S/O What time do your teens go to bed?

[athomemom]

My guys are 13 & 14. I dread the getting them in bed for school. I've been so lax this summer. What's the schedule like at your house for bedtime and rising?

[fairfarmhand]

I've gotten in the habit of getting my dd up for 1 hour of exercise at 6 am. The exercise really helps her mellow a bit, and she is less combative. We do 6 am, because otherwise we get busy and don't get to it.

 

She puts herself to bed when she's doing this because by 8 she's tired. If she didn't I would make her go to bed by 9.

[TheReader]

We all go to bed around the same time --- between 10:30 and 11:30 most nights. My 14 yr old goes directly to sleep; my 11 yr old stays up and reads in his room until he is drowsy enough to sleep, often past midnight. But we do not get up at a set time each morning, either.

[elegantlion]

Ds's bedtime is now 11pm, for school nights. Friday and Saturday are not set. This summer he discovered he is a night owl and pushed it to 2am on a regular basis, 5 am at the latest.

 

We may push it back to 10:30, but we're not morning people and that doesn't change no matter the bedtime.

[athomemom]

Two replies both very different. I'm looking forward to seeing other replies. :001_smile:

[Joani]

My oldest gets up early (6:30 or so) most mornings to run or bike, so he goes to bed on his own around 9 or 9:30. He stays up later once or twice a week, but I never have to tell him when to go to bed.

 

The girls (12 and 13) would stay up until dawn and sleep all day if I let them. For the summer, I've been sending them to bed by midnight, but I'll push that to about 10 when we start school. I'd like to get started by 8:30 most mornings, so they'll have to be up before 8.

[Danestress]

NBC shows all the good Olympic events very late here on the east coast. Our boys typically want to go to be around 10:00 or 10:30. We can't seem to entice them to stay up later, even when it doesn't seem to us they have a reason to rise early.

 

All my boys have been that way.

[Lady Florida.]

Ds is almost 15, and usually falls asleep around 1am. That might change this year though since he'll be taking a class at the high school. We don't yet know what time the class will be, but if it's early he'll have to go to sleep earlier.

 

but we're not morning people and that doesn't change no matter the bedtime.

 

This describes ds and me. Dh has no choice but to go to bed early, since he has to get up at 5:30. He'd be a night owl too if he could.

[HeidiKC]

My oldest will be 13 next month, and we've just been discussing this around here. He does not like my ideas! I need him up by 7:15ish to get going on schoolwork by 8:00. He needs a lot of sleep, so I've told him he needs to be in bed with lights out by 8:30 on TR and 9:00 MW (the difference due to activities we have). If he does seem to have a hard time falling asleep, I might let him listen to an audiobook or read. For 30 minutes.

 

During the summer when he doesn't need to get up, it's usually 10:00 or 10:30.

[athomemom]

It's gotten more and more difficult to get the boys in bed this summer. So if they go to bed around 10:00 they can be up to do school by 8:00 or so?

[regentrude]

In the summer, the kids stay up very late.

In the school year:

DS 13 usually goes to bed between 10:30 and 11pm.

DD 15 stays up later; I have expressed my preference for a before-midnight bedtime on school days, but do not enforce.

School starts at 8am; for dual enrollment classes DD has to leave the house at 7:30.

[Pineapple]

I have a 14 year old and a 16 year old. We all go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30 each night. They just go to bed. We don't make them. We get up around 7:30 to start school work. On some nights they are in bed by 10:00 depending on what we did that day. They really don't have a bedtime. They just go to bed when they are naturally tired.

[MamaAkins]

DD14 gets up at 6:15 during the school year. She eats breakfast, empties the dishwasher (if it needs to be done), gets dressed/brushes teeth & hair/etc and is ready to start on school work between 7 and 7:15. She has activities every evening and generally isn't home until 9pm. All computer/cell phone has to be turned off at 10:30pm and she generally gets in bed then. Sometimes she will read or listen to music for a half hour if she's not "sleepy."

[AngieW in Texas]

We don't have set bedtimes here and never have.

 

My 19yo is a night owl. I have successfully gotten her to strive to go to bed between 10pm and 1am after a lot of work. She was having a lot of trouble sleeping because she was going to bed at wildly divergent times, anywhere from 8pm to 6am. That really messed with her internal clock. I don't care when she goes to bed, so long as she keeps it inside a 3-hour timeslot so she doesn't flip her clock. She gets up between 7am and 9am.

 

My 16yo has learned that if she isn't in bed by 11:15pm, she will lie awake for hours. That seems to be the absolute latest she can go to bed now. It was 11:45pm just 6 months ago. She has been waking up around 5:30am (not by choice), but would like to be able to keep sleeping until 7am. I'm hoping that her body clock settles down and starts letting her sleep later again.

 

My 14yo is on insomnia medication and goes to bed every night at 10:30pm. That is the time that she chose. She gets up between 7am and 8am.

[athomemom]

Okay, so how long does it take your dc to get their school work done for those that sleep in? Are you still doing school at 5 or 6 o'clock?

[Pineapple]

Typically our day is from 7:30-1:30 with a couple of breaks and a lunch break.

[sgilli3]

Gee- I feel like a real party pooper after reading previous replies.

 

My DS (14) and DD (13) are in bed and lights out by 8.30pm ( time doesn't change even for holidays,unless we are out visiting etc)

 

Kids wake around 7.30-8 am

 

Having a bedtime of 8.30,for all the kids means that DH and I have each night together, and when DH is away for work (like he is now...again), I *need* that time alone, to soak up the quiet at the end of another long day.

Ahhh, the serenity.

[justamouse]

I let them go to sleep when they want. Alternately, I get them ALL up at 7. After a few tired days, they willingly go to bed early (with a book. in my house you're allowed to read at night as long as you want).

 

That is early for us, and it's because Dh and Dd17 head out at 7:15. We like to hit daily mass. I'm not going to lie and say we make it every day. ;p

Edited August 7, 2012 by justamouse

[justamouse]

Gee- I feel like a real party pooper after reading previous replies.

 

My DS (14) and DD (13) are in bed and lights out by 8.30pm ( time doesn't change even for holidays,unless we are out visiting etc)

 

Kids wake around 7.30-8 am

 

Having a bedtime of 8.30,for all the kids means that DH and I have each night together, and when DH is away for work (like he is now...again), I *need* that time alone, to soak up the quiet at the end of another long day.

Ahhh, the serenity.

 

We go in our room and shut the door. :001_smile: I let them have free reign, even of the kitchen, as long as they clean up after themselves.

 

We get plenty of time alone.

[Hoot]

Somewhere between 8 and 9 depending on the night and the season. If he wants to read in bed I will sometimes allow him to go until 9:30 but that's about it. He's a very early riser and has a REALLY hard time dealing without enough sleep.

[Jennifer in MI]

During the summer? During the Olympics? 12am or later!!!

 

School year? We ask that on school nights they be in bed by 10 pm. I don't care when they fall asleep. I just need to know they are at home and in bed by 10 so I can get enough sleep for the next day.

[athomemom]

We go in our room and shut the door. :001_smile: I let them have free reign, even of the kitchen, as long as they clean up after themselves.

 

We get plenty of time alone.

 

I find it gets more difficult to have alone time as they kids age.

[CupOCoffee]

Well now, I am just gonna have to come along here and skew everything :lol:

 

My kids & Dh are extreme night owls; they go to bed between 2-3:30 a.m., just about every night. They sleep till at least noon the next day. But hey, they have a great time with Dad after I go to bed (even I go late, about 12-12:30, and out of the house for work by 6:30). Their latest thing is watching the Rockford Files (!) on netflix together, lol. I think they are up to season 6 now.

 

Yep, we are the odd balls out. My kids can get up early, go to bed early when they need too. It's just that they've pretty much fallen into this pattern with Dad -- before we got Netflix, it was watching movies together.

[ThisIsTheDay]

My guys are 13 & 14. I dread the getting them in bed for school. I've been so lax this summer. What's the schedule like at your house for bedtime and rising?

 

17yodd stays up until 1 or later, sleeps until 10 or whenever we drag her out of bed. I'm not going to die on the bedtime hill. She's been making this choice for a few years.

 

14yods would love to stay up too, but he's a lot younger and needs his sleep. This summer, I send his to bed usually around 11-12. He gets up around 9.

[elegantlion]

Okay, so how long does it take your dc to get their school work done for those that sleep in? Are you still doing school at 5 or 6 o'clock?

 

We school from 10-4 with 45 minutes for lunch. We'll probably never start before 9:30.

 

We've always let ds have a later bedtime because dh used to work longer hours. It was the perk of homeschooling that he was able to spend time with his dad in the evenings.

[Jenny in Florida]

My daughter does her own thing. She's done with school and responsible for her own schedule. She does lots of theatre, which often means late nights. So, she gets up most days at 9:00 unless there's a pressing reason (audition, for example) to move earlier. She goes to bed whenever she feels like doing so.

 

During the school year, my son is supposed to be up at 7:00. My husband wakes him before leaving for work. I say "supposed to" because he too frequently goes back to sleep while I'm out walking with the dog.

 

He's supposed to be in bed by 10:00 with lights out by 10:30, but he does a fair amount of theatre, too, and often is just coming back home by 10:00 and needing a snack and a shower before he can sleep. So, we do the best we can to keep him on schedule.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Teenagers learn to do their own thing, in time.

They don't have bedtimes given by mom.

[lynn]

The older boys set their own bed times. As long as they are quiet and do not disturb anyone and get up on time for work and school without being grouchy. Most night that's about 11:30p

 

When they were in their younger teens I had them to bed by 8:30. We had a baby in the house that would not go to bed unless everyone else was settled.

Edited August 7, 2012 by lynn

[Joyofsixreboot]

Well 20&18 yo are up until 3am types. 16 yo goes about 10:30 on his own. 13 yo goes depending on her sport or play schedule.

[Anne Rittenhouse]

For our house, it's not a question of when to bed, but a question of getting up. We must be up at 6am. If you're not making that time with a happy face, you need to go to bed earlier. Soooo, during the school year this means quiet time begins at 9pm. That is, at 9pm everyone in their rooms for quiet study, reading or listening to music on headphones. I don't enforce bedtime but highly encourage a 10 to 10:30pm bedtime. I do enforce the morning routine with a cheery vengence that is highly annoying to sleepyheads.

[6packofun]

Our teens go to bed when they decide. They all seem to like their sleep and know their own "rhythms" (13yo dd, for example, just does NOT get tired before 11). They also know that if they stay up later on an evening before they have to wake early they'll need to adjust and deal with their tiredness! LOL No one gets out of obligations due to poor planning and they understand that pretty quickly! I figure bedtime is an excellent place to start letting them be responsible for themselves and time management.

 

All that said, our teens rarely stay up past 11, unless we make them stay up to watch Walking Dead or a meteor shower, Mars rover landing, etc.! :D

[justamouse]

I find it gets more difficult to have alone time as they kids age.

 

Mine are 21 to 6. Only the 21 year old is not home. ;)

[MAIMOM]

Our teens go to bed when they decide. They all seem to like their sleep and know their own "rhythms" (13yo dd, for example, just does NOT get tired before 11). They also know that if they stay up later on an evening before they have to wake early they'll need to adjust and deal with their tiredness! LOL No one gets out of obligations due to poor planning and they understand that pretty quickly! I figure bedtime is an excellent place to start letting them be responsible for themselves and time management.

 

I agree with them learning time management and the idea of consequences to actions...stay up late...tired next day.

 

For us we have them go upstairs to their rooms at 9:30. We do not enforce a go to sleep time as long as they are up in good humor and taking care of their responsibilities. Having the m in their rooms at 9:30 gives DH and I time together in the house (smaller house). It also encourages them to wind down...they listen to music or the radio or sometimes talk together.

Edited August 9, 2012 by MAIMOM

[earthyfamily]

Bedtime is always 8:00 for all the kids (12, 10 & 8), with lights out & books away by 9:00 for the littles and 9:30 for the 12 year old. We get up at 6:00 (10 year old up at 5:45 to shower, otherwise he will forget). And we school five days a week from 8AM-3:30PM. Our only day to 'sleep in' is on Mondays and that's usually only until about 6:30 or 7:00.

 

Nicole