What is your elementary aged kids sleep schedule?

[lovinmyboys]

The first 8 years I was a parent, my kids went to bed between 7 and 8 and couldn’t come out of their rooms until 6:30. It was awesome! Now, they are 6-11 and they get to bed around 10 and are up by 7:30. I really miss the evening hours to get things done. When I look at recommended sleep amounts, 9 hours seems about right for their ages.

 

If your kids only sleep 9 hours, how do you get enough downtime/sleep/productive time? Or do your kids sleep more? I feel like I became markedly less productive over the last 3 years and I think it is because my “night†is two hours shorter than it used to be.

Edited March 19, 2018 by lovinmyboys

[eternalsummer]

My kids don't sleep more but the older ones do entertain themselves (and feed themselves, and clean up after themselves, etc.)

 

My downtime and productive time (and on occasion some sleep time) happens while they are awake.

[kiwik]

Bed time is still 8.30 mostly and they can read. Sometimes they wake early but mostly it is 6 to 6.30. I think 9 hours is on the low side and 10 is too late for bed. I start work at 9 and finish at about 12.

[Storygirl]

My kids are older. DD16 has to stay up later, due to ballet and homework demands. But the 13 and 14 year olds go to bed around 9 and get up around 6:30. They don't stay up until 10, even in the summers, except for the oldest.

 

If you don't want them to stay up until 10, try having them go to bed earlier. They may still sleep until the same time in the morning.

[wendyroo]

My oldest is just about to turn 9.  He goes to bed at 7:30, is asleep around 8, wakes up between 5:30 and 6, but reads in his room until 6:30.

 

My 6.5 year old goes to bed at 7, falls asleep very quickly, wakes around 6, and reads in his room until breakfast is served at 7.

 

I don't know how I will function when they start staying up later.  Their mental health challenges make them very needy and supervision-intensive, so every minute they are awake I need to be "on".

 

Wendy

[mamakelly]

My teen goes to her room at 10, lights out by 10:30.

My 10 year old goes to his room at 8, lights out by 8:30.

[caedmyn]

Mine have different bedtimes dependjng on their age. 1 year old sleeps roughly 7:30 to 6:30 or 7. 5 yo is 8ish to 6:30 or 7. 7 and 9 yo's, 8:45ish to about 6:30 (it takes them a while to fall asleep so they're probably getting 9 hrs most nights). 12 yo is 9:15ish to whenever I wake her up, ideally 7. I try for 30 mins of down time during quiet time after lunch, which doesn't happen regularly. Productive time...that mostly happens on weekends when my parents come visit, and for a couple hours one afternoon a week when they go to a sitter. I have trouble making myself go to bed early enough because it's so nice having down time after they're finally all in bed.

[Megbo]

My 8yo wakes up before 6:00am every day and is a basketcase in the evenings, so he has a pretty strict bedtime of 8:30pm (along with Ds3). Ds10 likes to stay up later, usually until 10:00 or 10:30pm, and wakes up between 7:30 and 8:00am. He's very low-maintenance, so we do get downtime as soon as the two youngest are in bed. 

[Rachel]

We aim for lights off by 8:30, though I prefer it to be earlier it just doesn’t happen anymore. My kids wake up between 7:15 and 7:45, later if they have snuck a flashlight and book to bed.

[Plagefille]

Lights out between 8-8:30 in Elementary. 9 hours of sleep seems low for that age. Mine still sleep 10-11 at that age. My older kids still have to be in their rooms by 8:00 now, but can read for a little while.

[nixpix5]

We have a policy that all kids are in their room by 8pm and they can read or do something quietly until 9pm which is bedtime.

[Tap]

Dd11 goes to bed at 9pm and due to sleep meds, is asleep in 15min or so. She takes meds at 830 so she doesnt usually linger past 9. If those meds dont work, she gets another dose at 930. She is up at 700-715am and I have to wake her 90% of the time.

 

Without meds she wakes up multiple times per night and sleeps during school.

[Ellie]

Dc were in bed by 8, and they slept until almost 8. Awesome. :-) By the time they were 9 and 12, their bedtime began to creep closer to 9, even if they were awake in their rooms.

[MaeFlowers]

Dd goes to bed about 9:30 but doesn't go to sleep until around midnight. She usually only gets up once to go to the bathroom. She wakes between 7 and 10.

 

If I have energy left, I try to get things done after 10pm. But, to be honest, it is really hard to be productuve at that point. I usually stay behind on everything. I just have to sneak in twenty minutes or work here or there when I can.

Edited March 19, 2018 by MaeFlowers

[SKL]

Since about age 10, my kids are usually up late because of homework loads.  Their theoretical bedtime has been 9:30 since they were about 6, but it is a rare day when they are actually in bed by then.  Usually it's 10 or 10:30 and sometimes as late as midnight.  They wake around 7am to get ready for school.

 

I am a night person, so if my kids haven't wiped me out mentally, I will usually be up for a couple/few hours after they go to bed.  I wake up when they wake up.  Occasionally I sneak a nap after they go to school.  (I work at home, so nobody cares as long as the work gets done.)

[gardenmom5]

bedtime was 8pm, up around 7:30.   though it would happen, lights out/asleep by 9, and up by 8.

 

he's now 13 - lights out by 9pm (I kick him off the computer at 7:30pm as he is more able to actually go to sleep), and he's up after 7:30.

 

 

[Arctic Bunny]

I have a 13yo who can get by with 8 or 9, but does better with 10. I tuck in his 11yo brother first, who needs 10 or 11 hours. DS13 will stay up reading until all hours if not caught; DS11 is asleep within minutes. For a 7 am wake up, we start bedtime at 8, with a goal of reading out loud from 8:30 to 9:00 at the latest.

[DawnM]

My kids went to bed early when they were very young and I worked full time and they had to get up to get to pre-school. 

 

Once we moved and I stopped working, it was a free for all and we ALL went to bed much later.  

 

I still remember sitting in a scout meeting, my 10 and 8 year old in cub scouts, and my 4 year old in the pre-school program.  A woman came up to me and asked me if I would take her son home because her EIGHT year old (girl) had an early bedtime and scouts went way too late.  And I was sitting there with my FOUR year old and waiting for my 8 year old to finish.  

 

I took her son one time and that was it.  She lived too far out of my way and so she said to just meet her at the CVS but it took her 20 min. to get there and it was after 10pm.  I told her no more.

[regentrude]

By 8pm, I was done reading bedtime stories, singing lullabies. Kids were in their rooms. They could do whatever they wanted, quietly. We started this at age 6, and kids were in charge of their bedtime. Breakfast was at 7am. They quickly learned to self regulate.

[HomeAgain]

I don't care when my kids fall asleep, but they'll be in their quarters by 8pm in elementary and 9pm in high school.  We've called the last of the evening for ourselves, for quiet time for parents.  I'm not going to share that with my kids.  DS19 still mostly follows the same pattern when he comes home.  He leaves the living room and goes to do his thing by 9.  He knows the days get hectic and the rule was put in place to keep happy parents, lol, so it's a small sacrifice. 

[fairfarmhand]

I don't care when my kids fall asleep, but they'll be in their quarters by 8pm in elementary and 9pm in high school. We've called the last of the evening for ourselves, for quiet time for parents. I'm not going to share that with my kids. DS19 still mostly follows the same pattern when he comes home. He leaves the living room and goes to do his thing by 9. He knows the days get hectic and the rule was put in place to keep happy parents, lol, so it's a small sacrifice.

I might add that it’s totally okay for parents to do this and frame it that way to their kids. Nobody ever died from reading quietly in their room for 45 minutes before bed. It will help them wind down too. (No screens) but yes your kids will probably complain and it’s fine for you to set it up that way for your own needs. Parents have needs too.

 

 

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[chicagoshannon]

My kids go to bed at 7:30 with lights out at 8:30, 9 on the weekend.   DD almost 11 seems to need more sleep than DS.  He manages to stay awake until almost 10 most nights and is up around 7 every morning.  I have to drag DD out of bed at 7:30 in the morning.

[Bluegoat]

They go to bed between 8 and 9.  Ds8 usually wakes up by 7, dd10 by 8.

 

Actually, dd13 is in bed around the same time most nights and wakes up at 6:65 - 7:30 depending on whether she wants a shower.  She thinks she should be up later as most of her friends aren't in bed until 10, but since she still has a hard time getting up before school, I am not so inclined to really extend it much.

[ScoutTN]

My kids are 10 and 12, turning 11 and 13 in the summer. They both sleep lots lately, but it can be hard to get them into bed on time. Ds has been a morning person since birth, but pre-teen hormone/growth phase is changing his pattern

 

We aim for 9pm til 7am right now, but we have regular activties 3 evenings and one early morning each week. They get t

 

I am trying to get Dh to cooperate in our sleep routine, but he often visits with the kids after they are in bed, keeping them up 30 minutes or so later than necessary. 

[mommyoffive]

kids ages 2-12

 

Bedtime is anytime btwn 7:45-9pm depending on what activities we have going that night.  A rare time is past 9pm when we have dance shows or are traveling. 

I am not sure what time they wake up.  They play or do school work in the morning until I wake up.   Sometimes they are up at 6:30 and sometimes some are still in bed after 8am. 

But I like my down time at night so they need to go to bed. 

[Ravin]

DS is up at 6 AM on weekdays to get ready for school, and usually within an hour of that on weekends. He goes to bed between 8 and 9, a little later on weekends than weekdays. Sometimes he'll be up as late as 10 if we're out doing something, and will sleep a little later the next day.

[Mommyof1]

My 5 yr olds bedtime is 7:30. She is an early riser and is up around 6:30 on her own, most days.

 

[AmandaVT]

Lights out for DS (almost 10 yrs) at 9 pm, he can listen to an audiobook until 9:30 and then that goes off too. Wake up time varies between 7:30 and 9 some days.

[freesia]

My answer changed over the course of parenting kids with different ages.

All my kids went to bed by &7:30 or 8 until the oldest was 11.  He could read until 8:30 or 9 (I don't remember) in his room.

Now, my 8 year old listens to books on tape in her room from 8:00-8:30 and then comes and reads in my bed with me from 8:30-9 and then goes to bed.  The other's aren't elementary age now, so I'll leave their schedule off.

It is harder to get downtime now in the evening, for sure.  One thing I do if I realize I"m frazzled is tell everyone that I am going to read now and want to be left alone.  But it's harder with questions about college applications and making time for teens who might want to talk.

I also try to pace my days so I get quiet time then.

But, I am not a great help, bc I miss my long evenings too and am trying to see this time as a season.  At least I don't have anyone waking me up all night or at 5 in the morning!

[chicagoshannon]

Kids must be in their rooms by7:30, lights out at 8:30.  They both are required to be up by 7:30 so we can start school by 8.  DD 11 seems to require more sleep than DS 7 so is usually sleeping before him and up later than him.

[rebcoola]

It's gotten pretty late here but it works for us.  They go to their rooms at 9:30 they sleep when they want and wake up more or less when they want between 7& 9.  I am a night person so I get plenty of downtime and sleep from about 12 to about 8.  They don't bother me if they get up first and they make their own breakfast.  If you want more evening time I would just set a room time where they can do quiet activities in there if they bug you it becomes bed time.