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Original poster

When did you stop reading bedtime stories?

28 replies

FreeButtonBee · 09/02/2022 20:59

So my oldest kids (twins) have just turned 9 and we are still reading a bed time story every night (except if they have a late night or a late club). While I do like it, as they get older it becomes more of an imposition on my evening particularly as we go back to the office and they stay up later. They do love it and we are reading more interesting books but often you can’t get away with less than a chapter which can take at least 20 mins.

So MN jury, what did you do?

(We do audio books at other times but they would not currently be impressed to swap bed time stories for Audio books at the moment!)

OP posts:
ChateauMargaux · 09/02/2022 21:09

We were still reading to my middle child when she was 14..

Stopped reading the eldest years before that... we were way too slow... he was probably 8.

Stopped reading to the youngest when we stopped reading to the middle child.

Middle child is our most 'needy'.

JesusSufferingFuck22 · 09/02/2022 21:20

My eldest was about 11 I think. Their sibling was 3 years younger. They just naturally progressed to audiobooks/reading on their own. I started reading them Harry Potter but my voice didn't hold up for long enough. We got some Harry Potter audio cassettes(yes that long ago) and I would sit with them for a bit.

The eldest would lie beside her sibling and listen, then go through to their own room once they'd listened to a chapter together and it was time for lights out for the younger one. They used to listen to Harry Potter together all the time!
My eldest liked to read so when it was bed time for the younger one they would go up with them without complaint because they knew they could read a book until their bedtime. We kept it a secret to keep the peace😂

Dinosaurwoman · 09/02/2022 21:21

14, I really enjoyed reading together.

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ExtremelyDelighted · 09/02/2022 21:24

Probably about 12ish, it did eat into the evening a bit (especially as mine went to bed fairly late compared to their peers). But it was lovely and I do miss those days now they are older teens and staying up later than me.

Talipesmum · 09/02/2022 21:27

Still reading to the 13 year old - not every night but a few times a week. We read to him while he paints his warhammer! It does eat into the evening, but it’s not every night and it’s really nice, and I guess it won’t last for ever.

WoodSageandSeasalt · 09/02/2022 21:28

Early teens I think, it was one of the things I most enjoyed sharing with my DD and a nice way to be close when she became an, at times, prickly teen.

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 09/02/2022 21:30

The last time I read to Ds he was 16 and I read his GCSE A Christmas Carol to him. He kept falling asleep and I had to go back again but I did enjoy the special time together 🙂

HardySwine · 09/02/2022 21:33

DD asked me to stop when she was about 8 and wanting to be more independent. It coincided with her discovery of Harry Potter and she wanted to read them to herself. She’s 11 now and has asked me to start again which has delighted me no end Smile We generally only manage a chapter or two a night, but I do love having that time with her and discovering a book together.

parietal · 09/02/2022 21:43

still reading at 14yrs & she wants to keep going. it is hard to find suitable books, but we are both enjoying Phillipa Gregory

NoLongerTroels · 09/02/2022 21:45

Younger Ds was about 10, his older brother would occasionally turn up and listen too, he was about 15.
When it was the other way round and I read to the older one at that age, younger one just played with toys on the floor of the bedroom and occasionally listened. Made for two good readers who loved books.
Dd took over at about 8 and read to me we'd take turns reading.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 09/02/2022 21:57

Both my older two stopped listening at 13 - I have three (singleton) children and was still reading to the younger ones/ youngest so I didn't have to decide to stop.

My youngest is nearly 11 and I often ask if he'd rather stay up an extra half hour or have a story but he always chooses the story. He reads on after I go downstairs so I never quite know what's going on 😂 but I don't mind - he's dyslexic (diagnosed but he loves to read - he misses details when reading and his spelling is astonishingly bad but not completely typically dyslexic) and bilingual so its good to keep the reading together going in our case IMO!

I do a couple of night shifts per week and DH no longer reads to him on those nights, but I always read if I'm home.

DD stopped listening in to me reading Artemis Fowl the night she wanted to carry on with Wuthering Heights instead 😂 DS1 stopped listening and didn't switch to reading to himself at all, until school started awarding extra credit for reading and doing tests on a set reading list of novels in lockdown.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 09/02/2022 22:02

I'm working through everything Rick Riordan has written with dc3 now - we've read all of Percy Jackson and are now on the last Apollo book. We read all of Harry Potter including The Cursed Child - he surprised me by particularly enjoying the play script despite me reading all the parts. Its definitely more enjoyable reading to older children than picture books to toddlers!

I think reading aloud is meant to be one of the strategies which helps defend against dementia...

savehannah · 09/02/2022 22:08

I'm heartened by how many people still read to older kids. I remember my daughter going for a sleepover aged 7 and coming back horrified that there was no story at bedtime as the mum said they were too old! My 15 year old gradually grew out of it. With my younger two we don't read together every night, though they do read on their own. But I still have a book on the go with my 11 and 13 year old, we read a chapter once a week or so. I've read a few adult books eg A man called Ove, About a Boy etc out loud with my teens too.

whyohwhyohwhyohwhywhy · 09/02/2022 22:13

About 7 here for my eldest two as they didn't want the same thing and were half way through their own books which they wanted to carry on with.

I'm still reading to the 6yo, he is only still learning to read so it will be a while yet. He has moved onto really good books which i am happy about, we are currently on the animals of farthing wood

christinarossetti19 · 09/02/2022 22:15

Stopped reading to oldest when she was coming up to 13.

Youngest now the same age and we're just reading 'Nineteen Eighty Four'.

TheChosenTwo · 09/02/2022 22:21

It’s been gradually phased out for our youngest over the last 6 months or so. He’s 10. His choice. He prefers to have the time reading to himself in bed. I do offer when he gets a new book but he says no thanks!
I think when our eldest were younger we stopped at a similar age but then they joined in when the youngest was about 4/5 and enjoyed listening in again.
Bedtime routines were more of a thing when the eldest were younger though, there was a definite ‘bedtime’ winding down time of the evening, shower/bath, pyjamas, book, bed.
As everyone has got older that time schedule has got later and obviously they do all those things for themselves now, we all eat later Etc so it has just filtered down.
Our dds used to be in bed by 8:30 at 10 or 11.
Ds is now 10 and his bedtime is about 9:30 because we eat later and all stay up longer.

Original poster
FreeButtonBee · 10/02/2022 16:29

Okay so they are not the oldest by a long stretch. We’ve already done a lot of HP although i refuse to do the last two as they are just too long.

It is nice and I do enjoy it but after a long day staring at a screen my heart sinks slightly… particularly if I have even started cooking my own dinner. but perhaps I need to mix up how we do it and instigate slightly earlier stories with more chill out time after.

Thanks all.

OP posts:
HoobleDooble · 10/02/2022 16:55

My 13 year old still wants to watch a couple of song videos on YouTube and have a bit of a story before he goes to sleep. I was beginning to think it was only us but apparently not! It is a bit of a pain when I just want to go to bed myself but, like everything else that's now fallen by the wayside as he's grown, I know I'll miss it when he's older.

Snugglepumpkin · 10/02/2022 17:03

At around 9 or 10 my son started telling me stories or reading me a story at his bedtime instead of the other way round.

Once in a while I still read to him or make up a story to tell him, but mostly now it's him reading to me with no signs of it stopping yet & he is nearly 12.

SartresSoul · 10/02/2022 17:07

9, 10 and 11 year olds decided they wanted to start reading by themselves in bed last year so they do. I still read to 18 month old and 3 year old every night so a fair few years of bedtime reading ahead of me yet Grin.

Sirzy · 10/02/2022 17:07

Ds is 12 and won’t hear of us stopping and I am pleased about it. We are mainly working our way through Michael Murpergo books at the moment

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 11/02/2022 08:54

I don't think reading to themselves means not wanting to be read to - I read a chapter to DC3 and he reads on himself after I go downstairs. It means that I have to ask him what's happened or just read on without knowing if I haven't read the book before, but that's not really a problem.

DC1 did eventually prefer to read faster and less linearly than the spoken voice though and I get that - its the same reason I dislike audiobooks which I find somehow limiting and finally realised that's because when I read to myself my eyes actually skip around and I don't literally read one word then the consecutive word, then the next one, and so on.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 11/02/2022 09:16

God, I certainly won't still be reading to DS when he's a teen. I go to bed early so I'll probably be asleep before him at that age!

He's coming up to 9 and I read to him some nights if he wants me to, it's not every night though. He's not a big reader himself and prefers STEM subjects.

ReturnOfTheBlackSheep · 11/02/2022 09:22

We read to my 9&12 year olds but only if they're in bed by 830. I also ask them to read the first page or two unless they're really tired? One doesn't find reading the easiest and the other speed reads so I like to check they can pronounce words correctly. I also read to the 9 year old if she's completely ready for school more than 20 minutes early.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 11/02/2022 09:35

I still read to my 11yo
mainly because the kid will not touch a book for pleasure, so it's good to expose her to new vocab and complex storylines. At this rate I might end up reading her GCSEs texts to her Grin.

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