To think that a club ending at 7.30 is too late for a seven year old?

[BoredByTheChore]

My Dd is interested in playing badminton. The only kids club locally finishes at 7.30. She already does brownies which also finishes at 7.30. I think that this will be too many late nights for her as by the time she has come in, showered, had a snack etc it will probably be nearly 8.30. I think it's too much and we should wait a year or so. Dd and dh both think I'm super mean and that loads of kids her age do similar. She does NOT cope well when she's tired and can be a right madam with no sleep. What do you think?

It doesn't sound late to me. Dd is 5 and goes to bed at 8, rarely asleep before 8.30, gets up at 7. She does have a scary amount of energy though!

It just depends on your child. I try to be flexible with bedtimes so they're not too dependent on a routine. We went to a wedding the other day and the dc didn't go to bed til 10pm, including the 3 year old. I'm not saying I'd do that on a weekday, of course!

My DS is 7 and I would not consider this too late. I agree with rightwhine, no need for a snack if she's had a proper meal earlier.

I think it's boarderline - tbh my nearly 10 year old is dead on his feet when he gets home from football training at 8pm twice per week (no way he could just not shower, he's usually so drenched in sweat that it's impossible to tell if there has also been a downpour...). It hits him after the shower - he's energised when he gets in but can barely keep his eyes open and is too tired to eat suddenly after a warm shower... The trainers push them hard for most of the 90 minutes, starting with laps of the full size pitch to warm up though, and he does also have to be up at 6am, actually on the school bus at 7am, so that makes a difference...

Can you try it for a few weeks? If I had to commit to a full term or more of fairly expensive lessons I'd wait a year in case it's too much. My 6 year old would manage the lesson but fall asleep in the car home which isn't ideal on a regular basis...

Shower in the morning and it might be okay - maybe if she's struggling to get out of bed the next day it might need a rethink, but I'd be tempted to give it a go if it's something she's really interested in.

With regards to clubs ending at 7:30pm - I used to be an officer in the Boys Brigade and this was always something I was bringing up! I was in charge of the Anchor section and the captain wanted to move the start time to 6:30pm, to finish at 7:45pm. It was a Friday, so no school the next day, but tired after a week at school, and my section were 4-7 year olds. I said this and we went 5:45pm, to finish at 7pm (from 5pm - 6:15pm). I still thought it was a little late for 4 year olds!

It sounds as if your dd needs a lot of sleep. Mine is almost 9 but was doing this sort of thing at 7. She coped very well but she's got boundless energy and would come home and run round in the garden when she got home. Only you know your child and I would give it a go.

And dd almost always showers the next morning before school after late activities.

yabu, 830pm isn't that late. This is a classic example of the strange Brit obsession with early bedtimes

DS is 8. He goes to Cubs, which finishes at 8, and I try and have him in bed by 8.30.

He also swims with a club, which gets him home and in bed for a similar time. These are enough late nights! Swimming late night is only slowed because it's on a Friday. He doesn't do rugby because that would be another midweek late night, which he just can't deal with.

As a PS to my previous post. DS needs to be up and out at 7.45 am for breakfast club as DH and O both work office hours (ish). I appreciate that later bedtimes may work better where children do not need to be up this early.

When I started Guides aged 10, my bedtime was normally 8.30pm and Guides finished at 9pm. I've used this for the last 25+ years to illustrate how unreasonable my bedtimes always were! I've strong memories of being sent to bed around 9pm on summer evenings, wide awake, listening to the friends (of the same age) I'd been with a few minutes beforehand carrying on playing outside my window. Even if your DD genuinely is tired it won't do much harm a couple of nights a week and in just a few months it may not seem late. I echo all the PPs with no need for a shower or snack.

Age 7 doesn't need a shower every day surely?

~Snack on the way home.

• Skip the shower.
• Trial it out for a few sessions and see how it goes.

I would try it OP. Any form of exercise is a good thing in my opinion. If you wait a year or two it may go off the boil anyway. I've always said yes to my dd when she's wanted to do extra dance classes, time and finances allowing.....most kids don't get enough exercise.

Dd is older now but that would have been fine.

Dinner before going. No need for a snack after. At the most milk and one biscuit before brushing teeth and bed. But usually would be a drink whilst watching tv for half an hour or reading and then teeth brushed and bed.

stopfuckingshouting how narrow minded of you. Mediterranean culture might suggest late bed times and siestas, but German children are at school by 7:30am and have the whole afternoon free so most certainly not staying up late.

If it's classic British anything there is a bit of a modern British obsession (shared by some other countries but still in the minority) with packing in far too many evening extra curriculars and over structuring children's free time and letting them run in sleep deficit so as not to miss anything...

At 5 years old she was going to bed at 6.30pm. Rainbows finished at 6.30pm

At 7 years old she was going to bed at 7.30pm. Brownies finished at 7.30. Swimming club finished at 8pm

At 10 years old she was going to bed at 9pm. Guides finished at 9pm and so did club swimming.

I know you weren't complaining but by way of explanation, this will be due a) to meeting place availability, b) Leaders' availability - many of us work and can't start meetings any earlier, and c) because it's often the same people who run all three meetings and it's easier for them to be consecutive so Leaders don't need to give up more than evening a week it leaves the other evenings free for paperwork, planning, shopping wet for the next meeting.

with packing in far too many evening extra curriculars and over structuring children's free time and letting them run in sleep deficit so as not to miss anything

drinkingtea if schools provided adequate PE time there wouldn't be such a need for extra curricular activities. My dd is in Year 5, they do PE ONCE a week, it's terrible.

Yep that is fairly terrible - both my older ones do sport 4 hours a week at school despite school being over at 12:25 (up til year 4 mine go to after school club which enforces an hour outdoors or in the sports hall before lunch and another hour between lunch and homework then outside again if they finish homework before I pick them up at 3 - I work mostly 6am-2:30pm shifts). So they are outdoors (in DS1's case playing football, skateboarding or playing basketball, but the time isn't structured, they play free form, on the slides and swings, in the trees, or sit and chat if they want) or doing organised sport (normally dodgeball or dancing) in the sports hall at least two hours every day.

Mine play out as soon as they get home though - they get plenty of exercise in two hours in the playground/ football field/ copse/ riding bikes without being dragged here and there to organised activities, though each kid does one formal extra curricular.

Mostly they are all asleep by 8pm, even my secondary age DC1 who has to be up at 5:45am for a 6:30am bus.

Seems fine. My 7 year olds were able to stay up to 9 ior 10sh once or twice a week if things were happening. Otherwise would probably get them to bed around 8.

DD and ds at 5 and 7 were doing ec activities till 9pm virtually every night and were at classes on a Saturday from 9-4 and did another ec activity on a Sunday for 3 hours.

If I got them into bed before 10pm I was lucky. Both would be bouncing around the house at 6 am. I cannot even contemplate what it would have been like if they didn't do several hours of dance and sport each night. They ran me ragged as it was.

Fast forward to today. DD 17 gets up at 6.30 for college and gets back at 7.30pm she crawls into bed and is fast asleep by 8.30pm. Ds needs at least 13 hours sleep per night.

You can try it for a few weeks and see how it goes. Does she need a snack after. Shower should take only 3minutes then a quick towel dry. She probably doesn't need to do her hair. Straight in pyjamas and straight to bed with a story.

Ok thanks, I think I am being unreasonable and we will give it a try after half term. Thank you for the input!

Give it a bash now, it'll be easier in summer. If it isn't working, stop.

DD has been at activities until 9pm since turning 8, just one night a week. It's fine. A quick story and straight to bed doesn't work here, she needs some time to settle down so she has a shower, chat and then we read to her. I couldn't do an hour of sport with my friends then straight to bed either.

My Brownies used to be 6-7:30. Quite normal! I find some of the bedtimes on here really early to be honest. Mine are 5 and 3 and go to bed sometime between 7:15 and 8pm. Both awake at 6:30am regardless.

Children of 7ish need 11 hours sleep on average. If they get plenty of fresh air and exercise (outdoors ideally) they can sleep that long, if they're mostly indoors they might not feel physically tired but it doesn't mean they don't need the sleep (obviously there's a wide range as with adults).

If a 7 yo gets up at 6am they should usually be going to bed at 7pm, unless they need less sleep than average. So if they get up at 8am then obviously they can go to bed at 9pm probably. Getting up time is a big factor, as is activity level.

My (only just!) 8 year old has sports commitments that mean she's not home until 9pm once a week, and 9.30 twice a week plus brownies home at 7.45! She copes fine (and there's no choice for her unless she gave up the sports in question) but every child is different.

Children of 7ish need 11 hours sleep on average

No, the average 7ish year old might need 11 hours (although that is on the very high side for most estimates), that is a different thing to needing an average of 11 hours. The actual sleep needs are individual, and vary over time rather than just every day, appropriate sleep at this age might be 7 hours or might 12 or 13.

And if activity level is increasing the amount of sleep required, I'd be looking at underlying fitness issues, they are rarely related.