What time do your children go to bed during the summer holidays

[MrsJThornton]

Hi, I have 9 & 11 year old sons and am having a real battle getting them to go to bed at a reasonable time now that the summer holidays have started.
I don't think I'm really strict and we've had a few 10pm + bedtimes already but I think generally, 9pm is a good holiday bedtime for them.
My youngest is very grumpy the next day if he doesn't get enough sleep and my oldest never lies in past 7am (usually gets up around 6.30am)
However, they insist that its really unfair & that their friends can stay up as late as they want!!

What do other people do? Thanks

I have four children (current ages , 10, 14 and 15) and have become less precious about early bedtimes with each child.
When my eldest two were around 9-10 years old, their bedtime was 8.30pm ad never (ever) changed regardless of school holidays and whatnot. By 11yo and secondary school it was closer to 9.30pm, but never later.

My current 10 yo (third child), what with being mostly off school from March due to lockdown and now school holidays, is regularly not in bed until 9.30pm and it's often 10pm. But for comparison, my 5yo is currently often not in bed until gone 9pm. It's not like me and DH are missing "grown up time" (what's that?!), because our teenagers go to bed at the same time as us now anyway. So it makes little difference to us having the younger ones up. It took a while for their body clocks to adjust, but usually dont wake until gone 8am now.

Nearly 8 year old goes to bed at normal time give or take 15 mins.

It may be school holidays but in this house adults still need child free time

I don't think there's any hard and fast rule.

But if staying up later makes them grumpy or they don't lay in I would keep to an earlier bedtime.

Either that or say that if they go to bed an hour later they cannot leave their room until an hour later than they usually would.

That worked for my ds who woke at 6am on the dot from birth. He learnt to fall back to sleep because nothing else to do for 2-3 hours!