Is it just my children that will not Go To Bloody Bed?

[GreyishDays]

Just that.
We have 8 yr old averaging asleep by 9/9.15
10 yr old 9.30 ish, but they still wake at seven and are knackered.

You can make bed more appealing by getting in it with them. Turning the light off. Pretending to sleep. Then listen to them ramble on share their precious brainthoughts with you.

Just try to keep them away from the windows.

Do you mean won't go to bed or won't go to sleep? From my own experience.......as a child I was sent to bed, wasn't allowed to read and it took me ages to get to sleep, because I wasn't tired. With my own children (and grandchildren) they went up to bed at what I considered a reasonable time, but were allowed to read or look at books (if they couldn't yet read) until they were tired.

Why don't you reinstate a bedtime? Send them both up to bed at 8pm but let them read in bed til 8.30/9?

I know they can go through phases of pushing the boundaries or in DS case, king the just one more cuddle, I need a drink, I forgot to go for a wee. In order to drag out bedtime. But sometimes you just have to send them to bed. They have bedtime, They are allowed to read in bed before lights out to help them go to sleep. We also male sure they have good black out curtains as there is nothing worse then trying to get to sleep when it's still light.

Crikey mine hardly slept. DS abput 10.30 until 5.50 from five weeks old. Gave up yrying to get him to sleep before 8pm by the time he was 3 and I realised I paid for it from 2am until 5.30am.

DD was slightly better and would sleep from about 9.30pm until about 6.45am.

Never an issue getting them up.

Mine are like that at the moment, they’re usually pretty good with bedtimes but since being off school they’re just not tired enough at bedtime. They still get up early and then get tired and irritable in the afternoon but then seem to get over it and not want to go to bed when it’s time for it. I don’t know what the solution is, DC1 has been coming out running with me in the mornings and we all went for a long walk today but it doesn’t seem to help. Maybe they’re just not mentally stretched enough at the moment for sleep. 🤷‍♀️

It’s ruining my evenings though, dp and I have been working all the way through this and with having to do schoolwork too, the few evenings I’m not working are all we have and by the time the kids are settled it’s not even worth putting a film on.

No not just yours. My 11 year old DD just came down and said she was hungry!

That's early

I'll have to retrain mine to something reasonable at some point when life restarts but they are naturally night owls and struggle to shut off mid-summer even when there's school.

We still have a routine, it's just drifted later and I can't see the point in a battle over an arbitary time that serves no purpose.

God no, I have just spent 3 hours sat on the floor next to my 5 year olds bed whilst she went to sleep and it is the same every night. Then she wakes 2/3 times a night which takes 20 minutes to resettle her. Oh and my 17 year old will wake me to go get a drink or because she can't sleep or whatever else is going on. I am broken with it. (Should say both girls have additional needs).

Must say by the time ds was 16/17 I'd have done anything to have had him yelling from the cot. "Hey ma, no worries, am waiting for the night bus on Lewisham High Road, oh and I've got 1% battery". Didn't really cut it.

It's hard when they're not getting enough exercise, enough play, enough stimulation

10ish hours sleep seems plenty for an 8 & 10 yo.

What is it that is waking them up at 7? I dont understand how they would wake up naturally but are still knackered?

Are they allowed to sleep later if they want?

No, not just you. DS(7) is the same. He's a true night owl type, and without the structure and exertion of school, and with the light nights (bastard sun) he's naturally staying up later and later, and DH and I now have no true private time in the evening. He does also sleep later and later, so we do at least have the option of trying to reset his body clock, but it's not easy!

Other DS(5) is fine, but if he ever does stay up late, he never ever sleeps late to compensate which sounds like your DS, OP?

Mine went to sleep 11pm, in bed from 10. They are 9 and 10. I've told them I want to watch swearing, sex, and violence on telly (BBC4 😂) so long as they must be in bed by 10 at the latest that gives us an hour or so of grown up time.

And mine sleep in until 10am .

We’ve noticed a real change (for the better) in DS2 since he went back to preschool on Monday. He was not only infinitely happier but he was properly exhausted for the first time since lockdown. DS1 is still suffering and not due back at school anytime soon (Y2). It’s rubbish.

It’s a bit of both with the not going to bed/sleep.
Younger keeps stalling, needing more cuddles, getting out of bed.
Older is just mucking about not even going to bed.
But partly I think they’re just not tired so we’re fighting a losing battle. DH wants them in bed earlier.

The other day it was about 10.30 and DC were still awake when I went to bed (DH was awake and I had to be up before 6 to go to work). They go to bed at about 8pm. DC1 is 9 and reads but is rarely asleep before 9pm. DC2 is 5 and is my non-sleeping wonderchild, who has never slept well. She is usually still awake after 9, sometimes after 10, but we have to sit next to her until she falls asleep. They are exhausted (so am I) and hard to teach or persuade to do anything.

It’s just habit that makes them wake at 7. Or one makes accidental noise and then the other wakes up. I wish I had children that wake later when they go to bed later, but they just don’t.

Do they share a room?

If not, I'd settle for them just being in their rooms by a certain time.

Twatting around for extra cuddles and drinks is just bad behaviour so treat it as if they were doing the equivalent in the daytime.

They don’t share a room

I can’t work out if I need to be more strict or less 😂