What time do your child go to bed?

[helenmelonmoon]

Just wondering what time your children go to bed? My DD has just turned 5 and goes to bed at 8pm on schools nights. I mentioned this to other school mums and they seem to think it’s really late… She gets up at 7am for school.

At five, my daughter went to bed at 7pm and had half an hour’s reading with either parent. Then lights out.

I think 8pm for a child who has just started reception is quite late but if it works for you then that's fine. Some of those who go to bed earlier will have to get up earlier as they will need to go to wrap around care.

Mine is 5 but has just started year 1 and he goes to bed between 7-7.30 which seems pretty consistent with his peers.

That’s late for a 4-5year old! The fact you say 8pm on school night makes me think it’s even later on Friday and Saturday?

When you say they get up at 7am for school are they waking up naturally by themselves before anyone else or are they basing woken up ie by you?

2 year old at 7, 7 year old at 8

My 5 year old goes at 8pm. He only falls asleep at 9pm- or by 9.30pm if he’s not tired.

If he goes at 7pm he just spends 2+hrs faffing and still asleep same time.

He wakes around 6am

She wakes up naturally at 7am. Sometimes earlier. At the weekends she does go to bed later and gets up later. Unless we are going out in the morning.

Yes same! We started at 7 and she just kept getting up and wandering into our room complaining she wasn’t tired. Lights off at 8 and I look in 8.15ish and she’s already asleep.

DD is 6 and just going into year 2.

At 5/start of reception bedtime was 7-7.15pm but she's always been up at 6-6.30am so getting about the same amount of sleep yours is.

Kids are so variable at that age DD had on friend who didnt go to bed til 8 and one who was always asleep by 6.30 and slept til gone 7.

Key thing is whether your child is tired on that or not. She's getting 11 hrs sleep so that could just be enough for her.

You’ll find they’re all different, and it’ll all depend on what your day is like too.

Mine, 5.5 goes up at 8, asleep for 8:30. But they sleep until 7:00/7:15 as we don’t have to leave the house until 8:30.

Another friend has a son the same age who is in bed asleep for 7:30 but they’re all up at 6:15 to get ready for breakfast club and then commuting to work.

As long as they’re not shattered it’s what works best for your kid!

DS4 goes at 8 and DD6 goes at 9, some people say it’s too late but that’s just when they get tired. I could put them to bed earlier but honestly I just can’t be bothered to fight over it and they get enough sleep. I also vividly remember being forced to go to bed when I wasn’t tired and I always hated it.

DD goes to bed around 8:30 and we read together until 9-9:30. It depends how much sleep they need.

I know a lot of Mums who religiously have their kids tucked up and lights out at 7pm every night and then are baffled as to why they're always up at 5am.

That's not for me.

This is quite a useful tool- seems about right to me. <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=kids-first.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/bedtime.png&tbnid=4dO-BAdVDe1UbM&vet=1&imgrefurl=kids-first.com.au/parent-guide-recommended-sleep-times-for-children/&docid=zkrGTdxX8TAkYM&w=585&h=636&source=sh/x/im/m1/2&kgs=5b72afc7a53ce03a&shem=isst&ucbcb=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://share.google/images/KzJusyayhz3LOT9rX

They are all different DS never slept more than 10.5-11 hrs a night. Dd would happily do 12.5-13 hrs from about 11m.

DD 6 is asleep by 7/7.30ish. She can stay up on a Friday OR a Saturday (not both) until 8.30/9ish, but she still wakes up at 6.30 in the morning either way!

I don’t think it’s that late, to be honest. It’s weird because if she was going to bed at 7 and up at 6, it’s the same amount of sleep. I would say 8 is the latest I’d ‘allow’, though.

I agree BUT some children are just very early risers, irrespective of when they go to bed. So getting them to bed at 7 is ensuring they get enough sleep.

I don't believe it to be quite frank. If you have black out blinds and a consistent routine the sleep/wake pattern changes. There's many countries where children go to sleep and get up later; western children are just as able to adjust.

Yes!! They said their DCs were up at 5.30am. So I don’t know why my DDs bedtime was so shocking 😂

Not believing it doesn't mean it's not true. I know children in other countries where children have later bedtimes who still need to go to bed earlier because they wake up early. Living in a country which tends to stay up later hasn't stopped them being early rises.

My daughter is 5 and goes to bed between 7-7.30

At that age we were probably starting the bedtime routine around 7pm with an aim to be actually asleep by 8pm so as long as she is not struggling to wake up in the morning it’s fine.
My youngest is 10 now and she is usually asleep by 9pm and wakes up naturally around 7am

Ha, my own DS must be a figment of my imagination, then!

Early for my DC! They do have a medical condition where they require (and want) more sleep than your average person, so they have a bath anytime between 5.30-6.30 depending how exhausted they are, and then 20 mins of stories - their whole bedtime routine from bath to sleep takes about 40-60 mins, but 7.30 is usually the latest they are down, it’s normally 6.45 and can be as early as 6.15! They sleep til about 7.30/8, but get woken earlier during the school week. I think anything past 8pm is getting quite late for a young child, but everyone is different and has different sleep needs, if they’re happy and functioning well then who’s to say that’s wrong!

DD1 will be 6 in December and goes down to bed at 7pm. But falls asleep anytime between then and 8pm depending on how tired she is. She listens to her tonies box to fall asleep.

she wakes up anytime between 6am and 7am

Dd is 4 and in reception, she tends to go up at 7.30 and in bed around 8. She wakes around 7. I think people would rather have a child sleep 7pm-6 am than 8pm- 7am even though it’s the same amount of sleep, I’m not sure why. Obviously some dc need to get up at 6 am in which case the 7pm bedtime would be needed. Anyway, dd seems fine, walks nearly a mile to and from school without (much) compliant and doesn’t complain of tiredness.

One of mine was asleep 6pm-7.45am for the whole of reception, alas the others never needed much sleep.