What time is bed time - 4 year olds?

[makingdotoo]

Hi there,

My eldest is 4, just turned in april. For the past 3-4 months, she has become quite difficult, sleep wise (previously she has slept 7-7 since she was 2 months old) taking ages to go to sleep and waking early in the morning. The other night it was lights out 7pm...but i caught her out of her room playing in the bathroom at 10.30pm. She was then awake by 6am the next morning.

She shares a room with her sister, 3 on thursday and is constantly waking her up. Morning and night.

So i am trying to work out ways to sort this out as my younger daughter wont nap in the day so is becoming quite overtired. I also have a baby of 8 months that is woken sometimes because my eldest comes out of her room.

I am wondering if its just too early a bed time? Like i say she is awake 6am most mornings, occasionally its 7am. No naps in the day. She isnt in preschool till august but she does loads in the day, and is very hyper active, always on the go. I think she gets enough exercise to be suitably tired, even if we dont go to the park i will have them out in the garden.

What time do your 4 year olds go to bed?

Dh is up there with my 4.6 yo now. She'll be asleep any time between now and 8-ish. Gets up any time between 6.30 and 7.30. Usually sleeps longer if she's had a very physically active day (like today [hopeful]).

ds1 5 and dd almost 4 go to bed between 7 and 7.30pm. They are up between 6 and 7am usually. ds1 always up first and usually around 6.15am.

Can you put your 3 year old to sleep in the same room as the 8 month old instead?

DD 4.6 - In bed at 7.20 allowed to look a books etc, is always asleep by 8, but sometimes within minutes of being tucked in.
She normally wakes about 7.30, but sometimes I have to wake her at 8.30 so she is not late for preschool - and she is generally very grumpy and needs dragging out of bed like a teenager

I put all my dd's (7,4,21mo,8mo) to bed at 7.30pm and my 4 yo is usually awake at 7am on weekdays perhaps until 8ish at a weekend.

ds goes to bed some time between 6 and 6.30pm but reads books - he probably goes to sleep about 7ish most evenings but has to get up at 6.15am during the week to drop me off at the station before going on to nursery. He sometimes sleeps later at weekends but his body clock usually wakes him up at 6.15am regardless!

My DD has just turned 4 and has been in bed by 8pm for around 6 months. We moved to this from 7.30pm as she was waking early. She is still up any time after 7am but I can live with that. Bedtime starts around 7pm with a bath then a cartoon and a story but lights always out by 8pm. Generally she is asleep within 10 minutes. Hope this helps.

my 3.5 year old ds is now happily at 8pm-7am.... 7pm was too early for him and he was regularly up at 5:30. he doesn't nap either. i think you have to go with instinct on this one - if shes up and not tired = needs less sleep!

My 4 year old is generally into bed by 7:30 latest and stays in bed till his 'bunny clock' wakes at around 7.10 am. However his actual morning wakeup time is not that consistent...some mornings I hear him chatting around 6 ish, others he will still be fast asleep when the bunny wakes up. Equally some nights he's asleep within two or three minutes of getting into bed, others I hear him chatting to himself half an hour later.

I do find that it makes a difference in how well he sleeps if he has not had enough fresh air and exercise...I also find that if for any reason he does wake in the night, he finds it hard to settle back to sleep quickly and can often be awake for a couple of hours. I think this might be genetic in our case, I am exactly the same!

Would she respond to some kind of incentive chart for staying in bed quietly and not disturbing her siblings? We are trying to get DS dry at night and he basically gets a sticker every morning his pants are dry, 7 stickers and he gets a small treat. Could you adapt something like this to encourage DD to at least stay quietly in bed even if not actually asleep?

DS, was 4 in March, usually goes to bed between 7 and 7.30 and most mornings I have to wake him at about 7.15ish.

He nearly always sleeps between 11 and 12 hours a night and he is very active from the moment he gets up to when he goes to bed.

thanks folks, Sparkleandshine, my daughter is NEVER tired. Thats not a joke! We have been on holiday before and she has been up till 11.30pm without even the hint of a yawn. I think most of the time she just obliges me and lies there bless her. I was also a horrendous sleeper when i was a kid, very much an insomniac, so she must get it from me. I think 7pm could be a wee bit early though, so will try 7.30pm

The only problem with putting 3 year old in with baby, is that baby sleeps in total darkness. 3 year old doesnt like the dark

I have two, and both go to bed at 6.30-7. Like yours, they will happily stay up til 11.30 on holiday . At home, one goes straight to sleep, the other messes about more often than not and can still be up til gone 8.

I've found if they get less sleep they can get overtired and find it harder to settle. Darker curtains helped with stopping them waking too early in the mornings.

Also if they feel positive about going to bed they are more relaxed and tend to go to sleep. They always go to bed at home around the same time, but if I tell them they have 'stayed up' they are happier about it!

Bribery also worked quite well with my non sleeper!

We never have a problem actually going to bed, eldest is quite happy. We read stories, have warm milk, they have music to go to sleep by, their room is blacked out but they have a plug in night light thing....i suppose she is just like me.

I have resorted to bribery too...i told her if she doesnt wake DD2 up and sleeps well, i will give her a sticker each morning, and at the end of the week if she has 5/7 stickers i will reward her with a wee toy of her choice. I figured it would be pretty unfair to expect her to do 7/7 though the evil side of me says it isnt