If your kids are 6 and 9 (ish), what does your evening look like?

[meringue33]

Think we need a clearer household position on bedtimes etc!

I have kids of 7 and 10 (plus a 2 year old).

Weeknights everyone is bathed by 6.15, settled in their rooms and lights out for the older 2 by 7.15.

Weekends they can have their room TVs on (not toddler) until 9 on a Friday. Saturday nights they stay up with us and we make pizza to eat while watching a film or game shows. In bed by 10pm (including us adults).

Mine are ages 10,5 and 2.5 years old. School nights the 5 and 2 year 9ld get bathed and are in bed by 7.30. At the weekends it’s often about 8.30as we do a family film and snack. The 10 year old often plays outside with his friends till 8pm on a school night then quick shower and bed. He is asleep by 9 pm. In the holidays or weekends the kids often play out till 9pm so he falls asleep by 9.30 but showers in the morning. We live in a safe area with lots of kids whose parents all monitor them out playing in our street.

@BigSandyBalls2015

Some of these bedtimes seem very early! What are they like if there’s a party going on and they’re kept up late, or you go out for dinner?

Mine copes fine if we go out and have a late night as it’s a one off and then he’ll sleep later the next morning to compensate. When we tried a regular later bedtime he was shattered as he still needed to up early (6:30am) in the morning and then he was super grumpy so we moved lights out back to 8pm and he was then naturally waking at 6:30 and no longer grumpy.

Plus we go to bed early 10pm so need some evening to ourselves too.

6.5 and just turned 9 year old. Our routine (except Monday and Friday evenings):

Before 5:30 TV
5:30-6:30 dinner
6:45-7:30 bath, teeth, pyjamas, reading
7:45- play with baby sibling, Lego etc
8pm bed for both
6 year old passes out in 5 mins. 9 year old takes another 15mins to fall asleep.
9 year old is awake around 6:45, while 6 year old is 7am/7:15 and sometimes asks to have more sleep.
Mondays and fridays bedtimes are closer to 8:45 due to having trading until 8pm which means they (especially 6 year old) wakes on Tuesday morning closer to 7:30.

@BigSandyBalls2015 even if mine go to bed late say 10pm or 11pm they still wake around 7 or latest 8am (rare). So we always keep bedtime consistent and only moved it from 7:30 to 7:45/8pm recently.

Wow, wasn’t expecting so many replies - thanks!

I think we need to be a bit more consistent. Every night seems to involve fighting about whether “8pm bedtime” means getting ready at seven, lights off at eight; or getting ready at eight, lights off at nine. The 9yo needs less sleep so disturbs the 6yo if allowed up later - they share a room.

And they do often get back out of bed or chat or play after lights out. I go up to bed about ten and 9yo is often still awake

MIne are a bit older, but it's always been bed between 7-9.
The 9 yr old settles quite easily, the eldest faffs about, needs a drink or reads a book.
In the hols we're quite relaxed, so they mess about till midnight if a friend or family member with children stays over. Next week's hols we're going to cap it to 9 pm and see what happens.

Bedtimes are a bit of a nuisance tbh.

Youngest is 9. Depends what she's doing. School nights, I go from the basis of eat at 1830, in bed by 8, read for 30 mins.
But Tuesday she finishes sport at 1945, Wed at 1930, Thurs 1830, Fri 2015 so our ideal rarely happens 🤣 usually eats part before she goes and the rest when she gets home. She has to be up at 630 for school.
Weekends and holidays they have a bit of leeway but no story if not in bed by 830. Occasionally we watch a film instead of story.

Mine are 8 and 10 and go to bed between 7.30-8pm and wake around 7.30am. They’re both very active and do quite a bit of sport so usually pretty tired by bedtime.

5 and 10. 5 year old has a bath at 6:15-20, stories and lights out at 7.
While I am doing stories the 10 year old gets changed/has a bath. He then usually does either homework or music practice till 7:45. Then in bed reading. Sometimes he is asleep by 8:15, if not lights out at 8:30. He knows he isn’t allowed to go up and down. Once he’s in bed that’s it.

5 & 9 here. Dinner at 6.30 for 5 year old, 9 yo has club most nights so has it earlier. Pj's on and teeth brushed at 7.30 then 8pm bed for 5yo, 9yo home at 7.30, shower, teeth and pjs then she reads until she goes upstairs at 8.30. (For a pp - she has to be woken at 7.30 for school and sleeps longer on weekends).

Surprised by the early bedtimes. My eldest 9 has football training that finishes at 6.30pm and we have late dinner and the day she swims. Her bed time is 8.30, that's washed and in pjs by then she then reads. I go up and check her at 9.30, as she has been known to carry on reading if it's a good book. 6 year old goes up at 7.30 he usually pretty much goes straight to sleep.

9yr old here (in y4). Goes to bedroom to read from 8pm onwards, lights out 8.45-9pm. Wakes about 6.45am.

We have a 6 and 9yo.

We get home from the rounds of collecting from after school care/childminders at about 6.45. Feed the elder (younger gets dinner at childminder). Bedtime starts at about 8, in bed by 8.15 after teeth and cuddles. Audiobook for half an hour, by which time DD2 is usually asleep but DD1 is definitely not. She then gets some time to read or listen to more audiobook if she wants it, she's usually asleep by around 9.30 but sometimes not until gone 10. They get up at between 7-7.30 each morning. Bedtimes are a lot more flexible at the weekend.

My youngest 2 are 9 and 6 (also have an 11yr old). Don't really have an evening routine, but 6 year old goes up to bed about 7.30 if its bath night, about 7.50ish if its not. Teeth brushed, pjs etc, then read a story, he is usually asleep by 8.30. He gets up anytime between 6 & 7am. 9 year old goes up to bed about 8.30, teeth brushed then she reads to herself. If she needs a bath she has it earlier in the evening. She will go to sleep anytime between 9.30 and midnight!! She is a total night owl so we have given up trying to get her to sleep any earlier. She has always been like this. As long as she stays in her room I'm not too bothered. Either she wakes up herself or we wake her about 7.30/45.

DDs are 10 and almost 8, timings are approx.

Homework is done before dinner

5.30pm: dinner

6.00-6.45pm: DDs will play, listen to bloody Encanto music, or we'll all play board / card games.
They rarely have screen time after dinner mid week. If the do, screens off by 6.45

6.45-7.15: DDs have baths, I do their hair for bed and they read aloud.

7.15-7.30: Both brush teeth and into bedrooms to read

7.45: Lights our for DD2

8pm: Lights out for DD1

Bedtime is probably earlier than most of their peers, but it works well and they're happy to go to bed, they sometimes ask to go earlier to have more reading time.

Re morning waking: DD2 wakes naturally between 6.30 and 7.00am, I wake DD1 at 7.00am - she's rarely awake before.

Bit different here because ds is 10 and our youngest. When my dds were around his age they were in bed by 8:30.
Now they are older everything has shifted backwards.
Ds eats with us all any time between 6-8:30 during the week depending on what’s going on. Shower either before or after dinner, he’s in bed by 9/9:30 and reads for half an hour before lights out. So it can be 10 by the time he goes to bed.
I miss the evenings of putting the dc all to bed before 8 and knowing we can chill out in peace for a couple of hours but it’s just not the way our family works now they are all older. At least they’re good company
He gets up at 7:30 for school and at weekends when he often goes to bed later than 10 he wakes up around 9ish.

I have a 6 and 10 year old . 6 year old goes up to bed 7.30 sun - Thurs and 8pm Fri and sat . She reads to me and I read to her . 10 year old goes up 9 sun - Thurs and 9.30 Fri and sat .

It’s all much more chaotic here because of after school clubs.
Monday - dd (6) has dance so bedtime is around 8:30. Ds (9) has football and cricket so bedtime is 9.
Tuesday - dd has swimming. Both usually in bed around 8:15. Ds can read for a while.
Wednesday - No clubs both in bed for 8. Ds reads.
Thursday - dd at dance again so bedtime around 8:30 for both of them.
Friday - dd in bed by 7:45 because she’s tired by a Friday. Ds has cricket until 9 so bedtime is about 9:30
Saturday - Usually around 8:30, maybe 9 sometimes.
Sunday - 8 for both of them.
On nights there are clubs we end up eating separately. We all eat together Wednesday and at the weekend.

I have a 7 & 10 year old.
Dinner at 5pm, free time to do what they want. (Any homework is done straight after school before dinner) 7yr old goes to bed at 7:30pm so either teeth, wee & bed or in the shower/bath at 7pm for 7:30 bedtime. Tv till 8:30pm, lights out and sleep.
10yr old is the same but shifted 30mins later so 8pm bedtime, but still tv till 8:30pm, she will then read till 9ish and turn her light out herself and sleep

I have an 8 year old.

He goes upstairs at 7.30 for pyjamas, teeth, story and bed.

And then he goes to sleep in theory.

In reality, he appears downstairs at half hour intervals between 8.30 and 10 to tell us some variation of:
he can't sleep
he's lonely
he just wanted to tell us something important (it isn't)
he just heard a noise and wanted to see what was happening
he just needed a teddy/book/blanket that left downstairs

Each time we return him to bed, tuck him in, kiss him goodnight again.

Eventually we get about an hours peace before we go to bed ourselves

Mine are 6 and 8 and have activities most evenings so usually quick snack after school, activity 6-7, tea 7.30 bath and in bed for 8.30. They are pretty good in terms of reading themselves to sleep. No tech in bedrooms aside from Alexa if they want music to help them sleep.

6 and 9 here

6 yo is an owl and 9yo a lark (who wakes early whatever time bedtime is) so they have a similar bedtime

Upstairs for bath around 7.15
Into bed for reading/stories by 7.45
Lights off for 6yo at 8, 9yo 8.15
9 yo wakes around 6am
6yo wakes around 6.30/7
Both read in bed till 7 when it’s time to start getting ready for school. At the weekend they are allowed to watch tv from 7 till we get up.

@N0T0RI0US have you tried putting him to bed an hour later? With an expectation that he can spend the extra time with you and in return when it’s bedtime he takes up everything he might need from downstairs including a cup of water and having a proper look downstairs for teddies/blankets etc and doesn’t then come back downstairs or start chewing your ear off from upstairs?! It would probably take a while to establish but that quiet time in the evening is precious and it would wind me up if I was being interrupted!

We're a family of night owls, only one DD6, bed at 8pm after story, audiobook on and she normally falls asleep anywhere between 8.30-9pm (though sometimes takes the piss).