to put my 18 month old to bed at 7pm?

[SomewhereOverTheRainybow]

I don’t think I’m BU, but friends and in laws all seem to think I’m putting my 18 month old to bed way too early The constant little comments are just getting irritating now.

Is this too early for an 18 month old or just about right?

My 2.5 year old is asleep by 7 and wakes between 7.15-8.00. No nap anymore either but is straight to sleep at bedtime and sleeps through. This clearly totally suits his body clock - was a nightmare to get to sleep before we dropped the nap but now he always wakes up happy (but so bloody hungry!) in the morning.
What a weird thing for other people to have an opinion on - just do what works for you 🤷🏼‍♀️

My DC went to bed at 7 until they were about 6/7. It’s a perfectly reasonable bedtime.

I don't finish work till about 6:30pm. Then I play with my 11-month old twins till about 7. Then bath, pjs, bottle, teeth brush, story, bed around 8. They wake about 7am.
I get comments that bed at 8pm is quite late, so 7pm sounds normal.

Not unreasonable at all.

The vote results speak for themselves!

We put ours to bed before 7 until they were about 7!

My baby goes down at 7, and I get constant comments from mil and DM that 7 is too late!

No matter what time mine go to bed they are up between 6.30 and 7am so they are generally in bed between 6.30 and 7. If they had something really special I would let them stay up but that would happen maybe once a year. My 4 year old fills every single second of the day with chatter so I need him to be in bed by 7 before I start bashing my head off the wall.

Until my second was 4 years and my eldest a few years older they were both in bed by 6.30pm and asleep by 7. Then as they got older until my 1st started secondary school up in bed & asleep by 8pm. No problems.

Don't people just put kids to bed whenever they'll go to sleep? We put our 1, 3 and 5 year olds all to bed at 7pm, 6.30 if they seem tired.

I've never understood the British obsession with bed times. I've seen people forcing kids who are still bright eyed and bushy tailed up to bed and people dragging clearly exhausted and miserable kids round to things because it is/is not bed time. In normal times beavers and Cubs are 6:30 to 8:00pm so mine have always been up after 7:00 from being old enough for activities, before in fact as they are night owls. When they are tiny though you can put them to bed when they need it if they/you are not doing anything else then. Do what your DC and family need.

My DD 15 months goes to bed between 6:15pm and 7pm depending on how well she naps in the day.

DS9 went to bed between 6pm and 7pm until he was about 7.5 I think!

CBeebies finishes at 7 so surely that is the universal kiddie bedtime??!!

Just joking but I would have thought 7 is pretty normal and not worthy of comment.

I'd love it if a later bedtime meant a later wake up time but it doesn't seem to work like that for us.

I put my children and my GC's to bed at 7 pm for YEARS.
Children need a LOT of sleep for healthy physical growth and brain development. Well- slept children are happier and better tempered and (when they get to school age) , getting enough sleep pays dividends in better social and learning skills.

Not only is 7pm bed best for your child, it's also best for you and your partner; a couple of hours relaxed adult time every evening, to talk or for a hobby and non-baby interests.

Ha my girls have only just had their bedtime extended from 7 to 8 and they are 11 and 9! (Both are sen kids so needed more sleep)

My older two used to go to bed at 7:15 from about 15 months so I'd say it's fine. They used to sleep until 7:30 in the morning.
Unless your LO is getting up at 5 or something I'd say it's fine.

Depends on your circumstances.7pm wouldn't have worked for us as we weren't home before 6pm, so with dinner, bit of family time, shower, bed time story it was 8pm on most days.

But, she also had a decent 2 hour nap until she was 4 as she alwas was an early riser, 6,30am was a lie in regardless of evening bedtime or naps.

Let them mind the child and make up their own mind
I had 3 under 2 and on very tough days they were in bed at 6, not often but when it was a life or death situation.

My 7 and 9 year old go to bed at half 7 on a school night. Yanbu

DD has been going to bed at 7 since she was about 5 months. Now nearly 3. Still works for us.

Dd was more 8 or 9, but 7pm is a pretty standard kids bedtime in the UK.

Mine (nearly 2) unfortunately wakes up early regardless of bed time... 7.30am is the latest even with an after 9 (running riot because he had a late nap) bedtime...

Generally he is 7/7.30... To be honest I like 7pm at the moment but when DS is back to his footy training I like 8pm bedtime as we can be home, changed for bed, snack, wash, brush teeth by then. Then he generally wakes 6.30/7am (still wakes during night) which works for when I go to work.

If he's sleeping as long as you want him too, that's fine and I'm a bit envious that you get that downtime. Mine would have been bopping around at about 5am if we'd tried it at that age, but he always needed less sleep than average until early adulthood.

7pm is standard for DC and his friends (all toddlers). For us bedtime starts at 6.30, bath, then books, then in bed lights out around 6.45/6.50. DC usually falls asleep around 7ish.

Honestly I think sort of anytime between 6 and 8 is pretty standard at this age surely?

My 22 month old goes to bed between 6 and 7 depending on how tired he (or me) is. He has a 1 to 2 hour nap in the day and usually sleeps untill 6 or 7. It's been like this since he was about 12 months.
I would have thought later than 7 would be too late, especially for families that all need to be up early.