Is 10 hours sleep enough for a six year old?

[Sleepsleepohglorioussleep]

DS is 6.5, on average sleeps for about 10 hours a night. He always seems tired. We usually aim for 7.30 lights off time to sleep. He can often find it a bit tricky to get off to sleep, I’d say on average he takes 30 mins from lights out but can be an hour at worst. He tosses and turns, mutters to himself and seems to find it difficult to switch off. Once he’s off, he usually stays asleep until 7am or thereabouts. Probably doesn’t help that we’re not as strict as we should be about sugary food / screen time but we do try to avoid both for an hour before bed. But he can be the same even on those nights where he has no tv or sugary food at all. He also likes exciting books and obviously that can get him a bit wound up. Guess what I’m asking is whether it is unusual for a child his age to take that long to fall asleep or whether my expectations are unrealistic.

So he sleeps from 8pm to 7am? I’d say that was a great nights sleep. My 5 yr old is usually asleep by 8pm and wakes up 6-6:30am. 7 and 9 yr old asleep by 9:30 and up at 6:30-7am

I’d say more like 8.15ish most nights. Suppose my concern is also how long it takes him to drop off

Sounds enough for a 6 year old, but d deficiency causes tiredness, does he take a supplement

Not sure if I’m putting him to bed too early so he’s not tired enough to sleep or too late so that he’s overtired which can also not help sleep

My 6.5 year old needs closer to 11 hours but each child is different. Is he struggling waking up in the morning? Is he grouchy/irritable?

my ds8 takes 1/2 hour to unwind/talk to himself before he will sleep so I bare that in mind with his bedtime and allow for the process.

@123456abcdef it really depends. Some days we have to wake him and it’s IMPOSSIBLE! He does not want to wake up and is in a terrible grump! Other mornings he’ll wake up naturally at 7ish and seems fine. Just doesn’t seem a lot of sleep for a child of his age but I don’t really know what is considered ‘normal’ or if there is even a ‘normal’

@Strictlymad he takes a general vitamin supplement, I’m not sure if it contains vitamin d

Smack bang in the middle of normal, this chart is helpful, nothing to worry about at all. My 4 year old generally sleeps about 10 hours (9pm-7am) sometimes sleeps in later if he can. 8.15-7am is closer to 11 hours anyway. If he’s taking that long to drop off the most obvious reason is he’s not tired enough when you’re starting trying to get him to sleep, maybe push it back a bit later?

My 7 year old only sleeps for 9-10 hours per night, more often closer to 9 than 10. He has always had low sleep needs for his age, but he doesn’t seem tired during the day.

@BuffaloCauliflower thanks that’s reassuring. I’m worried if I push his bedtime back and he still takes 30-45 mins to go to sleep, he’ll be even more tired the next day and we’ll still have to get him up for school at the usual time!

@Hattysbackpack ok that’s interesting. Does he have any SEN? Only ask as I read that children with adhd etc can have low sleep needs. Don’t really have any concerns with DS other than his sleep but when you google it, that’s what comes up

@Sleepsleepohglorioussleep I thought the same and spent ages trying to get DS to sleep earlier, it didn’t work, he just wasn’t tired. Now he sleeps at the same time but we’re less stressed and bedtimes are quicker.

For what it’s worth, I have ADHD but never struggled with sleep as a child (I have a bit as an adult, not for this thread) it’s quite a spectrum, but if you have no other concerns/spotting no other signs, it’s probably not ADHD. He may just be more of a natural night owl (both my kids prefer being up later and sleeping a bit later, never had any 5am crazies here!) It’s evolutionarily advantageous for us not to all need to sleep at the exact same times.

My daughter doesn't need anywhere near that much sleep.

My stepdaughter always needed a lot.

If he's always tired, he probably needs either more sleep or he's deficient in something- vitamins, iron, outdoor time or something else.

Children are all different.

No SEN. He’s full of imagination and energy so I think he just likes to cram as much into his day as possible!