Moms of 1st graders: when is bedtime?

[va32h]

Bedtime for my 1st grade son is 9pm. He does have a very hard time getting up in the morning, so we pushed his bedtime back farther and farther - and even when he had 12 hours of sleep, he still hated to get up in the morning.

We concluded that it wasn't a question of hours of sleep, he's just not a morning person. Neither am I, actually.

 

[ckoncurat]

I have six kids, ages 10,8,6,5, 3 1/2 and 6 months. Everyone is in bed by 8pm on school nights, although the older ones usually stay up reading a little bit later. All of my kids are decently behaved and excel in school. They get up between 6:30-6:45 AM. The littlest ones also nap. Frankly, I feel that 8pm on is adult time- I deserve time off, and time with my husband.
I also think there is a strong correlation between bad behavior/poor school performance and lack of sleep. I do let them stay up later watching a movie on friday or saturday nights, but even then, rarely past 9pm.

 

[ckoncurat]

One more thing- I love LOST, but it is almost too scary for ME!! I would never let an elementary age child watch it. My 10 year old only recently was allowed to watch a prime time show: The Amazing Race (and even that had some questionable language). Mostly she watches disney channel. Before bed, however, we read- no TV after dinner except on weekends.

 

[Georgia]

My little one is a bit younger 4.5 and sleep is a huge issue for her. She goes to daycare and her bedtime is about 8pm. If she goes to sleep at 8-8:30 she does great. Very well behaved. However, our problem comes when daycre requires a nap/rest time. If she naps at daycare, she can't get to sleep at night then we start a terrible cycle. I think she doesn't really need a nap.

Also, at the beginning of the school year, I was very strict about no TV on school nights. As the school year wore on, I got lazy. I started letting her lay down with the TV on (there! I topped your bad mommy ). But this week she lost TV for a few behavior infractions and I've noticed a huge difference. On those nights, she has gone to bed at 8:00 and could look at books or listen to the radio for 30 minutes. Now, I remember why I had that rule!

 

[aes74]

Frankly, I feel that 8pm on is adult time- I deserve time off, and time with my husband.

I am TOTALLY in agreement with that! My husband and I value our quality quiet time! We snuggle on the couch and watch tv.

My first grader is in bed by 8:30. I cannot imagine a little one watching Lost! I love it, but can't imagine watching sex and death scenes with them! Yeek.

 

[LilGMom]

My soon-to-be first grader currently has a bedtime of 8pm and that will be his bedtime next year too. He goes into bed at 8 (at the latest) and is asleep by 8:30 (at the latest) and up at 6am. There are a few nights when he stays up until 9pm, like the other night he was very excited about the Tooth Fairy coming to visit and kept coming out of his room and he was a bear to get up the next morning.

As a kid I had a 7pm bedtime through grade school, 8pm through middle school and 9pm through high school.

 

[gris gris]

In our house we go to sleep when we're tired. DD 4 1/2 is usually in bed by 9:00. She gets up between 7:30-8:00, when she's ready to wake up. Some nights she stays up until 9:30 and some nights she goes to bed at 8:00 (like tonight). Next year when she starts kindergarten I'll try to have her in bed a little earlier, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Nik's Mom]

My 5 and 8 year old boys go to bed by 9:30pm. Both ds's are developementally disabled and we have extensive educational/behavioral programs that we follow after we get home from work. There is no way they could be in bed by 8pm. And I know we are doing the right thing because the teachers have commented that they could see how much work we put in with our kids.
My 5 year old may be in bet by 9:30pm but sometimes he won't go to sleep until after Midnight. He has a sleeping disorder.

 

[PA Princess]

My first grade dd (age 6 for a few more months) has an 8:30 bedtime...sometimes she will go to bed a wee bit earlier and sometimes due to schedule issues a bit later. In general she is asleep by 9 pm. She is up about 8 am and starts school at 9 am, but we homeschool so we can be more flexible if the need arises.

Last year she attended a private school for K and had to be up at 6:30 and on a bus at 7:30 am. We started with a 7:30 pm bedtime and had to switch to 7 pm because she needed more sleep. This worked okay, but this years 9pm to 8 am sleep schedule seems to fit her natural sleeping rhythms much better.

We also have a dd 2 who has an 8 pm bed time and ds 12 and ds 11 and they have a 9 pm bed time (though they may read until 10).

 

[runwad]

My kids are 11, 9 & 6 and they are all in bed at 8:30 and up at 7 am. Weekends they can stay up later but the 6yr old usally falls asleep by 9 and older two by 11. My kids will still get up early no matter how late they go to bed so then they tend to be grouchy the next day from lack of sleep. Sometimes my dd11 asks to stay up till 9 and we'll let her. We don't have any issues with them getting up in the morning. Me I've always went to bed at 9all thru high school & college I need my 8 hours. Hey it's 10:30 I better get to bed.

 

[kkc_mom]

My DD's (kindergarten & 4th grade) have an 8:00 bed time(later if they have a softball game). They get up at 6:30a.m. I know both of them have friends that stay up later but neither of them have complained. Yes, it is tough getting homework and family time in before 8:00 but there is no way I would give them a later bed time since they are not morning people and dont want to get up any morning. Bed time is staying at 8:00 even next year!

 

[va32h]

Do those of you with earlier bedtimes keep them up during the summer as well? I remember when I was a child being so frustrated the one year Arizona tried going on daylight savings time. I swear the sun didn't set til the clock said 10pm. We were so miserable that we had to go to bed when it was still light outside! We could hear our friends playing on the street!

My guess is that a phalanx of frustrated mothers lobbied for Arizona to never try daylight savings time again!

 

[kkc_mom]

Do those of you with earlier bedtimes keep them up during the summer as well?

My children may go to bed a little later than 8:00 during the summer but not much. I am a family child care provider so my children have to be up and ready to go when I open my doors to accept my daycare children at 7:00. So unfortunately they still have to get up at 6:30.

 

[jenrein]

My 6 & 8 yr olds- 8:15. They get a kick outta the extra 15 minutes. They do watch TV though so they dont actually sleep until about 9. They are up at 7:30. My 11 yr old- 9 and up at 6:30.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

My dds, 7,5, and 3 all go to bed for 8pm , I let them stay up a little later on the weekends, but not too late because it throws them off for monday. Over summer vacation we'll probably do about 9-9:30, unless of course we're out.

 

[Twingle]

My kids don't go to bed much later during the summer - again, not because they aren't allowed, but they are usually tired and wanting to go to bed by 8:00 or so. My kids also don't sleep in during the summer - all three of my kids are roosters, and usually up with the sun.

Of course, when we're in Disney they can go to midnight - LOL!

 

[Whosemom]

We have the 8 oclock bedtime too. And in the summer, its still officially 8 oclock, so that I can put them to bed if I've just had enough. Oops, I mean if they are tired. LOL. but most of the days its dark thirty. hahaha

 

[jenrein]

My kids don't go to bed much later during the summer - again, not because they aren't allowed, but they are usually tired and wanting to go to bed by 8:00 or so. My kids also don't sleep in during the summer - all three of my kids are roosters, and usually up with the sun.

Of course, when we're in Disney they can go to midnight - LOL!

When we were in Disney mine actually were up until Midnight and I couldnt believe they had it in them!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

In elementary school my kids had a bedtime of 9pm, middle school it was 9:30pm and high school is 10pm. My rule was always that as long as the ikids got up on time in the morning, that was their bedtimes. If they started having trouble waking or if it seemed they were too tired during the day, then we kicked the bedtime back by a 1/2hour.

If me and DH wanted some alone time prior to the kids bedtimes, we just send them to their rooms maybe 1/2 hour early and they know that it is wind down time for them and they can quietly watch tv, read or whatever before they go to bed.

In the summer and on vacation, I admit to being 100% lax and there is no official bedtime, but I can also tell you that DD and DS both will go up to bed when they are tired-they do that even during the school year so if they are beat, even if its not their bedtime yet, they go to sleep.

 

[chop456]

My 1st and 3rd grader have a bedtime of 8pm. We usually read for 10 minutes so lights out is 8:15ish. They get up at 6:20.

I also teach first grade and have to say these kiddos do need their sleep.