What time do your kids go to bed? Do they sleep well?

[Moodershewrote]

Curious to know if we’ve got similar timings..

My early teen goes to bed around 10.30pm now, which feels late to me as I am always knackered in the evening! It’s changed from 9.30/10pm over the past year - they say they just aren’t tired to sleep earlier. To be fair, they seem fine in the morning etc..

My younger one (9) gets in bed around 8pm, reads for about half hour, sometimes a bit longer, but is generally asleep by 8.45/9pm.
But they are awake / up by 6am most days, sometimes earlier(!) and say they can’t sleep longer…

10 year old around 11pm, no electronic devices or tv in room, just isn’t tired any earlier despite being up early and doing activity’s after school. Not an issue getting up in the morning either.

Just turned 10. 8.30 reads for half an hour and sleep by 9. 10 on a weekend.

Up like clockwork at 6.30 everyday.

I miss my evenings.

My early teen goes around 10, it's far too late, she's always horrible in the mornings and complains all day that she's tired. Ideally she'd go to bed 830-900. Has to be up at 6 for school. Other teen has always needed less sleep than DD and usually is 930-10.

My 10 year old goes up at 730, reads for about 30 mins or so and turns her light off when she’s ready. We let her stay up until 9 on a Fri/Sat - sometimes later if we are watching a movie or she’s in the middle of something.

We wake her for school 3/5 days I’d say, and she’s rarely up before 7-7.30am.

She loves her bed, but she also wants to stay up later. She needs about 11 hours sleep. She needs more than the 6 year old who is up by 530 every single day

My 12 year old goes at 9 and reads until 9.15 on a school night on a weekend he goes to bed between 9.15 and 9.30 as he usually as football the next morning. He can't sleep in no matter how late he goes to bed, he's up at 7.30 at the latest,

Just turned 4 year old and 5.5 year old go in their beds just before 8pm on schooldays and fall asleep anywhere up to 8:30pm. They wake up around 6am or even earlier.

Just turned 7 year old goes in his bed around the same time or a bit later but he falls asleep around 9pm, he also wakes up around 6 or even earlier.

They're like me and none of them really need much sleep, especially the 7 year old.

They do sleep well mostly, the 7 year old sometimes has nightmares but not that often. Otherwise none of them wake up throughout the night except if the 4 year old's cover has come off.

Oh that’s late for a 10yo - or is it? I feel like I’ve lost perspective a bit and maybe I need to let my youngest stay later and see if over time they can sleep in a bit more in the morning 🤔🤔

Interesting to hear how much it differs between households actually - I am struggling with youngest right now as they struggle to get to sleep and are awake SO early (5.30/6am) every day.. Bedtime is a faff, they need stories and lots of reassurance as all their worried come to the fore at bedtime. Have started to really dread it tbh..

I don’t think it is. They don’t have an issue getting up in the morning, so why would I force them to go to bed earlier when they are not tired. No need to over complicate it.

My 9 year old doesn't get off to sleep until around 10pm which I feel is too late. She won't settle any earlier despite my efforts. I dim the lights, put on the white noise machine and she'll lie in bed reading until she dozes off. She gets up at 7.15 every day for school.

We are literally just coming out of this (same age as well) my only advice is to ride it out unfortunately. For us it seems to be part if more general development, she’s thinking more deeply about things, being exposed to more ‘grown up’ topics (illness, divorce, death) and we think puberty is starting to kick in.
We try to give her space to talk about stuff during the afternoon/evening so it’s not all built up for bedtime but it still happens sometimes. Car journeys and dog walks seem the best ways to get her to chat

Not saying you should force them 🤨

No you didn’t say that. I said that. I don’t see the point in forcing your child to bed if they are not tired. What will that achieve. Just work around it to see what bed times are suitable. Trial and error process.

8yr. In bed latest 730 lights out on school night. 8pm fri and sat /school holidays

sometimes tv /reads in bed from 630/7

other times downstairs with me till 715/20 then go up to to teeth/wee etx

never awake before 7am. Some days wake her 745 which is latest I can for school

usually awake 7/720

she likes her sleep. Always has - like me - ha ha

if she goes to bed later then 8 she’s grumpy and argumentative

lots of her school friends go to bed much later but also up earlier

I do believe sleep breeds sleep

it must be hard as kids get older and you want an evening to chill so I guess as she gets older /stays up later she will still go up by 8/830/9 and then can read /watch tv

16 year old goes to bed at 11pm midweek, he sleeps badly, has to be medicated to sleep

9yo goes to bed at 9, up at 7/7.30 and sometimes difficult to wake.

12yo (post-puberty) bed around 9.30, up at 6 midweek for ‘beauty routine’, 7 at weekends.

Both sleep well but were terrible sleepers as young children, up in the night for years.

Just turned 8. School nights upstairs at 7.30, lights out at 8pm but inevitably a bit later some days- Cubs finishes at 8pm! Up at 6.45 for school. Weekends generally the same. This is a child that needs a decent amount of sleep or is a moody nightmare like me.

7 and 9yo both go to sleep at 7/ 7.30pm. 15 and 18yo both need to have lights out at 10pm, 11pm on a weekend/holidays. They all tend to sleep well.

Little ones wake 6am. Older ones sleep til 11am often if left!

Makes me feel better that a few 8yr goinf to bed 730. I think that’s normal

she prob asleep in 10/15m. Sometimes 5mins so obv tired

if was wriggling about and moaning be diff

8yo goes up at 8, lights out before 8:30. Wakes at 6:30. Sleeps well, never hear a peep. Early starts were an issue for years. Would say he's naturally an early bird.

10 nearly 11yo goes up at 9, main light out about 9:15 but then listens to audiobooks. Takes a long time to go to sleep, often still awake at 10-10:30. Then frequently need to wake her up at 7:30. Often has sleep difficulties, as she's got older I am trying to move towards saying it's not a problem if you can't sleep, just don't disturb other people please! Would say she's naturally more of a night owl.

Between the early bird and night owl, I'm an exhausted pigeon?!

My 12 year old is usually asleep by 10:30pm, sometimes 10, sometimes closer to 11. My 7 year old by 9:30pm usually, again give or take a half hour or so.

We are not a kids to bed early sort of family and never have been. By the time we get home from work and make dinner, it’s 7/7:30 at the earliest. Having a proper dinner together is important, so never done the whole kids tea at 5pm thing. Even as babies/toddlers, they ate a family meal with us after work.

Youngest wakes naturally around 6:30 or 7am, 12 year old up 7am ish during the week and sometimes as late as 9:30 or 10am on the weekends but not always.

10 year old - bed by 8, usually asleep by 9. He reads, does maths (😵‍💫), listens to a podcast etc. Until very recently we put him to bed at 7:30 and were stricter about when he had to try and fall asleep. Gets up around 7am when previously it was 6.

I swear as a teen I always thought of 9 as ‘bedtime’ - think my parents were onto a trick there! - so was shocked to learn all his friends go to bed so late already. Feels like we’ve just left the toddler sleep phase and already it’s like having a teen!

7yo - bed at 7:30 although not v strict as he’s sandwiched between older and younger so it’s a bit blurred. He is super easy and I’m not sure what time he actually falls asleep. Has always been an amazing sleeper. He listened to Yoto and reads. Gets up 5:30!!!!

3yo - absolute chaos, she’s a nightmare, ideally asleep at 7 of course but that never happens. She has about 8 sleep aids and is in our bed and needs one of us next to her - we must be reading and are not allowed to fall asleep ourselves 🤣 She goes to sleep anywhere between 6:30 and 8:30 and up anytime between 5:30 and 8am (and that’s only cos I have to wake her up for the school run). Nursery nights are the worst, she’s sooooo tired that she can’t fall asleep!

My DC always went to bed at 9pm, up at 6-7. Never had any issues. 12 now, sometimes goes to bed at 10.

DCs sleep from 9pm to 7am, aged 3 and 7. No issues with tiredness or sleeping through. Never awake earlier. We have busy days with after school clubs every weekday and day trips at weekends, and are often not back home before 7.30pm.

Thanks everyone! I think I might try out a later bedtime again and see if it helps.

Our main issue is that they hate being alone, so the whole bedtime rigmarole means one of us being on hand or there is anxiety / emotional turmoil... It's quite exhausting..