Bedtimes - what time does your 9 year old go to bed?

[wilbur]

We have 3 dc - ds1 has just turned 9 and I want to change the way we do bedtime. His sister is 6 and ds2 is 4 and a complete anarchist so I want an evening routine that is quiet but won't involve ds2 getting up every 5 minutes to ask why ds1 still has his light on... Curious to know what time other people with dcs around this age send them to bed?

Don't know how to stop your DS2 getting up I'm afraid (when DD was 4, they all shared a room so had the same bedtime) but FWIW, DS1(almost 12) and DS2(9) share a room, go to bed at 8 on school nights, but are allowed the light on until 9. DD(6) goes to bed at 8 as well but has to turn the light off at 8.30.

ds 2 goes up at about 8 and reads for a while. So 8.30ish if all goes according to plan.

dd1 is 10 in march
she wakes at 7 ish regardless of bedtime
she needs her sleep
bedtime is with the other two at 7 on weekdays
probably 8 on weekends

Are you okay Trinity?

DD1(9) goes to bed at 8.00pm on school nights and asleep by 8.30pm. She shares a bed with DD2(2) who goes to bed at 7.00pm.

The youngest is usually asleep by the time my eldest goes to bed.

Thanks for these, they're sort of what I thought. I think 8pm in room and 8.30/9 lights out would work. Ds2 is supposed to go to bed at 7 so maybe he could be asleep before ds1 goes up. At the moment, Ds1 like to hang out in his room obsessing over Warhammer after dinner, but I think I will say he should do that in the playroom. Dh is struggling with the idea that the 7pm bedtime for all 3 kids has gone and that he might have to share his evenings with his offspring....

[Hi Trinity, hope you're doing ok]

we're ok
I think
thanks

okay
your bedtime routine sounds ace by the way. Respect.

Somewhere between 8pm and 10pm usually. 6yo goes at the same time. But we have older children aswell so there are others up.

I have 3 dcs. They all go to bed at roughly the same time (8pm on school nights and 8.30/9pm on weekends). nearly 11 yr old ds is allowed to read until 9.30/10pm; 7 year old dd1 reads til 9pm and nearly 5 year old dd2 is settled down straight away. Currently dd1 and dd2 are sharing a room and so dd2 is put in our bed first so she doesn't get distracted by dd1 reading. When we go to bed we transfer her into her bed. It is an arse, and in a few months time they will all have their own rooms, but it works for us.

We also don't allow tv after dinner and so they have a mad half-hour where they chase each other round the house. This does seem to allow them to get rid of that last bit of energy before getting ready for bed.

I have one who is 8yo and a 5yo. They go up together at about 7.30. They both get read to, then DS (8) can read with his light on for another 15 minutes. DD will be able to do the same as soon as she can read to herself properly. Getting a reading light is a mark of maturity here

We're another lot with a 9 year old with an 8 bedtime (although he starts getting ready for bed at 7.30 and takes ages brushing his teeth and doing who knows what else). He reads or listens to audiobooks on his iPod until lights out at 8.30.

DS2 is just coming up 5 months and goes to bed around 7. I just wish he'd stay in bed for more of the night

8.30 to start going up and then I read a story (clinging onto this as long as I can ). So that probably means lights out at 9. Have always done a joint bedtime routine with him and his 3 years older sister, as she actually needs more sleep than him.

Otherwise would have no problem in explaining that X is a big girl and has a later bedtime.

Thanks everyone. Right, it's Monday morning, new week, new regime! I wanted to tie new bedtime in with a new chore for ds1 and am wondering whether him reading ds2 a story a couple of nights a week might work? Might be a recipe for mayhem though...

7.30.

She does 40 mins of silent reading before that. We did try moving it til 8 when she turned 9, but she got too tired.

the younger three all go at 7.

usually though, they will have lost bedtime for misbehaving and it ends up earlier. If they don't go to sleep quietly they either lose video games or go early to bed the next day.

I think if I tried the story idea, it would disintegrate into fights!

My 8 year old daughter goes to bed about 8ish but by the time she has been read to and read herself she goes to sleep about 8.30ish. My son who is 11 is more of a battle. He is sent up about 9.00 but is often still awake about 10.00. He reads/listens to music. He moans that most of his mates go to bed when they want to which I don't believe. He gets to stay up a little later on a Friday especially if we have a sitter. He needs his sleep though and has started to have Sat Am lie-ins like a teenager. Sharing your evening with them is a bit of a shock though especially when you are subjected to endless reruns of Top Gear on the Dave channel.

We do vary it for DD who is just 10 depending on how ratty she is. Usually she has lights off by 8.30, but has been reading in bed since 8ish. If she is ratty and tired, it might be a bit earlier.

DS is 5 and gets told that, as he is shorter than DD, and needs to do more growing (which only happens when you are asleep), he needs more sleep than DD, and likewise, as DD is shorter than me and DH, she needs to go to bed earlier than us to do her growing. He seems quite happy with this.

The problem we have is more that DD thinks that as she is down later in the evenings, she gets to say what is on TV all the time. Er, no, it doesn't work like that.

wilbur - we do that. I work evenings so haven't done bedtime stories for years, but both DS1 and DS2 were happy to read to DD and to each other.