bedtimes in your home

[ProudGrandma]

2 questions:

 

 

1) do you keep basically the same bedtimes for your children in the summer as in the winter?

 

2) what times do your children go to bed (We have a 8, 10 and almost 12)...

 

(oh our kids are up by 7:00 all year round...we don't find it helpful for the kids to get into the habit of sleeping in unless they are sick or were up really late for some unusual reason)

[MissKNG]

Bedtimes remain constant here. About 8-8:30pm for my small girl and about 9pm for my big girl. They are usually up around 5:30-6am no matter what time they go to bed.

Edited June 8, 2012 by MissKNG

[MissKNG]

I have no idea how this double posted!

[kewb]

Now that my kids are older I am lot more lax about summer bedtime then I used to be. When they were younger I was strict about bedtime because they were up with the sun no matter what time they went to bed. That did not make a fun next day for me.

 

My almost 12 year old dd and 14 year old ds go to bed between 9:30 and 10pm. During the summer, during the week they pretty much keep to these times because they have to be up early for swim practice. On the weekends they usually go to bed around 11.

[chepyl]

We adjust based on activities. Usually, the whole family goes to bed around 11 pm. But, I put the kids in bed early if we have to get up early the next morning. Since we are not super strict, my kids are flexible in their sleep habits. We have been up early all week....today, everyone is sleeping in.

[Lizzie in Ma]

No, not really. Bedtime is fairly flexible here, though it never used to be.

I was always fairly strict about it, until our older dd became ill and our family time became more limited.

Now we are often up as a family together til 10-11pm. But our kids are a little older than yours now as well.

[DawnM]

Bedtime is around 10pm all year long. I typically stay up until 11pm and watch a show or two. Older two stay up and talk in their room until around 11pm as well.

 

Dh goes to work early and needs his sleep. So, everyone needs to be quiet by 10pm. 8 year old usually falls asleep around 10 as well.

[QuirkyKapers]

Bedtime is different in the summer. We used to be stricter about their bedtimes when they were younger (under 7) and they would go to bed at the same time. As they have gotten older, we have been able to have more flexibility. Part of the problem is that as they have gotten older, they notice that it is still light out and it is harder for them to get to sleep while it is light out.

[FO4UR]

I used to have mine in bed by 8pm until we moved here. Now it's 9pm. We have more evening activities here and we cherish our bedtime stories.

 

 

 

I'm usually reading to them between 7:30-8:30 and then I send them to bed to read/draw quietly. Lights out at 9pm.

[KristenR]

More often than not my little ones are in bed by 9. We all go in together at 8 or 8:30 and read for a half hour to hour every night. We're not totally strict with it though. There have been some days where it was 9:30 or 10 before they went in. I think summer will be pretty much the same. Mostly 9 unless something fun is going on.

My girls all sleep in till anywhere from 7:30-9. Today they all woke up at 9 even though they were all in bed at 9pm the night before.

[Farrar]

We go later in the summer, just because it's still light out. And it results in tired kids. But there's only so much you can do when your children refuse to sleep past 6 am.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Fairly consistent here, within 30 minutes though the deepest part of winter may have them going to bed up to 30 minutes earlier.

 

I would probably do 8pm for an 8year old. The 10yo would depend just because there is such a wide difference in development at that age. 12yo would be deciding for herself (there may be an occasional 12yo who needs an extra year before deciding for himself). Basically, I'd expect it to look a lot like 8, 8:30, 9pm in the end though puberty may add another hour of sleep sometimes.

[bluemongoose]

1) do you keep basically the same bedtimes for your children in the summer as in the winter?

Mostly yes, we are sometimes more flexible in the summer if needed (4th of July, outdoor BBQ etc).

 

2) what times do your children go to bed (We have a 8, 10 and almost 12)...

 

My oldest is 7yo, so we have young ones here. They all go to bed between 8 and 8:30. Sometimes as late as 9 with the older 3 if needed (scout nights). One thing that is different about the summer, it is light enough to read in bed for longer. We allow this.

[MamaSheep]

Yes, we keep the same bedtime year round. Except if a child is particularly "good" on a particular day I might give them extra time as a reward, and if they're cranky that "must" mean they need more sleep, so I'll hand out early bedtime as a consequence. Not more than an hour either way, though, usually. For some reason both of my kids find bedtime consequences, good or bad, very motivating, even if it's just ten minutes either way. Also, dd is particularly talented at making it take half an hour to get ready for bed, so she doesn't always make it IN to bed AT bedtime, but she at least is moving in that direction.

 

As far as what time kids go to bed at our house...well...when ds was little he went through a phase where he was CONSTANTLY arguing for a later bedtime--with true Aspie persistence (which means he couldn't tell when he'd pushed his parents beyond the point where smoke was billowing out their ears and their eyes were starting to glow red, and he just. kept. going....) Rather than do bodily harm to the child we worked out a schedule for when his bedtime would get later so he knew what to expect and could quit asking, goshdarnit! We've stuck with the plan, and it has worked out fairly well. Here's how it goes

 

Age / Bedtime

under 8 yrs / 8:00

8-9 yrs / 8:30

10-11 yrs / 9:00

12-13 yrs / 9:30

14-15 yrs / 10:00

16 yrs + / Child can choose, as long as he is responsible about it. Otherwise, it's 10:00 until such time as child can demonstrate the ability to choose a responsible bedtime. (Which basically means that if he stays up too late and is cranky all the time, we reserve the right to make him go to bed.)

 

Dd is very excited because she's about to turn 10 in a month or so and will get to stay up until 9:00. She feels SO grown up!

 

My kids have always been early risers. And sadly for me, I'm a night owl. I keep reading here and there how wonderful it is for moms to get up an hour before the kids and have quiet time in the morning, but I'd have to get up at 5:00 or 5:30 to manage that. I can STAY up until 5:00, but have a bear of a time WAKING at 5:00. My body just does NOT want to do it. It's not so bad now that they're older and can entertain themselves until Mom staggers out of bed at 7:00. But putting my kids to bed later doesn't make them sleep later, it just makes them wake up cranky. I've tried it...lol.

Edited June 8, 2012 by MamaSheep

[Laura Corin]

Constant here. 12yo goes to bed at 8:30 on school nights and 9pm at weekends. 15yo goes to bed at 9:30 on school nights and whenever we do at weekends. The older boy is allowed to read in bed if he can't sleep - we don't police that. Younger boy goes pretty much straight to sleep.

 

Laura

[Mrs.Gregg]

Bed time is 8pm. Our girls are newly 10 and 6 1/2. Dh and I take turns reading at bedtime, usually a history or biography book related to whatever we are studing. Once that's done DD1 can read for 30 mins and DD2 can read for 10 minutes. Then lights out. DD1 usually wakes up at 6:30a and DD2 usually at 8:30a.

 

We keep the same hours year round and on weekends. We will on about 1x-2x a month let them stay up one weekend night for a special movie or game night.

[Ellie]

1) do you keep basically the same bedtimes for your children in the summer as in the winter?

Yes.

 

2) what times do your children go to bed (We have a 8, 10 and almost 12)...

In bed, lights off, by 8. That meant starting baths around 7.

 

(oh our kids are up by 7:00 all year round...we don't find it helpful for the kids to get into the habit of sleeping in unless they are sick or were up really late for some unusual reason)

My dc woke up on their own between 7:30 and 8. That worked for us. :-)

[justamouse]

Abuot 9 all year long. Sometimes when they are really tired, they'll tuck themselves in right after dinner and read untill they fall asleep.

 

The older ones have no bedtime.

[Rebel Yell]

Bedtime? We're supposed to have bedtime? Rats. Another collossal failure on my part. :D

 

Seriously, though- we really never set a bedtime. Works for us....

[Lady Marmalade]

1) do you keep basically the same bedtimes for your children in the summer as in the winter? Yes, basically. A 9:00pm bedtime is usually pretty accomodating for all our activities. They head to bed at 9:00 and can read until 9:30. I've been thinking about extending DD's read time to 10:00, but both kids are early risers, and I think she needs the sleep.

 

2) what times do your children go to bed ... Both at 9:00 for the 8 and 11 year old.

 

We do have a change coming up in a few weeks in that two of DD's dance classes are going to run until 9:00 at night. That will be twice a week, and we'll have to adjust accordingly. But standard bedtime any other night will be 9:00. DH and I head to bed ourselves between 10 and 10:30, so that gives us a little time to spend together- usually watching TV or something that is not kid appropriate.