How much sleep does your 6/7 yo get?

[LateDCnights]

DS has been falling asleep at 9.30/10pm lately and it is driving me slightly crazy. He wakes up around 7.30. I am not sure if he's just not tired enough or if he is anxious.

He used to be asleep every night by 8.30 but he tended to wake up earlier, sometimes as early as 6am.

Before Christmas sleep went horrendous, he couldn't go to sleep alone anymore and woke constantly saying he was scared.

He has totally settled now but he stays up reading in bed for hours so I'm not sure if he's still anxious and just trying to distract himself, or if he's needing less sleep and we need to adjust the schedule? Does 9.5 hours seem sufficient?

10-12 hours approx. He goes to sleep anywhere between 7.30 and 9.30 and wakes for school about 7.30 (I usually have to wake him though)

My 6 year old goes to bed at 7.30pm and most mornings is awake between 6.30am and 7am. That's recent though as he was going to bed at 8.30pm but we move it earlier as he seemed tired

Mine are the same as @mrsed1987

7 year old still awake. Been in bed since 8pm. Wakes up at 7:15.
Honestly she just doesn’t need that much sleep. She dropped naps early and would be the only one in her classroom that didn’t nap at preschool.

Seems similar to my 7yr old.

My youngest (5) is awful at going to sleep so often keeps my 7yr old awake for longer. She wld def be asleep by 9pm maybe a bit earlier if her sister wasn't so noisy and awful at going to bed.

Shes generally sleeping 9-9.30pm and awake about 8am. A nightmare to get up during the week but gladly gets up earlier at the wkends! These dark morning she sometimes sleeps in until 8.30-9am. In summer months she can get up at 6.30-7.30am at wkends.

She also comes through in the night a few times a week saying she's had a bad dream or is scared/wants a cuddle. Sometimes I end up bk in her bed with her until she settles. Sometimes I fall asleep for a few hours in there.

I've just bought some magnesium gummies as apparently they can help kids sleep and stay asleep. Not tried them yet though 🤞🏻

Bed at 8.30, tends to fall asleep around 10, sometimes later. Wakes around 7.30. We’ve tried everything but he just can’t sleep any earlier, so we figure he is getting enough sleep for him.

Hmm mixed responses. I envy you with your 11 hour at night children!

And I sympathise @Inspiremeaholiday

I guess unlike you @Inspiremeaholiday DS was always a great sleeper, would sleep 12 hours at night with a solid 3 hour nap as a toddler so in that sense maybe he is anxious about going to sleep and it isn't normal for him.

But on the other hand, he genuinely doesn't seem tired so maybe he's just outgrown sleep... I think I might start waking him at 7 in the hope he finds it a bit easier to fall asleep at night.

Selfishly I also struggle with the lack of an evening, as I often have work to finish or would at least like to be able to sit down and have dinner. I try to enforce "you dont have to sleep but you need to be quiet and in your room" and some days he's very good, others he call out every 15 minutes with one thing or another...

8pm -6am. Has never needed much sleep. Has never slept beyond 7am!

Amount of sleep wise he's similar to my just turned 6 yr old DD. She's asleep about 8ish and usually up about 6ish (although we got a rare 6.45 today!).

Honestly, I think she could do with a bit more than she's getting but we can't force her to stay asleep and adjusting her bedtimes does precisely nothing to the amount of sleep she gets!

By comparison, one of her classmates sleeps 7pm-8am pretty religiously and often has to be woken for school or drops off even earlier! So very child dependent.

That's reassuring, maybe I need to relax and just go with it.

7 year old lights out 7.30pm, usually awake 6.30-7.30am. She has long days eg today school from 8.45am, then afterschool club till 5pm then home for a v quick dinner, then to her sports club thing for 6.-7, back home had some toast and was read to and asleep instantly at 7.30pm!

DD2 is 7 and usually goes to sleep between 9/9.30pm. Sometimes later and sometimes a bit earlier. Tonight she came through at 9.45 asking for a drink so probably wasn't sleeping until nearer 10. She gets up at 7.30am for school and at the weekend will sleep until 8ish.

I do wish she would fall asleep a bit earlier, but we are so busy after school with clubs and dinner/homework it's hard to get her in bed before 8.30pm! Even when she goes to bed earlier though she still doesn't sleep until after 9.

Actually that's a good point. Although DS has long days they are not very active and he does have a lot of physical energy. In summer we would usually play football in the garden for an hour or two after school. He's not getting that physical activity now, maybe that's the difference.