When did you stop 'putting your child to bed' ?

[sleepfortheweek]

I have two DDs who are 7.5 and 10. My DH and I take turn about doing their beds every night, which involves us getting into bed with them to read them some of a book and then giving them a cuddle before they either read themselves for a bit or listen to an audiobook.

I've become aware through friends that a lot of children who are the same age as DD1 just go up to bed themselves and read/watch tv etc.

I'm 100% happy with our current set up and will continue as long as our DDs want us to but I'm just interested in when your DC went to bed independently?

I honestly can't remember at what point I just said goodnight to my parents and went off to bed myself, but it was definitely before secondary school. I've got very fond memories of my mum reading to me though.

About 5 tbh! I’m a single parent so always busy with jobs, I’m also a nurse so life can be pretty hectic but that’s about the age he stopped wanting me to come up and tuck him in. He’s my only child so not sure if that is normal but we’d do homework and school reading, I allow him 10 minutes downtime with a book or something when he gets into bed after teeth and he’s 9 this year now

About 12, although it depends on the child.

I take my 5 year old upstairs so I can supervise him doing his teeth but then I just give him a kiss and let him get on with it. He loves a schedule though so will proactively go up to bed at 7.30 if I'm in the other room or something.

I'm still putting my 7 and 8 year old to bed, tucking them in, having a cuddle etc

I've dropped the reading now (sometimes they have a look at a book by themselves instead) but still doing the rest.

15 year old still wants me to tuck them in, only time I willingly get a cuddle 😂

That's lovely 🥰

I still say goodnight/kiss my 13 year old every night. Tuck him in etc!

We still do with our nine year old, he’s quite vocal about likes and dislikes, so he will definitely tell us if he wants us to stop.

3 x DD (14,11,9), still put them all to bed….ie read and chill and have a cuddle with them all and take DD14’s phone from her.
apparently it’s one if the best times to chat…they are most likely to open up in the dark with no face to face pressure.

The 18 year old comes down for a hug and to offer some random thought that he then wants me to discuss at length 😆 before he goes to bed. So I guess he puts himself to bed. The 16 year old still likes a hug and tucking in during the week, but not at weekends.

But in terms of a routine with books etc I'd say 10/11ish.

My soon to be 18 year old still pretty much goes to bed at the same time as me and I chat to her in her room before she goes to sleep 😄

My eldest is 11, I stopped getting in for a bedtime story about 18 months ago and he just reads to himself now. I still go up to tuck him in and give him a kiss and cuddle after he’s done his teeth though, and will do for as long as he lets me!

Mine are 11 & 13 and I still have a bit of involvement, go in, say goodnight, quick tidy round their room, take out any rubbish etc. They don't need it, but we all still do it.

My teens still like me to sit with them at bedtime. They like the 1:1 time to talk about their day.

My eldest always wants a cuddle too. My youngest likes a foot rub!

We stopped doing stories around Year 7, I think.

Yes - I find this too actually. They are more likely to open up and tell you about their day or ask questions etc

I stopped when my DS went to uni. I asked him if I should stop he said I like it, you like it so no.

7 or 8 I think. They were keen to be independent and we are happy to encourage that. They say good night downstairs before sorting themselves out.

Yes, I love bedtime now they're older. (Mine are 15 and 12) It's much more quality time and you can let them do the boring bits (shower, teeth etc) by themselves but still get the nice bits (cuddle, chats, tuck in).

Like PP, older one is much more likely to open up for chats at the time, too.

DD 10 I go up with just because she doesn’t like going upstairs alone and I just sit on the bed and chat with her while she gets ready for bed. We’ll have a cuddle and chat once she’s in bed and kiss goodnight. She can put her tv on sleep timer for 15 minutes after that.
DS 13 I go into his room when its lights out time. He would have already gotten himself into bed to just chill out. I get under his duvet and we have a little chat before a hug goodnight.
DH just shouts goodnight to them from downstairs 😂

Same!

My eldest is 8 and we hover around upstairs whilst he's in the bath and will usually have a chat about whats hes going to watch in bed, he'll often request a snack but other than that we leave him to it until 9 ( or just before) when we go up and get him to turn off. Occasionally he asks us to sit or lie with him but we stay for less than 5 minutes and then say goodnight. He does still have about 1 night a week when he has a bit of a meltdown at bedtime and needs more interaction to calm down enough for sleep

My 15 year old DS does too! DDs were much younger when they stopped.

11/12 I think. They enjoyed being read to.

Still help my 8 year old get ready for bed, read to her and sit with her until she’s asleep. I’ve just this week started leaving her with a book after reading and a cuddle to see if she can get to sleep on her own and it’s going well.

I still put DS10s to bed.They shower, brush teeth etc all by themselves then like to play a quick card game or read to me before bed. My DH has said recently he thinks I faff around them too much and they need to just go to bed alone. However, as @Iwishicouldflyhigh said, it's the only time they open up and want to talk about everything that's happened at school. If I tried to ask them about school at 5pm - no chance!