9:30 is going to be a big help this year. Due to the load of homework schools are now giving 5th graders she won't feel rushed to complete her homework before DH and I pick her and her baby sister up from my mom's after work. She'll know that if all of her homework isn't complete when we get to my mom's that she'll have a little bit of time before dinner to finish it, eat dinner, shower and have some unwinding time before going to bed.

Thanks so much for all of your responses.

T.

 

[mama2twins]

My boys are 4 and are in bed around 7pm. I'm enjoying my nights while I still can! They wake between 6:30 - 7:00 am and they don't nap during the day. They're exhausted by 7pm and ask to go to bed then, even if we have planned to keep them up for a special occasion.

 

[Louisianafive]

My DD's , 9 &7, have a 7:30 bedtime. However, they read or watch a short dvd in bed. They have to be up no later than 5:30AM to catch the bus at 6:45AM.

I do get funny looks when other parents here of our bedtime routine, but it works for us. My girls are involved in afterschool sports and church activities and need all the sleep they can get!!

 

[leagirl12]

Both of ours start our nightly ritual, which includes picking up their room, getting clothes out for the next day, and brushing their teeth at 8:00.

DD9 is in the bed at 8:15 and reads for 15 minutes then it is lights out at 8:30.

DS10 is in the bed at 8:30 and reads for 15 minutes with lights out at 8:45.

Both get up at 6:00 in the morning.

We have been in school for almost a month now and have been able to stick to this schedule really well. The only exceptions are on Tues and Thur right now DS has soccer practice from 8-9. Luckily we live close to the field so he can be home, have a shower and in bed usually by 9:30.

During the summer they don't really have one. DH goes to work at 10 pm so usually I let the kids stay up till just before he leaves and we tuck them both in before he walks out the door.

 

[GJM]

DS 8 - goes to bed at 9:00, but won't fall asleep until 9:30. He is up between 6:15 - 6:30.

On weekends and the summer, it just depends, normally between 10 -11

 

[pooh4evr]

usually start showers at -830 then bed about 9 - 930 for the older ones DD#3 10 (she IS NOT a sleeper in nay sense)
they get up at about 745 bus comes at 840 school from then until they get home at about 430 then soccer on Monday until 7 PSR wed until 630 dance Thur until 745 - Dh isn't usually home until 8 or later so if they have aby hope of seeing him they stay up - HOW do some of you get them to bed soo early (630- 7)
I have a 2nd grader (7) a K- (5) and a 20 month old

 

[bzzymom]

DS is 11 and DD is 4. 8pm is when they start to wind down. I read to DD 2-4 books depending on what she chooses, then she has lights out. DS must read at 8pm, although I do let DS listen to the St Louis Cardinals baseball games if they are on the radio. DS must turn his light off at 9pm, but he is usually awake for awhile after that.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

DS must read at 8pm, although I do let DS listen to the St Louis Cardinals baseball games if they are on the radio.

As an avid Cardinals fan myself....what a cool mom!!

My DS is 14 and it's lights out at 9:30 on a school night. He usually goes to bed at 8:30 though because he loves to read for that hour. My DD is 10 and she goes to bed at 8:30 and reads until 9:00.

On weekends we really don't have a set time, they are usually in be around 11:30 or so.

 

[holly7347]

My DD's are 5 1/2 and 3 1/2. Until the oldest turned 5 they had different bed times. The youngest would let you put her in bed and leave her to fall asleep on her own. The oldest wanted you to sit in there with her until she fell asleep. So we put the youngest to sleep first so the oldest wouldn't wake her up when she went to bed because their rooms share a wall. At that point their bed times were 8pm for youngest and 9pm for oldest.

When oldest turned 5 we told her she was a big girl now and we wouldn't sit in her room anymore. At that point we started putting them both to bed at the same time and did it around 9pm.

In the summer they went to bed between 9-10 depending on what we had going on that evening. I work evenings and DH plays softball and took them to the games with him and MIL watched them there. So depending on the time of his game and if they went out to eat afterwards or not they might have went to bed late.

Now that school has started up again I start the bed time routine at 8pm and they get into bed between 8:20-8:30. Oldest catches the Kindergarten bus at 7:45, she eats breakfast at school so she can roll out of bed at 7:30 and make it to the bus if we hurry but I prefer her to be up by 7:15 so I don't have to say hurry up so much Youngest has to be at preschool 3 mornings a week at 9am and it is about a 20 minute drive. She can't eat breakfast at school though so I have to feed her breakfast first. She is NOT a morning person at all. I dread the day when I have to get her up at 7:15.

We do on ocassion keep them up late on weekends if we are going to a family get together or something. But I try not to make it to late because they seem to get up at the same time no matter when they go to bed and it makes for a tired crabby child the day after.

 

[RN01]

My daughter is almost 11 and in the 5th grade. She goes to bed at 9:00 (increase from 8:30 last year) and gets up at 7:00. If she doesn't enough sleep she's a grouch!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

My DD11, 12 in December, now has a 9:00 TV curfew and then reads until 9:30 then it's lights out. She gets up around 7:30 each morning. On Fridays and Saturdays we'll probably streych it to 10.

 

[J3nn78]

Wow, some late bedtimes here.

My kids are 3 and going on 2. They go to bed at 7:30. My parents enforced an 8pm bedtime throughout elementary school. I plan on doing the same. I think most kids do not get enough sleep. At least what I see as a teacher.

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

My daughter is 2, and in bed at 8. Sometimes we allow her to stay up until 9 - but we then suffer for a week trying to get her back on track. Sometimes she misses a nap and we struggle to wait until 7:30 for her to go to bed.. 8 seems about right.