cagirlintexas Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 So my son has discovered the joy of reading. Now instead of looking at books and falling asleep he is up reading at night for hours. He doesn't read much during the day but at bedtime he starts reading and reading. He does sleep in a bit in the morning so I am okay with it just trying to figure out how to get him to sleep? What is your take on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicalTwins Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 My 9 yr old boys have also been bitten by the reading bug at bedtime...and we let it happen. Unless we have somewhere we HAVE to be the next morning, I'm letting it go, I am just overjoyed by reading...FINALLY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeplessnights Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I think this is a great way to encourage reading...as long as they sleep in. My kids don't sleep in, so I can only let them stay up until 8:30 or they'll be miserable the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 My kids are allowed to read in their beds after bedtime. We even give them a book box to keep a few books and a flashlight/booklight in. They are not allowed out their beds, though. Some of ours fall asleep rather quickly. My oldest, though, has been known to read an entire chapter book in one night rather than go to bed. We're lucky enough that we homeschool so she can sleep in. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 My daughter has been bitten by the bug too. I just let her have at it. That the luxury of being homeschooled right--not having to get up early in the morn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I think it's a magic reading time, honestly. :D Unless it becomes a problem in other ways, I would let it go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagirlintexas Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 So you would just let them read till they fall asleep. That is what I am thinking. Of course after like 2 hours I start to worry. Going to see what time exactly he gets up tomorrow. We do home school though so if wants to stay up and read I don't see the big deal. Just want a well rested kid. Dh thinks its odd but I was a total book worm when I was a kid so I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 We have a "quiet time" when we send them to bed and a later "lights out" time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagirlintexas Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 We have a "quiet time" when we send them to bed and a later "lights out" time. might have to do that. Going to see what time he gets up tomorrow. He was reading well past 10 tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Each kid has a 'lights out' time. They can read in their room until that time. My eldest (12 years old) can read until 9pm and the youngest gets until 8pm As someone with sleeping problems, I would like to suggest you do not allow the kids to read in the bed. Both my boys have nice beanbag chairs and good lights for evening reading. The bed is only for sleeping. Reading in bed until you fall asleep can cause some people to have difficulty falling asleep as they get older. My older boy has trouble unwinding and falling asleep (like his mom), but the younger boy doesn't. For the elder it is especially important that we limit the physical bed to sleep related activities only. That way, his brain/body associates the bed with sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I allow them to read in bed as long as they want. BUT, they have to be up in the morning--though we're not on schedule now, in a few weeks we will be. They self monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 The way we do bedtime and nighttime reading is for the kids to get ready for bed (showers/baths, brush teeth, jammies, get water) and then we do read-alouds for about half an hour to an hour. Then DS6 is tucked in and falls asleep immediately. He is still kind of a baby sleeper, needing more like 11 hours at night. DS9 and DD are allowed to read in bed until 10, at which time we go in and turn out the lights and "officially" tuck them in. If we don't do this, they will stay up until the middle of the night reading (seriously, midnight to 1 am was getting to be a problem at this age! :001_huh:). They get up around 8 am, so they get 10 hours of sleep or so, which is about right for making sure they actually go to sleep at 10 the following night. Anything more than 10 hours of sleep and they are wired the next night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 We've had to institute a lights out time. Ds8 will (and has) read until 1am if we leave the lights on. His roommate ds6 is also starting to stay up too late reading for being such an early riser. My responsibility is to get them to bed early enough to read for at least an hour before lights out. If ds6 is asleep, I'll leave the light on later for ds8 since he's a late riser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Usually this is how it goes around here. I send them to bed at about 7:30. At 8:30 I go back and tuck the younger two in and tell them to put the books away (I check on them again in about 15min). At 9:00 I go back and tuck my oldest in and tell him to put the books up. There have been a couple times that I just leave them though. If it's been a stressful week I leave them alone because it's a wonderful time for them that leaves them feeling better. When I went back one evening and found my 5 year old completely enthralled by 'The Magicians Nephew', I left quietly and didn't disturb him. That first time a kid gets into a book that isn't a picture book is just too special to mess it up. Normally though, they are allowed a specified amount of time to read in bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagirlintexas Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Well when left to his own devices he doesn't seem to put the book down and go to sleep. We have had a few really late nights and he isn't doing a great job sleeping in. I though he was sleeping in but not that late. I think we are going to play around with a lights out time between 9 and 10. I just need to make sure he gets enough sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicalb Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I've had a "in your room and I don't care what you do as long as you are quiet and giving me peace" time since ds was around 9ish. We probably would have started that earlier had we started homeschooling earlier. He is 14 now and reads until very late some nights and sleeps in or naps the next day. I am fine with that. This relaxed lifestyle is no small part of why we homeschool. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Yep, my bedtime was terribly early compared to my peers as a child since my parents used it as their together time, I think at 10 my bedtime was 8pm. But my lights out time gradually increased, again at 10 I think it was 9 or 9:30pm, but there was a lights out time until I was a teenager otherwise I'd be up till midnight (sometimes I still was with a torch under the sheet!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 We tend to get them into bed by a reasonable time and then they can stay awake as long as they like as long as they are in the bed and quiet. We only order lights off if it's ridiculously late or the kid is super tired and we need to be somewhere in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I think it's a magic reading time, honestly. :D Unless it becomes a problem in other ways, I would let it go on. :iagree: Yes, let it go on, I love walking in to check on them at night and they are asleep with a book by their side. NICE. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 My 9yo can fall asleep with the light on, a heavy hardcover book on his face, music blaring in his headphones and the electric blanket cooking him. The challenge is to creep in and rearrange everything without provoking a furious reaction. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 DS was up until midnight/1 a.m., five nights in a row last week. He couldn't sleep so just sat up reading. I knew this because I was also up with insomnia... DS and I both struggle to sleep. Our policy is: Stay in your room and be quiet and you can read as late as you want. :D If DS does needs to be up early in the morning, we tell him and he sets a timer to go off in 15 or 30 minutes, then he reads until the timer goes off. If he tries to sleep and struggles, he knows he can get back up and read some more. We then just deal with it in the morning. (He is very hard to get up, but - thankfully - isn't cranky.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniBlondes Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Both of mine started this over the summer. We put them to bed about 15 minutes earlier than usual and let them read for 30-45 minutes. Usually they are already asleep by that point. During the summer we weren't as strict with it but now that school has started, I make sure that lights are out by 9:30 regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amie Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) My oldest is five. We have a "bedtime" and a "lights out" time. At this age I'm concerned with setting him up with good sleep habits. As he gets older we'll give him more freedom/responsibility in this department, but for now I give him a "lights out"--otherwise this particular child could be up until VERY late. ETA: I have wonderful memories of staying up late to finish a favorite book by flashlight, but I was older than my kids are now (and I don't suffer with any sleeping issues because of it as an adult). I look forward to my children making those same great memories, but I don't think they are ready to determine their going-to-sleep time yet. Maybe it depends on the individual child--my oldest would stay up way too late. Edited August 27, 2012 by Amie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 We have a "quiet time" when we send them to bed and a later "lights out" time. Same here. They do have to get up a few mornings a week, to go to my mom's while I work, so they don't always have the luxury of sleeping in. Hence a quiet time, and a lights out time work well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maela Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 My daughter (5) will stay up until 11 or 12 reading if we let her. So we give her 30-45 minutes with a flashlight after we tuck her in. Then she has to try to sleep because I know she needs more sleep than what she was getting when we let her read as much as she wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 My 7 year old is trying to read all the boxcar children we borrowed from the library. He has been sleeping at 2am for the past few weeks which make me an insomniac very sleep deprived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I let ds read however late he wants, often he falls to sleep with the lamp on. He does sleep in from the girls but they've always been wired a bit different. Generally he wakes up in time for b-fast and schooling though. On rare occasion he sleeps very late, but not usually. He doesn't seem to need a ton of sleep and I don't stress about it. If he starts getting grumpy I might make him take a nap but that is really, really rare. He tells me all the time that he stays up half the night. I don't really know though as I go to bed with everyone else! As long as he seems to be just fine during the day I guess he knows how much sleep he needs. We also have quiet time that he could take a nap if needed- although he never does unless forced once every 3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Dh is starting to worry it'll affect their sleep because they say reading in bed makes it hard for many people to sleep. For the last few years they go to bed and have a certain amount of time to read before they have turn off their lights. We're moving in a few weeks and in the new house we are going to get comfy chairs (bean bags maybe?) that they'll use for reading before bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 DS reads every night in bed till he falls asleep. I have no problems with it unless we have to get up really early to go somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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