straw poll - how many hours between going to bed and time to get up for a 13 year old?

[blueskiesovertheforest]

Asking what time they go to bed is meaningless because obviously teen who doesn't need to get up until 8am is likely to go to bed a lot later than one who needs to be up at 6am.

So how many hours between heading to bed and the alarm going off for your 13 year old?

For mine, about 9 hours. She gets up at 7am, and would normally be in bed around 10-11pm.

Thanks Birdie6 - does she fall asleep pretty much straight away?

Mine gets around 8.5-9 hours sleep. He usually reads for 30 mins first.

DS is 14.5yo. Usually sleeps 10:30ish to 7:30amish. 9 hrs?

I am yelling at DSs to STFU & let me sleep with success from about 9:45pm.

Thanks BibbityBobbityEars and YeOldeTrout

DD has to be up early and has a solid 10 hours in bed. She goes to bed perfectly happily without protest and I don't have to tell her to be quiet, she doesn't have her phone in her room and no internet for her laptop. She reads or draws or writes for ages though and is still awake when I go to bed. So effectively she's in bed reading/ drawing/ writing stories for about 2 hours in the evening.

She's very deeply asleep when I have to wake her in the morning though, so I can't decide whether she needs a later bedtime or not!

DD has said her friends go later but in the same breath without any prompting volunteered that they complain all the time about being tiered...

Ideally I think she needs to be able to get up two hours later, and go to bed a corresponding 2 hours later, but that's not an option as she'd have missed not only her bus but the first lesson at school!

Do your teens seem to get enough sleep?

Tired not tiered

Ds1 has got pretty good at recognising when he’s tired and going to bed. I think he does get enough sleep. He’s an early riser though - never sleeps beyond 6:30 latest.

My 10 yo Is another matter. Bedtimes are a constant battle there and he is tired and grumpy.

BibbityBobbityEars at what age did you stop telling DS1 to go to bed and leave him to decide?

2 hours is a loong time to be in bed but not asleep. If my dd goes to bed too early she then can't sleep until even later than normal.

(She sleeps 10-7 usually)

It might be better to try her not to get in bed until she's likely to actually sleep. Perhaps the wind down time needs to be somewhere else. Google "sleep hygiene" for explanation sorry no time to find a link

Sometimes she falls asleep a lot more quickly, but yes 2 hours is a long time. She's never complained though, and I think she actually quite likes it... But as you say wishingforalotterywin seeing her bed as a place to read/ write/ draw might be stopping her falling asleep ... She asks me to tell her to go to sleep on my way to bed, and she's still awake about 2/3 of the time I'd say.

DS1 typically falls asleep at about 10. He has to be up at 6.30 so 8.5 hours. I think he needs more but he struggles to fall asleep earlier. At the weekends he has a good lie in.

DD usually goes up at around 9-9.30pm, but she faffs a lot, so generally isn't in bed until 10pm. She then takes a little while to drop off some nights. She gets up at 7am.

DD likes the idea of getting up at 6am and having more time in the mornings but I've said she'd need to sleep earlier if she is going to manage that. As it is, she is still sleepy at 7am!

I don't think she gets enough sleep really.

My 13 almost 14 yo Ds has real trouble getting to sleep. I often hear him going the loo about midnight.

He's up at 6:30 for school and has sport training or matches most weekend which means he doesn't get a lie in at the weekends. However, no training this weekend and he slept till midday on Sunday.

We've tried everything to help him get to sleep but he appears to be wired in such a way that getting to sleep isn't easy for him: he was the same as a tiny baby!

We just make allowances for his tiredness-sometimes he gets in from school, showers and lies in his bed doing nothing or reading for a couples of hours.

Ideally, he'd have 12 hours straight.

Thanks Cloud, Alexa and TwoGin

Hmm I really still don't know what to do

Maybe in the next school holidays I'll put her younger siblings to bed but tell her she can decide. Atm I just say "bedtime kids" at 7:30pm and they all say goodnight to DH and go upstairs, pack their school bags, put their clothes out for the next day, wash, brush teeth and get pyjamas on. So all 3 are in bed just after 8pm usually. I go up and read a chapter of a book aloud sitting in ds2's room but DS1 sleeps in there too atm and DD reminds me to read loudly and complains when her brother interupt because she still likes to listen usually, not always (even though she reads maze runner/ hunger games/ ready player one type stuff to herself she's enjoying listening to Kensukes Kingdom first but I don't find that odd really as I enjoy the books I read aloud too )

My 11 year old usually falls asleep during the story by 8:30pm, 7 year old draw or reads a bit in bed (I do think he needs to be in bed though) and 13 year old often til 10 - I go to bed at 10 and she puts everything away and tries to sleep then if not before, I don't hear her but she claims it sometimes still takes time before she sleeps. I honestly don't know how much of that is perception - 7 year old claims he doesn't fall asleep till "nearly morning" but I've never found him awake when I go to bed.

We've tried having seperate bedtimes before mainly because we only have one bathroom upstairs, but DD usually ends up voluntarily saying she might as well go too when I send ds2...

I think maybe I need to let DD come back down after getting ready for bed, but on the other hand she's never complained or asked...

All 3 kids have to be up at 6am. They can't get up any later as they need to be at the bus stop 100m down the road at 6:35 am - neighbor kids wait at the end of our drive at 6:30am...

Early to bed and getting up early used to work well, but for the last year or so it's clear that it's really true that childrens circadian rhythms change as they become teens!

Still not sure...

Nhs sleep guide:

www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-much-sleep-do-kids-need/

She'd need to be asleep at 8:45pm to get the NHS required 9 hours 15 minutes.

As I usually say goodnight about 8:30pm that should be about right, it's just that she isn't falling asleep til much later...

Although 7 year old should be actually asleep by 7:30pm. Also not sure how to achieve that! You can put a child to bed but you can't make him or her sleep...

11 year old gets exactly 9.5 hours though... 1 out of 3!

I think provide them with the opportunity to sleep for the right amount daily for 2 months, to create a good habit, then what they do is up to them to a point, as long as they are thriving.

I guess they've had the opportunity all their lives KnittingSister as they've pretty much always gone to bed at the same time, but when they were younger didn't have to get up as early.

Exception at the moment probably being the 7 year old, who I guess ouught to go up to bed by 7pm absolute latest... Perhaps it's him who should be going to bed earlier not 13 yo later...

On a school day mine gets about 9-10 hours. He goes up at 9-9.30pm and gets up 6.30-7am.