What times do your young children go to bed?

[Runningmom80]

I'm talking toddlers, preschoolers, early elementary kids.

 

 

Our schedule is all out of whack since we started school his week, I'm hoping after we get into a groove, things settle down and we can all get to bed at a decent hour.

Edited September 8, 2011 by someonestolemyname

[HarbourLights]

Bedtime routine starts at 7:30pm and by the time bath, story, teeth, and pottie are done it's usually about 8pm before we shut the door for the night. We get up each day between 6:30am and 7am.

 

Early risers here!:001_smile:

[Julie Smith]

Grade 1, and grade 2 boys. They are in bed for the night at 10pm. That is after snuggles, read aloud books, ...

 

We are a late starting family around here and don't get going till 8:30, 9am. My dh usually doesn't leave to work till 8:45.

[Mommy22alyns]

Can I just plead the fifth? In our defense, we're not early risers...

[tntgoodwin]

Between 8pm and 9pm usually.

[eternalknot]

I aim for 1.5 - 2.5 hours after the sun sets.

 

In summer, that's about 9-9:30pm.

 

In winter, that's about 7-7:30pm.

 

Spring and Fall are full with extracurriculars but we're generally in bed between 8-9pm most nights. Well, the kids are. I'm a night owl, year-round :D!

 

We don't have a set start time for school in the mornings, and we school year-round; this affords us some flexibility in sleeping in. My kids typically sleep 10-12 hours a night. Sleep is important, and while not a primary motive for homeschooling it has always ranked high on our benefits-to and reasons-for list.

[*Inna*]

8-8:30. I would go crazy if they stay up later than this.

We get up early though - 6-6:30.

[zenjenn]

When my kids were super young, we did 7:30 or 8.

 

Now (1st and 3rd grade) we do 9 pm, and I let them read until 9:30. If they were going to regular school that would probably be shifted 1/2 hr back. (We don't start homeschooling until 8:30 or 9 am.)

[QuirkyKapers]

between 9-9:30

[higginszoo]

My 6 year old is an early riser. No matter what time she goes to bed, no matter what time the sun rises, she's up between 6 and 7. When she has less than 11 hours or so of sleep a night, her behavior takes a serious downturn. So she goes to bed at 7.

[momma2three]

My 2yo and the baby go to bed at 6:30, and my 4yo stays up until 7. The baby takes 2 naps, and my 2yo takes one. They all wake up between 6:30 and 7. Except this week, which is killing me! The younger 2 have 4 new teeth, 3 infected ears, and one tummy bug between them! Yikes! No one is getting much sleep with all that going on...

[Ellie]

Between 7 and 8 o'clock. They were probably 11-12 before they were staying up until 9 on a regular basis, and even then, they were in their rooms by 9.

[WiseOwlKnits]

Can I just plead the fifth? In our defense, we're not early risers...

 

:iagree:

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Ds6 goes to bed between 6-6:30. Dd10 is supposed to be in bed at 7, lights out at 8, but she's a pain to get to bed.

[Shellydon]

8:30 for the 4 and 6 yo

9:00 for the 9 yo

9:30 for the 2 yo (he still naps)

[nowimscrappin]

6yo between 8 and 8:30

11yo between 8:30 and 9

14yo around 10pm

 

11 and 14 yo get up around 7 to 7:15 for school, and 6yo is right behind them, eating breakfast by 8am

[Pamela H in Texas]

Depends on the kid/situation.

 

Currently, our four (ages 1, 3, 4, and 5) go down at 7. We were going to try 7:30 for the three older ones, but they were obviously needing a little more. In fact, the first few days of school (mine GO to school for now), the 3yr old was in bed at 5:30 and 6:00 because his behavior was so obnoxious. He fell asleep quickly.

 

Anyway, when my bigs were little, we aimed for 7:30 also, but there were many times we were just trying to make it til 7:00.

 

The goal with challenging kids (my son and the 3 and 5yr olds) is to get them before they get that second wind which often comes about 8 or 8:30 for many children.

[*********]

Can I just plead the fifth? In our defense, we're not early risers...

 

Amber, I'll sit over here with you and pretend not to have heard the question. :tongue_smilie:

 

The official bed time for my boys is 8:30.

 

I don't remember the last time they were in bed at 8:30. :D

 

But, dh usually doesn't leave for work until at least 8:30 in the morning, unless he has an early meeting. He has times, if he's got a big project going on at work, where he regularly doesn't get home till 7-7:30, and works 6 days a week. So we stay up late, and sleep in a bit.

Edited September 8, 2011 by bethanyniez

[Medieval Mom]

2 yo at 6:30-7:00

8 yo in bed by 7:30, lights out at 8

 

We parents wake up at 5, the kids wake up at 6.

[Wabi Sabi]

9-9:30ish in general these days (ages 3 and 6.) Believe it or not, that is early for us. Up until recently they both were typically up much later than that, but now that dd has to get up early for preschool we've had to make some adjustments.

[lakotajm]

I've recently gotten more strict/routine with this. We do a bedtime checklist which should start by 8:30, and involves potty/shower/nightclothes/hang towel/put away dirty clothes and shoes. They check this off on the large bathroom window with window markers. If they get them all done by 9 without much reminding or slip-ups, they can stay up til 9:30 on school night, whenever movie/playtime winds down on other nights, but no later than 10.

[SeekingHim77]

My 9 yr. old daughter goes to bed at 8 and is allowed to read as long as she wants. She's usually asleep by 9:30.

 

My 16 yr. old son goes to bed whenever his father and I go to bed and he may read as long as he wants as well. He usually goes to sleep by 10.

[BlessedMom]

Typically 8:00.

[NotSoObvious]

Until this year (4th grade), bedtime was 7:30. It may seem early, but my girls are 11 hour sleepers. Now they go to bed at 8:30. We usually get up at 7. If they were in school, their bedtime would still be 7:30 because they'd be getting up at 6.

[Joyofsixreboot]

4 yo -8 pm

7&10 yo 8:30-9:00

13 yo 10

Older teens by 10:30-11:00

 

I usually go to bed about 9:00 and read until the book hits me in the face. We get up at 5:00 and I need sleep.

[Amy in NH]

Currently, 10:00 pm. I'd like to get them to bed at 9:00 pm and allow them to read for an hour before lights-out.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We start story time at 8:00-ish and get in bed somewhere around 9:30-ish, but mine are 7 & 8 now.

[OrdinaryTime]

7:00 pm across the board. Everyone gets up around 6:30 am.

[zillymom]

Can I just plead the fifth? In our defense, we're not early risers...

 

:iagree:

 

My 2 year old goes to sleep around 10 or 10:30 pm, and sleeps in until 9:30 am (pretty much 9:30 on the dot every morning!). She goes to bed very easily, sleeps soundly, and takes a great nap each day. DH and I are night owls, so she must have gotten that from us! :D

[----]

.

[KristinaBreece]

My 6 year old is an early riser. No matter what time she goes to bed, no matter what time the sun rises, she's up between 6 and 7. When she has less than 11 hours or so of sleep a night, her behavior takes a serious downturn. So she goes to bed at 7.

 

This is my DS(4). I could let him stay up until midnight & he'd be up before 7 AM. So he goes down between 7:30-8:30, depending on the time of year. Summer tends to be more toward 8:30 because he's recently realized that it's still light out at bed time in the summer. He was feeling deprived. ;)

 

:iagree:

 

My 2 year old goes to sleep around 10 or 10:30 pm, and sleeps in until 9:30 am (pretty much 9:30 on the dot every morning!). She goes to bed very easily, sleeps soundly, and takes a great nap each day. DH and I are night owls, so she must have gotten that from us! :D

 

And this is my DD(2) as well. She usually takes a solid 2-hour nap in the very early afternoon, then stays up until 10:30 or so. Generally whenever Daddy and/or I go to bed. She usually sleeps until 9:30 or so. I wish they would both adopt that sleep schedule, to be honest. Tonight, she voluntarily went down with DS at 8. He wasn't crazy about that, but all has been peace for almost an hour. *knock on wood* ETA: Just got the first round of "Mommy, I need to potty/get a drink/give Daddy another kiss/forgot someone in my prayers!!" If we have another little adventure from DD, she'll come sit with me until DS falls asleep, then I'll put her down so I can get some rest. Gotta be up by 5:00 tomorrow morning, and I am NOT a morning person!

 

DS likes his alone time-- throughout the day & at bed time. Little sis (and most people, to be fair to sister) is overstimulating for him. And since we've recently downsized from 4 bedrooms to 2, they're sharing a room.

Edited September 9, 2011 by KristinaBreece

[ladydusk]

Generally somewhere between 8 and 8:30. We get them up at 7. Now that it is dark when they're getting up, they're grumpy about that.:glare:

 

[although, truth be told, I don't like getting up at or before 7 myself]

[twoforjoy]

DD (almost 18 months) goes to bed between 7 and 8, usually closer to 7. She's usually up around 7:30.

 

DS (7) goes to bed between 9 and 10. He wakes up any time between 7 and 9.

 

The baby (5 weeks) goes to sleep and wakes up whenever he feels like it. ;) Usually he settles in for the night around 10, gets up for good around 8 or 9, and wakes up twice in between then for a quick nurse.

[ChiMomNP]

My 12 year old son goes to bed between 10 and 11. He goes when we go. He usually reads for 30 minutes or so before he crashes. My dh usually stop working around 10 pm so it gives us some time to hang out together as a family.

[PeacefulChaos]

8pm as many nights as possible. Some nights it doesn't happen that way, with church and other events, but usually at least 4-5 nights a week it's 8pm.

[Runningmom80]

Yes, ideally I would have the twins down at 7, older DS down at 8. Lately it's been twins down at 8-8:30, DS down at 9-9:30. I hate it because I'm so worn out by then. It's amazing that losing one 1.5 hour nap to school wreaks havoc on the whole day. The first nap the twins take used to be my clean up, get lunch organized take 5 minutes to drink a coffee time, now that's when we do school, because there is no way to do it while they are awake. So by the time the second nap comes around the house is trashed, and I can't get dinner started because the sink is full of breakfast and lunch dishes.

 

I'm sure it will get easier, and it would help if I would learn how to organize. Just a smidge. :lol:

[Coffeemama]

6,8,10 yrs old about 8:15-8:30, sometimes 9:00 on Friday or Saturday.

[momma aimee]

mine are almost 4 adn almost 6 -- and they go to be NO LATER THAN & PM. normally 6:30. DS2 has fallen asslep on his ovn by 5:45.

 

They get up at 5:30 or 6 -- and the both NEED sleep --

 

makes life intresting, but i have my evenings to myself (adn house and laundry)

[ScoutTN]

usually

7:00 bath, jammies, teeth etc.

7:30 in bed - we each read to one

7:45 -8:00 lights out

 

 

last year it was 7:30 lights out

 

summer nights are often late - we eat later, catch lightning bugs, play outside etc. but no rush to get up eaither and they often nap in the summer after swimming.

 

 

we do have rest time in the afternoon.they nap maybe once or twice a week.

[Cera]

My kids are K and 2nd. They start getting ready for bed between 7 and 7:30. They usually spend about 30 min getting ready then 30 minutes reading on their own and then lights are out and I read to them for 30 min.

[Dustybug]

My 1 year old goes to bed between 7-8. I like to have the older two in bed by 8:30, but sometimes it isn't until 9.

[wapiti]

2 , 3 and 5 year-olds are in bed by around 7:15, though I shoot for 7. Only the 2 y.o. is still napping.

 

8 and 10 y.o.s are in bed around 8:30, though we shoot for 8:00 (:glare: it's 8:14 and at least one isn't in PJs yet).

[danybug]

Wow, I am surprised by how early some of you can get your kids to go to bed. My ds (1) goes to bed around 8 usually. My dd (4) and ds (10) go to bed around 9-9:30. But this definitely fluctuates with what we are doing in the evening.

[bairnmama]

When ds was younger (and I still had a dh) he would go to bed at 7 and get up at 7. Dd's bedtime was 8 pm, and we got to spend an hour with "special time". Now that they're older and I'm divorced, our schedules are so crazy it's sometimes after 9 pm before we're even sitting down to supper! I hate it, but don't really know what I can do about it with work and gymnastics schedules. We've got something going on 4 nights out of every week. I would prefer to have them in bed between 9 & 9:30... but that's just wishful thinking at this point.

[Splinter]

My 4, 6 and 7 year olds all go to bed at 8:15 and get up at 7:15. There are nights when we have activities that don't finish until 8, but the latest they're ever up on school nights is 8:30/8:40. My 9 year old goes to bed at 9:15.

[chepyl]

11:00 is our goal....but both kids are still up tonight....we have been up as late as 1:00 am. We are NOT morning people. This schedule did play some part in our homeschool decision. I teach dance until 8:30. Some nights I don't get home until 9:30 by the time I lock up and everything. We eat a late dinner as a family and play, read, or watch tv.

 

I will say, my kids are flexible. Because they sleep for 10-12 hours (until they wake up on their own) each night, they are flexible. I can get them up early one day, like today, and we can still function well. 2 days up early and we have changed schedules until we change thwm back.

[BarbecueMom]

DS1 drags us into his room for bedtime between 7:30 and 8:00. He wakes up at 6:15am like clockwork (which is killing me!) but has no problem going to bed.

 

DS3 stays up for about 30-40 minutes after DS1 goes to bed so we can play a board game or something that the little guy isn't ready for. After that, it's a battle to get him to bed, in bed, and stay in bed. He was finally asleep by 9:15 tonight. He got up again about 10:30 to go potty, lost his clothes, and was standing at the top of the stairs with the fireplace broom by the time we got up there.

 

He better sleep until 8:00. :glare:

[Mariam]

Between 9-10 pm. :(

[sbgrace]

My 2nd grade 7 year olds go to bed at different times. One needs a lot more sleep than his brother. His bedtime is 7:30. His brother goes to bed at 9. They both get up about the same time in the morning. I would prefer the other child go to bed a little earlier so my H and I have more adult time in the evening but his extra stuff in evenings runs bedtimes late it seems.

[sewingmama]

Between 8-8.30 - I can't stand the noise any longer then that :lol:

 

The 2 year old often gets back up and stays up for a while longer though because he naps in the afternoon and often isn't tired till 9-9.30