DD has put forth the opinion that her bedtime is too early.

[MonkeyToesOfDoom]

She's 7 years old and has just gone up to year 3.
She said to me
"I really do think my bed time is altogether too early"
She said it in an old fashioned voice like one of the Railway Children...
She insists that 9pm would be a better bed time.
I ask MN, should anyone reply, what is her bed time?

She gets up at 8am and is no trouble in a morning at all. Her current bedtime is 8ish usually after teeth cleaning, changing PJ's, story and such it's around 8.30pm. Should i put it back to 9pm.

I would allow up her up until 8.15 into bed 8.45 and see how she goes in the mornings...

I think lights out at 9 would be ok. So up at 8:30 ?

My daughters is 8ish, but she has to be at school by 8 so in effect you could be later if she doesnt have to get up until 8!

DD is a year younger, she goes up at 6, we do an hour of quiet play/reading/bath then she's in bed at 7pm BUT she's an early riser by 6.30am at the latest.

How about you compromise, try her half an hour later for a week, if she's not too tired at the end of that week then keep it.

Also once bedtime gets later they don't get stories/ stay with. Can she read herself to sleep ?

Wow. My 14 goes to bed at 9pm. My 10 year old at 8pm.

Granted my kids do get up earlier and do seem to need more sleep than most children, they are happy with their bed times.

According to the nhs 7 year olds need 10.5 hours sleep. So if up at 8 she need to be asleep by 9:30

My DS is 7 and he goes to bed at 7/lights out at 7.30 BUT he does wake up anytime between 5-6 every day so needs the earlier night

I think it's a great way to teach self-regulation. Say, "let's give it a try" and have her assess if she is too tired/finds it harder to wake up.

DD is earlier than that and is older, but we found, doing the above, that she needs that bedtime.

My 9yo (Yr5) and 7yo (Yr3) go to bed at 8. 9yo reads for a bit.

I'd compromise on a later bedtime on Fridays and Saturdays first.

My 8yo goes up at 8.15 and lights off at 9, she gets up on a morning no problem.

Her best friend has to go up at 7 with her little sister but just lies awake till 9/10pm poor thing.

Try it and see. I don’t think it’s too late at all and still gives plenty of sleep.

Plus, she asked so nicely!

Well she did ask nicely

Mine goes up at 7.30 and is settled and in bed by 8 - 8.15ish. Then, along with his 10yo brother, he can choose to read quietly til 9 or go to sleep. It's about 50/50 which he does on any given night.

My almost 7 year old goes to bed about 7.30, but often reads until 9.30 which is a bit late given he's up at 7. Obsessed with Enid Blyton.

DS has always been an early riser and needed a lot of sleep but we’ve always let him read in bed for half an hour before he goes to sleep. Maybe a compromise lies there?

Does she need to be awaken in the morning, or seems tired or grumpy? If so, it suggests she isn't getting enough sleep for her needs, and it would be a no from me.

But if she wakes up before or wakes up easily in a good mood, then yes.

I do love her request, though.

My 14 year old goes to bed at 8.30, lights out at 9 in the week. He is a grumpy moo with less sleep (like his mum), and this is what works for him to get willingly out of bed at 7am.
I wouldn't move her bedtime personally. I think most children could do with a lot more sleep

All mine went to bed at 7.30 till they were secondary age! Lights off was 8.30-9.

Once at secondary they went to bed at 9 and lights off around 10.

Different during holidays/weekends/lockdowns.

Mine goes to bed around 8.30 but reads till 9. It has got later over lockdown / holidays and I think it may need to get earlier again now that school is back. Before lockdown she went to bed at 8.

My 13yo Often goes to bed by 9, on nights we don’t have activities (in the normal world), she needs a lot of sleep. My 9yo goes at the same time, often going to sleep later, but she gets up an hour or so later than her sister, and just needs less sleep.

Why don’t you suggest splitting the difference and see how she goes?

@Lweji

Does she need to be awaken in the morning, or seems tired or grumpy? If so, it suggests she isn't getting enough sleep for her needs, and it would be a no from me.

But if she wakes up before or wakes up easily in a good mood, then yes.

I do love her request, though.

Honestly, I'll wake her at 8am. She'll be up, wee, downstairs for breakfast by 8.05. breakfast done and upstairs to do teeth and change and she's back down by 8.30. brushes her hair, puts her shoes on, wipes them if they need it. Gets her water bottle sorts and her book bag and is waiting near the front door by 8.40.

Meanwhile I'm on my third coffee and need a dunk in ice water to feel remotely human.

I had a conversation with my DDs recently after we worked out what time they would need to wake up to do all the things they wanted to do in the morning before going to school (new school for DD2).

We then looked up this NHS chart on children's sleep needs and added on at least 20 minutes for getting to sleep.

My 8 year old has an 8pm bedtime, and so do my 11 & 13 year old Sunday-Thursday (they may get an additional hour on Friday-Saturday) because they're both larks who will get up early no matter what (especially the 13 year old, 7 is in her sleeping in late) and they've planned busy mornings for their own reasons. By maths, the older two could go to 8:40, but theirs includes reading, chatting, and their regularly faffing around in bed.

To go back in time DB and I were allowed to watch the 9pm news during the Falklands War when DBro was 8. Before that our bedtime was 9pm so 9pm sounds fine for a 7yo. My parents would have been on the stricter side.

My new y3 is in bed after 9 fairly regularly and reads for a bit after that. He gets up at 7am on the dot every morning. We've always had fairly late bedtimes, with both of us working there was no way we could have ever had our DC in bed by 7pm like many seem to manage. My 12yo went to bed at 11pm in lockdown, her Dad and she are complete owls.