What time does your middle schooler go to bed?

[Nakia]

Our kids go to bed fairly early, 9:30 at the latest, unless we are out doing something special. I do let Anna stay up a little later if she wants to read in bed. Night time is our time (meaning Patrick and I) and I count it pretty much sacred since we don't go on many dates. Thankfully my kids have always been good sleepers, and I've only got one "early bird" and even she sleeps until 7:30, easily, so that probably doesn't qualify as early, lol!

 

Just wondering how you all handle bedtime. :D Anna has started commenting on her friends being able to stay up a lot later than 9:30.

 

Oh, and if your middle schooler has a cell phone and texts, do you have a cut off time for texting/calling?

 

Thanks!

[Ellie]

I don't know what age "middle schooler" is. :confused:

But my dc's bedtime was 8 p.m., until they were older than 10yo, and then it sort of stretched to 9 p.m. Then it became in bed by 9, but lights could be on until 10.

[bookfiend]

We must be really archaic here - Upstairs at 8:00, reading until 8:30, lights out. Realistically that often flexes to 8:30 and 9:00. I find that my guys still need a solid 10-11 hours sleep/night.

[curlylocks]

My 13 yo is in bed by 9 PM. He reads and lights are out by 9:30 PM.

 

He does not have a cell phone.

[Pawz4me]

My eighth grader normally goes to bed between 11:00 and 11:30 and is up between 8:00 and 8:30. We haven't had set bed times for our kids in years. As long as they get up easily when they need to and function well during the day we figure all is well.

 

He has a cell phone but calling/texting isn't an issue.

[The Girls' Mom]

Well, they have to brush their teeth and get ready for bed around 9PM. Then we usually read from the Bible for 20-30 minutes as a family. After that, they are free to read in their room until 10 or 10:30. I don't really enforce a sleep time unless we have to go somewhere in the AM.

 

No electronics period after 10.

[Caroline]

Mine goes to be around 9:30-10:00. He can read in bed for a while. I don't really regulate his sleep. He is pretty self-regulating.

[Murphy101]

Between 7:30 and 8:30 unless it's a unique occassion of some sort.

[Durriyyah]

My eighth grader normally goes to bed between 11:00 and 11:30 and is up between 8:00 and 8:30. We haven't had set bed times for our kids in years. As long as they get up easily when they need to and function well during the day we figure all is well.

 

He has a cell phone but calling/texting isn't an issue.

 

This is us. I told DD1 at one point I want her in her room earlier so I can have some "me time" but now that DD2 is in there also, that doesn't really work. If she is too hard to get up, I remind her I can set a bed time for her... that works pretty well. She wants her freedom to choose when to go to bed. :)

[whitestavern]

My 12 yo goes to bed at 9 but can read however long she wants. Her lights are usually out by 10/10:30. Prior to this year she went to bed at 8; same rules w/reading. I'm with you...dh and I need that time to ourselves. Besides which, although we don't watch much TV, there is little on at that time (well, really ever) that is appropriate for dc to watch.

 

My 10 yo goes up at 8 and we let him read til 9. He needs the sleep.

[freesia]

My older 3 are in bed by 8:30. My 11 yo can read until 9:30.

[Cassy]

All of mine are in bed by 9.30 pm to 10 pm, but are often awake until 11 pm or later. It works for us.

[Denisemomof4]

Mine goes to be around 9:30-10:00. He can read in bed for a while. I don't really regulate his sleep. He is pretty self-regulating.

 

:iagree:

 

Dd has a phone and loves to text but it is a privilege she only has when she is doing her chores without reminders from me. So she doesn't get it often. When she goes to bed, phone stays downstairs and charges for the night.

[MrsMe]

My 13 yo is in bed by 9 PM. He reads and lights are out by 9:30 PM.

 

He does not have a cell phone.

 

Ditto for my 12 yo dd!

[AimeeM]

DD11 goes to sleep around 1 or 2 am. Late, I know. Her Vyvannse causes some sleeping problems.

With that said, she scoots off to her bedroom around 10 to watch television or work on crafts.

 

She does have a cellphone and an ipad. The ipad she can play with until *whenever* (she likes to watch Netflix), but the cellphone is not allowed to be used after 9 pm (her bestfriend's bedtime).

[nukeswife]

All of my kids are up in their rooms at 8pm, but can watch tv or read until 12am. They are usually rolling in for the morning about 9:30 or so. The older one has a 3ds and an ipod touch, dd and younger son both have ipods and ipads as well as 3ds. They all have a TV and a bluray player in their rooms too.

[Scarlett]

Our kids go to bed fairly early, 9:30 at the latest, unless we are out doing something special. I do let Anna stay up a little later if she wants to read in bed. Night time is our time (meaning Patrick and I) and I count it pretty much sacred since we don't go on many dates. Thankfully my kids have always been good sleepers, and I've only got one "early bird" and even she sleeps until 7:30, easily, so that probably doesn't qualify as early, lol!

 

Just wondering how you all handle bedtime. :D Anna has started commenting on her friends being able to stay up a lot later than 9:30.

 

Oh, and if your middle schooler has a cell phone and texts, do you have a cut off time for texting/calling?

 

Thanks!

 

I have a 12 year old. I try to have him in his room by 10, but if he is wound up he can read or draw for an hour. I like him up by 8 a.m.....9 at the latest, so I don't like to let him get in the habit of staying up too late.

 

I don't know how public school kids function! Or public school parents!

[Tracy in Ky]

Dd 12 stays up until around 10ish:)

[missmoe]

My middle schoolers go to bed at 8:30 and lights out at 9:30. I know they don't go to sleep at that time everynight. Three girls share a room, so lots of talking goes on.

[Tasia]

Our schedule is a lot different than it was last year when I had three in public school. Lately, Ds8 and Ds9 have been in bed by about 10. Ds11 doesn't get home from playing hockey until after 10 some nights, so he and Ds13 go to bed around 11. I wake everyone up at 8.

[kokotg]

My 11 year old goes upstairs around 8 or 8:30, lights out at 9:30 on weekdays and 10 on weekends.

[higginszoo]

My middle and high schoolers are in bed at 9, unless there is an activity that has them out later. Bedtime usually gets bumped back from 8 to 9 sometime between ages 10 and 11. We're considering bumping the high schooler's bedtime back to 10, but on the nights he's up until then, we see a definite dip in his performance and attitude the next day, so we're waiting to see if that passes as he comes out of his latest growth spurt.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Nakia,

 

Here goes :)

 

1) I don't give two beans what "everyone else" is doing; giving that as an argument would bench the discussion for at least a month.

2) I think 9:30 with time to read (or post on the Hive) is late enough for most people who aren't at work until 8pm.

3) Your sacred hubby time is precious and should not be compromised regardless.

4) However, this is precisely the age we believe in kids figuring out how to balance things themselves.

5) But there will be no texting, phone calls, FBing, etc after 9pm (nor after the time the other parent states for their kids).

[somo_chickenlady]

We try to get him to bed by 10pm at the latest, so we start having him get ready for bed at 9:15 b/c he likes to dawdle. On the weekends we may allow him stay up late, and have him in bed by 11pm, but not always. It depends on what we have going the next day or his attitude during the day.

Edited October 27, 2012 by somo_chickenlady

[Luanne]

she was this age, but my cousin and brother who have kids this age make them turn their cell phones off by 9 pm.

 

My daughter went to bed about 10 at this age, but she has always been a night owl ... she would also sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning.

[Chris in VA]

Mine is public-schooled, as you know. She gets up at 6:10am because school starts at 7:20am.

She goes to bed around 9, 9:15.

 

She doesn't have a cell phone and doesn't text, but 8pm would be the cut-off for chatting; I'd let her call someone up til 9pm if she needed to ask a question re school or something. She doesn't really use the phone at all.

[Joker]

My middle schooler has lights out at 9:30pm, but she goes to ps and school starts just before 8am. On the weekend she stays up till midnight and is up between 9-11am.

 

She has a cell phone w/text and an iPod Touch. Neither are on after about 8pm.

[mama2cntrykids]

For my almost 12 year old ds, 9 p.m. lights out on school nights and I really don't keep up on non-school nights. I guess he *knows* lights out no later than 10 p.m. on non-school nights, but I usually don't check.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

My 7th grader goes to bed at 9pm - the same time as the littles, because #1 - she sleeps in little DD's room, and #2 - she is the HARDEST to wake up in the morning (and has to be up the earliest).

 

ETA: Her phone automatically shuts off all calls/texting (except to those on her "safe" list - me, DH, etc) at 8:00pm.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My 8th grader goes to sleep about 11 though she goes to her room by 10 usually. She gets up about 8am. As long as she's not grumpy and getting her school done I don't care when she goes to bed. Dh and I usually go to bed at 9pm, LOL

[Barb_]

My 13yo must turn in her electronics at bedtime, which is around 9:30. My 16yo doesn't need to anymore, but did until last year. That depends on the child though because my 11yo and 18yo naturally possess more self control about those things. Lights out is pretty much whenever they (11 and up) choose, but I get them all up by 7:30, so they're usually pretty tired by then anyway.

[Nakia]

Thanks for your responses. It looks like we are pretty "normal." LOL!

[texasmama]

My 12 year old goes to bed around 9 pm or a bit later. He does not have a cell phone.

[Tap]

School starts at 8:30 and she likes an hour or more before school to wake up and get ready for the day. She goes to bed around 10pm asleep by 11.. I like for her to have a solid 8-9 hours of sleep so I try to not wake her up earlier than 7am. If she wakes up earlier, that is fine with me, but I do not wake her earlier myself.

 

DD takes melatonin to sleep and it has made a Huge difference in her quality of sleep and waking up, feeling rested.

 

She takes her phone to be with her, but if it vibrates at night, I can hear it but she won't. LOL Her friends do test each other fairly late/early but since she sleeps through it, I don't worry about it.

 

ETA: I discourage all electronics like tablets, laptops, tv, games etc for about 1 hour before bedtime. I don't regulate it too much, but my kids don't really push it either. If I had one who was a problem, I would enforce it more.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Tap, tap, tap

[EmilyK]

My 14 year old isn't into his phone. He sleeps now in our basement play room (long story) and does have a computer there to listen to podcasts. He's not a kid who I'm worried about internet access, plus we are always walking through there to get to the laundry room etc. He puts himself to bed around 930 or so and sets his alarm for 630.

 

Our struggles are that I would like him to sleep more and encourage him to sleep a bit more on the weekend. He used to set an earlier alarm but he doesn't seem well rested.

 

The hard issue for me is that he is so self-regulating he only needs a loose rein, and I fall into being too lax with my younger son. I should be tougher with him about bedtime, but I get into talking to my husband or reading and forget. He is not at all self-regulating, and would happily pull a all--nighter playing Minecraft if he had the chance.

[Whoareyou]

My 12 yr old has no set schedule. He does homework until late into the night - we keep some odd hours around here. If he stays up later, then he sleeps later while I'm at work. There are no limits on technology or electronics.

[Laura Corin]

Hobbes goes to bed at 8.30 on school nights, 9 at weekends. Calvin goes to bed at 9.30 on school nights and at the same time as we do at weekends.

 

Laura

[TCoppock]

DS usually goes to his room about 10:30 and falls asleep around 12-1. He is awake by 9.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I fall on opposite ends of the spectrum with mine! When this topic comes up for ds's age, he's one of the earliest. And dd seems to fall on the other end as one of the latest.

 

I cut electronics by dinner. Dd does not have the control to stay away from sites i've banned.

 

I say good night to her in her room between 8:30-9:00 because that is when I go to bed. She is supposed to turn her light off by 10 and go to sleep. The problem is that she starts to get hyper right after ds goes to bed (most likely tired) then has a blast at night. She enjoys her time alone.

 

She has to be ready for school by 10am.

 

Eta: i've been thinking of putting a timer on her light or cutting the breaker to her room when i go bed and giving her a small book light.

[rwjx2khsmj]

Dd8 and ds10 are in bed with lights out at 9pm-ish. Dd13 & dd16 are in bed at 10pm-ish. Dd8, ds10 and dd13 are woken up at 9am. Dd8 and ds10 are often up earlier. Dd13 doesn't get out of bed until forced. Dd16 leaves for school at 7:30am.

[kristi26]

We have a 9pm bedtime here for all the kids. Like the OP, nighttime is our time. Marriage is work no matter how long you've been together and we are committed to working on ours all the time. We are in it for the long haul and want to know one another when the kidlets are gone. :)

 

And my MS kid doesn't have a cell phone or text. The only time he ever comes close to texting is when I hand him my phone while driving and say, "here, tell Dad this..."

[TN Mama]

My 6th grader requires a lot of sleep. General bedtime is in bed no later than 8:30. She can read until 9. Weekends aren't usually a whole lot different (maybe 9:30-10).

[In the Rain]

My 11yo is allowed to read until 9:30. If she gets a late start reading, or truly isn't tired, she'll ask to read a little later. She manages herself pretty well. She is always up by 6:30 or 7.

 

Fortunately she has some ps friends who go to sleep earlier, so she doesn't feel imposed upon by having a bedtime.

[LaxMom]

We must be really archaic here - Upstairs at 8:00, reading until 8:30, lights out. Realistically that often flexes to 8:30 and 9:00. I find that my guys still need a solid 10-11 hours sleep/night.

 

Archaic here, too. Mine are all up in their rooms by 8. They can read until 8:30 or 9. The 11 yo (7th grader) has a Touch, and I have our wifi set to block her from 9:00 until 8 am, so she can listen to Pandora or text til then.

 

Nobody's complained yet.

[Joani]

No set bedtimes. Dd12 and Dsd 13 usually go to bed around 11:00 and sleep until a little after 8:00. Ds14 and Ds9 go to bed by 9:30 or so and get up by 6:30.

 

Dh and I have a little sitting area with a TV in our bedroom, so we go up there after we get the youngest boys to bed and let the older kids have the family room for the rest of the evening.