What time does your 4 year old go to bed?

[MonsteraCheese]

We're having a hard time at the moment with just turned 4 yo DS. Bedtime routine is set in stone and has been for years, so routine is not a problem. In bed normally around 7 and asleep between 7:30/8. At the moment he just refuses to go to sleep, won't stay in bed, makes a nuisance of himself. Last night he didn't sleep until 8:30, tonight 9, a few nights ago 10. He's obviously tired but won't sleep.

I have wondered if 7 is too early for him and if I should start to push bedtime back a bit for him. What time does your 4 year old go to bed?

@MonsteraCheese yep daylight mean playtime 😂

6.45pm to 7.00pm

@Orangeinmybluelightcup

So how do they get to school?! And how do the adults watch anything that's not cbbc!

Nursery and they do the afternoon time: drop off at 1pm (my child starts at 7.30 at nursery). I think the kid watches adult tv , nothing too inappropriate but still. Hey I’m with you, CBeebies goes off air at 7pm for a reason :)

7pm and he goes straight to sleep until about 6.15am. I much prefer him going to bed fairly early from a selfish point of view, I live for a few hours to myself on an evening!!

Bed at 8:30pm, usually asleep around 9:15pm, wakes up naturally been 7 and 7:30am regardless how physical she's been! No nap.

She's never needed a huge amount of sleep (unfortunately 😂), but neither did/do I.

My 5 year old is usually asleep by 7.30pm and wakes about 6.30am.

Ds1 was always 7pm up until lockdown 1 really when he was 5.5. He's now between 730 and 8pm and DS2 is the same even though he's only 3. But DS2 will sleep until past 9am if you let him, he hates mornings.

We've always consistently just put them down and left them though. DS1 is generally sound asleep quickly (or at least doesn't make any noise) and up between 7 and 8. DS2 you can sometimes hear him singing to himself past 830pm but like I said, will get up much later if able to (or is a grumpy shit when woken for nursery!).

6 and 2 YO here. Both bathed and ready by 7pm but probably more going on for 7.30 by the time we have read and the 6yo has stopped faffing about.

On a nursery day he’s in bed by 7 and usually asleep within minutes but always by 7.30. On a non nursery day it can be half 8 or 9 before he’s sleeping. We’re not strict though and follow his lead. Sometimes when he’s tired he asks to go to bed at 6 and we’re trying to keep him up a bit longer.
Regardless of what time he sleeps he is always awake for 6am without fail 😭😭😭

@Orangeinmybluelightcup we've not tried audio books, he might like them.

Yes - one of my problems is what to do with him when he's still awake, but we need to work, study, exercise, watch not suitable for children TV?!

My 4 year old goes up to bed at about 9.45 and falls asleep very quick. She stays up late as she has older brothers and is having fun with them and would be annoyed if she was sent to bed early.

She wakes every day at 7.30 and is never tired during the day.

I wouldn’t mind if she went to bed earlier but she doesn’t seem to need any more sleep.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers yep, school will wear him out completely. Think I need to accept he's now at an age where bedtimes will ebb and flow more than ever to suit him.

DD 4 usually asleep between 7:40 and 8pm but lately wide awake until 9-9:30pm. I think the season changing so drastically has made her very energetic so I’m just going with it. She’s not being naughty she genuinely can’t get to sleep.

dd3 (4) would go to bed easily at 10pm but my patience cut off is around 8pm. So we aim to a 7.15pm bedtime, stories, farting around, shouting that's she's hungry, can she tell me something, can she have one more cuddle, can she sing me a song about a bug (that she makes up) so its 8 by the time she falls asleep. If I leave it longer I turn in to grotbags when I'm sorting her out so its for her own benefit

She's five in October.

For me 7.30 would be the dream. The reality (usually) of work and nursery pick-ups means that my 4yo is often not even eating his dinner until after 7. I’m not a very routine / structured person, but I aim for in bed before 8 and asleep well before 9. I don’t always succeed but usually. However bedtimes are havoc at the moment and I think that’s due to the white nights of midsummer (we’re in Scotland, it’s barely dark now).

My 4 nearly 5 yo goes up at 7ish, we have teeth and story, in bed by 7.30 and she goes asleep straight away. At the weekend/school hols bed time is a bit later, but by 8. She's an early riser, but will get up at the same time no matter what time she goes to bed (latest 7.30am 😴) She was a terrible sleeper up until about 3 though. Used to wake A LOT during the night.

7

I had to accept my dc were not in bed by 7 dc pretty early on. Stopping trying to force it and leaving them up a bit later to get properly tired saved a lot of stress. Bed by 7/.7.30 would mean 2 hours of messing about and me tearing my hair out plus a later sleep time than if I put them to bed at 8.30/45 and they'd go to sleep fairly quickly. I'll add it did also require wearing them out in the day too. Lots of outdoor physical exercise. A day in the house not doing much would not go well at bed time

@OnlyFoolsnMothers yep, school will wear him out completely.

Don't count on it 😆. Everyone told me this, they are 8 and 11 now and yet to be work out by, well anything much, certainly a day at school doesn't do it.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

7/7.30- exhausted at the end of the day as up at 6.30 and is extremely active (burns herself out)

My little one is on his feet all day. So either in the garden (we have a huge garden with a climbing frame, trampoline etc), park, walking the dog. We can spend full days outside - even nappy changes. Makes no difference. I have a low sleep needs child I think!!

[quote MonsteraCheese]**@DinoHat* and @LuckyWookie* bedtime routine started at 1 day old, its well earnt! Lights out from 7pm, every night. It's like I've brainwashed them [/quote]
Ours too. I used to put him down at 7 and he’d fall asleep. Till he learnt he could climb out his cot and it’s been game over ever since. We used a stairgate, he can scale that too!

Well to be fair my child isn’t at school yet but I heard school, even with less hours than nursery, is exhausting. All the parents I know who had kids that went to bed late started going to bed earlier, although they will never be 7pm-7am type children.

Amazing how different kids are even at this age, with different personalities, skills (gotta respect a climber!) and sleep needs. Like someone said above, we all spend 7-9 pm getting more and more stressed at one another and it's a horrible way to finish a day. Going to try DS with an 8pm bedtime for a bit, give him some grown up time, show him we're listening to him and see how we get on. Hopefully a later bedtime suits him.

Almost 4yo DD goes to bed between 7:45-8, if very tired then sometimes earlier. But the earlier she goes to bed, the earlier she's awake!