What time do your kids go to bed?

[GreenMeerkat]

As the title says: what time do your kids go to bed? How old are they? Do they have a strict bedtime or is it flexible.

I have two DC. DD3 goes to bed at 6.30pm and DD4 goes at 7pm. Every night.
This bedtime seems to work well for them. They get up at 6.30-7am and don't nap during the day

NDN kids (4 and 2) stay up much, much later than this. They were still running around their garden at 10.30pm the other night (I was in bed!). Am I being too harsh? Should I let them stay up a bit later in the summer?

Twins will be 6 in September and Sun-Thurs bedtime is 7:30 and I wake them at 7:15 for school.
Fri and Sat bedtime is 8pm-8:30pm and they wake around 9am.

@TittyGolightly that's fine if you want to be a night owl as an adult but for a 4 yr old i personally think they need their sleep and also routine.

As many have mentioned on here they are usually a nightmare the next day if they are up late.

Just don't think it's good for a child that has school all day the next day to go to bed a 9 when they have to be up at 7.

DD is 3, bedtime is 7pm and she's normally asleep within 15 minutes of being in bed. She wakes between 7 and 8 most mornings, very rarely earlier.

Routine surely has to be based on many factors. Jobs, schools, times they start and distances they are away, other commitments, time together. All families are different, and as long as everyone is getting enough sleep, the times are largely irrelevant.

@chilly just because your child needs 11-12 hours per week doesn’t mean everyone’s does! My 5yo son needs 9.5 hours sleep every night and always has since he was a toddler. Believe me I would bloody LOVE to pack him off to bed at 7pm but he is not tired then and just dicks about upstairs for hours! We put him into bed at 8pm but he often chatters to himself and dicks around in his bedroom until 2045. Always asleep by 9pm. Wakes up at 0605 EVERY SINGLE DAY 😡!!!

He is not tired or crabby the next day. Always has loads of energy like a flipping Duracell Bunny. We have followed his cues and this is clearly enough sleep for him.

Almost 3yo DS2 has just stopped daytime naps so he goes to bed at 7pm and falls straight asleep. Wakes up by 0630 everyday which is fine by me as need to be up for work anyway!

*per night! Obvs!

My son is 3 in September and usually goes to bed at 7. Sometimes a bit earlier if he's falling asleep or knackered, or asking to go up earlier.
A few doors down they have a little one a year older I'd guess, gone midnight she was still awake the other night. Could literally hear her overtired cries.

We are fairly strict on a school night - the eldest goes at 7.30 and the youngest at 7.

On a weekend night it's generally half hour later with extra time once upstairs for reading if they choose.

They don't ever lie in. Regardless what time they go to sleep they're awake at 7/7.30a.m. and so, if they stay up too late, they're absolute pains in the arse the following day. They're 6&7.

Interesting how many children are going to bed at 6pm!
I don’t get home from work until 6pm and on the days when DH doesn’t work from home, DD7 goes to after school club until 6pm. Two nights per week she goes to activities which don’t finish until 7 and 7.15pm respectively.

Usually she goes to bed at 8, but with the heat, and the summer it’s been a lot closer to 8.30 most nights.

She wakes around 7.30 am which is fine for us. We are night owls, and much prefer having an hour or so in the evening with her (as opposed to her going to bed at 7pm) than if she was to wake up at 6am.

She functions perfectly with her 11 hours sleep. She said the other day that when she is 9 yrs old (another year and a bit) she will go to bed at 9pm....I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all.

@TittyGolightly that's fine if you want to be a night owl as an adult but for a 4 yr old i personally think they need their sleep and also routine.

DD has always had plenty of sleep. She could no sooner get to sleep at 7pm than I could. As a baby she slept midnight till noon.

As many have mentioned on here they are usually a nightmare the next day if they are up late.

Not all children are the same. DD is less of a nightmare than her best friend, who is asleep by 8pm without fail and up at 5am without fail.

Just don't think it's good for a child that has school all day the next day to go to bed a 9 when they have to be up at 7.

Mine doesn’t need to be up until 7:45am (we leave at 8:10am). At 7 she needs 9.5-10 hours sleep, so she’s still getting plenty of sleep. She’s top of her class, very popular and a real character. Very creative too, which tends to be a night owl trait.

We are night owls, and much prefer having an hour or so in the evening with her (as opposed to her going to bed at 7pm) than if she was to wake up at 6am.

Precisely.

My daughter (6) goes to bed at 8 and falls asleep between 8-9pm depending on how tired she is.
It's been a struggle with this heat though!

My two year old averages a bed time of 8pm. It was 7 but when the clocks changed she could not adjust so now it's 8. She wakes us around 6 every morning.

My 6 month old DD goes to bed between 7pm-8pm.

We're very lucky as she sleeps until 6am-7am most mornings. Although yesterday she didn't wake up until 8am! 😁

I think ideally it should be up to 10 pm as it will help kids to wake up early which is always beneficial for health

I have a (almost) 6, 7 and 8 year old. They all go to bed around 8pm and are generally asleep by 8:30. On weekends I occasionally let them stay up until 9-9:30 but almost never later than that. They need 10-12 hours sleep at their age and since they’re up at 7am for school (8 year old has always woken up waaaay earlier than this though!) 8:30 seems fair.

I think ideally it should be up to 10 pm as it will help kids to wake up early which is always beneficial for health

Evidence, please.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131216155000.htm

Mine are 8, 6 and 2.

2 year old goes to bed at 7:30 and is usually asleep by 8
8 and 6 year old share a room, go to bed at 8 and are asleep by 9 as they read in bed and chat

All 3 are up at 6 - 6:30. EVERY. DAY.

8month old goes down between 7:30 & 8:30 and sleeps roughly 12-13 hours.

She naps about 2 hours after she wakes and mid afternoon for 45 minutes (ish)

Our 5 year old goes to bed at 8 every night. Sometimes it might be 7:45 or 8:30, but generally it’s roughly about 8. She may not be asleep until 8:30-9 some nights, but the rule is she stays in her room, plays quietly if she can’t sleep and turns the light off when she’s done. 5 month old goes to bed about 9pm. That’s about as early as we can manage as with work (I’m on mat leave now, dh obviously still working full time), the earliest we can do dinner is 6:30. 10:30 seems very late for small kids to be running around the garden. My mum used to let me stay up til 10pm even when I was a toddler, but she worked long hours and wouldn’t have spent much time with me otherwise. But we played quietly together and read books. I wasn’t outside keeping the neighbours up!

DD1 is almost 13 and lights off and phone away at 9.30pm. Prob asleep for 10 or a bit after. Wakes around 8 or so. Up at 7.20am on school days.

DD2 is 2.5. Bed at 8.20pm, asleep by around 9. Up between 7.30 and 8am.

Works for us! Would hate them to be up at stupid o’clock in the morning so don’t mind later bedtimes. Also enjoy spending time with them in the evenings.

My dd is just turned two and goes to bed at 8/8.15 and gets up at 7.30 ish. Naps for about 45 mins in the afternoon. I don't want her getting up before 7.30 as it means I have time to get ready for work without her running around.

3 and 5 go to bed 9ish. They don't need more sleep. I like our family evenings.

Nearly 6 and nearly 2yo go to bed between 7.45 and 8.30 most nights, the odd slightly later night but rarely after 9pm or they’re tired and grumpy the next day. They usually wake up 7ish (share a room so whichever one’s up first tends to wake the other), sometimes earlier at the min, some beautiful days they’ll sleep in til 7.45 or so. Eldest is getting a nightlight/bed den type thing once she turns 6 so will prob read for a bit before she goes to sleep once it’s an option.
Tiny one is 3 months and has no bedtime but gets put into bed when she starts to get grumpy, usually about 10pm-ish at this latest. I’m fairly relaxed and don’t like to be tied in to a really rigid routine - just not our thing. They’re all good sleepers currently, although it’s taken varying lengths of time to get there!