Young kids out late

[Mamabear04]

To be honest I'm just wondering how it's possible for young kids under 5 to stay out late. Every time I go out to a restaurant or even just on the bus I think to myself, "how do OP do it?" I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and don't think they could handle being out past 6.30pm, I think they would just have a meltdown out of tiredness. Is it a cultural thing? Am I missing something?

Mine would have happily had a 4pm nap but were entertained and fed and bathed etc to avoid them falling asleep and then went to bed at 7/7.30ish. On holiday they napped at 4 and then were up late. They’re 18 and 21 now, still napping before big nights out 😂

Never too old for a nap!

Me too. We have had phases of early starts but mine tend to sleep in. Yes, they also go to bed later. But honestly, the crack of dawn starts are he'll. Even now, my youngest is 9, and I constantly hear from.friends that they're still up by 7am every day. Unbearable. I wake mine for school at 730 and weekends we all sleep in. Thank god.

My kids (11 & 4) go to bed at 9.30, on school nights, and they aren't tired and whiney in the lead up, the youngest is usually still bouncing around the room happy as anything! They drop quickly after lights out but don't struggle to make it to that point at all

Weekends it's usually 10-10.30, could be later if there's something special going on and we're out of the house, they'll both happily stay up later than whatever time we send them up, we only put them to bed so we get some downtime 🤣

They wake at 8 for school so get plenty of sleep, if I put them to bed earlier they will get up earlier, and as I tend to be up until 12-2am I'd rather they go to bed later and get up later

My kids were night owls when they were younger and still are as adults and teens.

When they were babies/toddlers, if we tried to get them to bed earlier, they just didn’t sleep. Neither of them ever needed much sleep either when they were young, none of this 7pm-7am for us, only ever 9 hours at most, then full of energy.

gosh, I’m with you OP, I always think it’s crazy seeing little ones up late as mine are always in bed by 7.30pm latest (6 & 3), if not they are horrendous the next day. They both sleep in till at least 7am. I thought that was normal for their age but maybe not?! Cannot understand why you’d want to keep them up longer, I love having my evenings child-free!!

It seems a lot of people on MN have their kids in bed super early, like 6pm even! And then they are awake at silly o'clock in the morning. I'm not a morning person so that was never a routine I put on my kids. Mine were more like bed for 8-8:30pm and up at 7:30pm, worked perfect for us. Each to their own though obviously.

Well, I do it because mine can handle being out past 6.30. Obviously I wouldn't if they couldn't!

A mum from school said how surprised she was to see me out with my five year at 8pm because her child, in the same year as my son, had been in bed for over an hour by that point. Turns out her daughter wakes up at 5. No thanks!

If I'd sent my kids to bed at 7.30, they'd be lucky to get 15 minutes with their dad, when he got home from work.

My dc are 2 and 6 now, and 2yo falls asleep around 8.30pm, 6yo falls asleep 9pm. They get up at 7am. They'd be fine being out at 6.30pm, though we're usually at home as 2yo has her bath at 6.30pm.

We were at the CBeebies hotel recently and there were plenty of under 5s enjoying the kids discos at 7.30pm and 8.30pm. We enjoy spending our time with the dc in the evenings, they get lots more play time and reading time with DH and also each other (as eldest is in school/clubs) which they would miss out on if they were in bed very early.

My two were always fine being out at restaurants etc.

We never did a rigid routine.

I think its just child dependant. Some wake at the same time no matter how late they go to sleep and no one wants a grumpy tired whingy child all day, which is what happens if they're going to bed late, get up at the same time as usual anyway and don't get enough sleep.

I'm not naturally a morning person at all, but dd is, so I have to be up, you do just learn to get on with it, because what's the alternative?

It's a cultural thing . Visit Spain

Mine have never gone to bed that early. My four year old goes to bed at 8 - 8.30. I've got older kids, I can't expect to be back home early all the time. We regularly go out for meals in the evening, parties, walk in the beach etc and don't get home until 8ish on school night, maybe 10 on a weekend. We are going to a wedding reception in the weekend and she will no doubt be up dancing until the very end!

But mine have also never been ones to get up early. They naturally sleep in until 7.30 on a school morning and 8 ish on a weekend / holiday.

British people are funny and parochial about this (as with so many things). Nanny's tea at 5pm! Meanwhile kids are perfectly happy out and about at 11pm the world over. Obviously everyone has different rhythms but kids don't need to be in bed early as some universal health requirement.

I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old too.

During the week, they're asleep by 8:30 ish. Sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later.

They get up beteeen 6:30-7 am ( today at 6 ).

They can totally handle being up later sometimes and also being out and about.

When we go on holiday in the summer, they have a late nap and stay out until 11 pm, no problem. We tend to go to Italy, where that is completely normal in the summer. But they do have a big nap in the day to facilitate that and they get up late as well.

We recently had a big birthday where we celebrated until 11 pm and they were ok. We don't do it often, but they're totally ok if it happens.

We've done stuff like that since they were tiny babies, maybe that's why. Also in laws often used to come over at the weekend after work 8:30, so the kids would be up until 9:30-10 at weekends regularly so they could see their grandparents.

They don't come over at that time much anymore because it was annoying to be fair. But the kids never showed they were over tired or anything like that.

It depends on the child, as always. They're all different.

Same with my 3, been seeing the new year in since they were toddlers.

We had a fairly regular routine during the week when they were small, 7:30 in bed and tucked in with a story etc and they would sleep until 7 the next day but if we went out of an evening they would just stay up with us. And sleep in later. I’m a proper night owl, dh is up early but at the weekends he’s usually on his own for a few hours before anyone else surfaces!

Before the routine of school, my eldest had a later bedtime and a later wake up. I was a SAHM so it suited me to have her out a bit later and then home for bath and bed. I remember my parents commenting on it being too late to have the baby out and about. But she was warm and content in her buggy going around M&S. She didn't know it was 8pm rather than 3pm. I'm naturally a late to bed, late riser and I was her main caregiver and was breastfeeding so it made sense for her to fit in with me.

We adjusted when #2 came along and preschool started.

Mine are early risers no matter what time they go to bed. It's either go to bed early and not be a wreck the next day but up early or a complete wreck that evening staying up later aswell as the next day and still up at the crack of dawn!

My 6 year old is SEN and goes to bed at 5pm he cannot make any later without it seriously impacting him for ages. We stick to routine religiously the times we havent for holidays or different events are rarely worth it.

My 9 year old goes to bed at 7/7.30 wakes up at 6/7 so just needs sleep I does make getting ready for school very relaxed as we have so much time.

Whatever works for you child we are all different I'm a natural night owl. Blessed with early risers 😴 I do however love that we get a evening I can't imagine them being up at 9pm 10 pm I wouldn't ever feel like we got to switch off from being parents.

Yes, this. I have no problem with the cultural preference for kids to go to bed earlier in the UK, but I'm always a bit puzzled by the view that it's damaging to children if they don't. And even more so, the judgement if your children sleep in! My word - I've had a few raised eye brows when I've declined to meet up on a weekend at 9 am because we'll all still be in bed!

I grew up in South Africa and we actually did have early bed times. But again, that was cultural - things tend to start early there. My school day started at 8:15 and at university first lecture was at 7:45. But then, no activity ever ended past 5:30 either.

So go to bed early fine, but it's not some biological imperative or a sign of degenerate lifestyles if you go to bed late and sleep in late.

My 3YO usually goes to bed at 7 but has no issue staying up until 8/8.30 if we go out to dinner at the weekend. If we’re lucky he might have a lie in the next day too.

Yes it's cultural.

European kids don't wake at the crack of dawn. They have a good nap (if still infant age), later lunch, spend a he second half of the day outside and half dinner around 8 then bed later.

The day is very much in two halves in Europe in a way that it's not in the Uk

Oh yes, the later lunch. My god, when my DC were smaller I used to fairly often get surprisingly horrified responses because my children didn't eat their lunch at 11:30. It was so weird. They weren't starving or complaining, had usually only had breakfast at 8 or whatever, and it was completely fine.

I'd say that sort of slightly odd censorship has only stopped in the last year or so... and DD is 9 now. We once had a play date where the child was coming over at around 14:00 and as they arrived I breezily said something like, "ooh, DD has just finished her lunch, excellent timing" and the mother was completely horrified. Exacerbated when I pointed out that DD had only had breakfast at 10 or something as we'd all had a lie in!