What time do your kids go to bed?

Saved_by_Grace · Jun 16, 2004

My 8 year old and 5 year old go to bed around 9 pm. The 2 year old stays up until he falls asleep which can be as early as 9 (he'll sometimes lie down with the other two) but can be as late as 11 or 12. Since hubby works midnights though it is better for him if the baby sleeps a little longer in the day time so hubby can catch a quick nap. My oldest also have the tv on the summer time. It may not be what Beaver Cleaver's mom would do but it works for us:)

EMTtoRN · Jun 16, 2004

Hannah will be 3 in Novemeber and she usually goes to bed between 8-9pm. Of course when I have a paper due or massive homework she is up later!!

Energizer Bunny · Jun 16, 2004

We have gone back and forth on this and finally got something that works (sort of). We still tend to have arguments every night. All three of our children room together. It's the way they want it and frankly, it works out for the best because then they have a play room with all their toys and they don't play in the bedroom. They also no longer have a TV in their room.

In the winter months, their bedtime was 7 pm (strictly). They are four, two and 8 months. Now that it is light out longer, we let them stay up until about 8:30 and they are always in bed by 9 unless there is something special going on.

We have a ritual. It's always good to have one. They have a bedtime snack, brush teeth, get in jammies, say prayers and go to bed. If they don't stay in bed, they get priveledges taken away. Some nights we end up in screaming matches and others everything goes smoothly. I find that if we get them outside to run off energy either right before or after dinner that it helps them get to sleep at night.

There are some nights when I just have to lay down with one of them to get that one to sleep. It happens and it isn't always what I want to do because when they go to sleep is when I do floors, etc. but it's necessary about once a week.

I don't know if any of this helps, but if you make the bedroom for sleeping and nothing else, it is really supposed to make things easier and better and it has for us!

jemommyRN · Jun 16, 2004

Thank you guys for your input. At 8pm its still daytime outside (here anyway) and I know that she will be looking at the window and then looking at me like "mommy must be going crazy, it's still light outside and I need to go ride my bike". Since it's summer time, I guess I could relax a bit. And it should be easier when she gets her own room if I buy a house this summer. You guys have made me feel better.

skislalom · Jun 16, 2004

Well-I have 4 of em...ages 12, 10, 7 and 3

During the schoolyear..they go to bed at 8:30 (and to sleep by about 9:30)

During the summer...when it is light till like TEN...it isn't so easy...I usually start telling them to go to bed at around 9-9:30...10 o'clock for sure.

The youngest...it really depends on if he's napped or not. If so, he stays up later and I put the big kids to bed first. He shares my room (as we are under construction) but has his own bed. We do not allow tv on after bedtime or radios either. I do have a fan in the hallway outside their bedrooms that is loud enough to drown out other house sounds and provide white noise, but not too loud so as to interupt or prevent sleep. Does she still nap? Perhaps less napping would help her sleep?

~T

Energizer Bunny · Jun 16, 2004

Oh yeah, the only one that naps in my household is the baby so it's fairly easy to get the other two to bed at night. Forgot about that! LOL!

fnimat1 · Jun 16, 2004

My children have all went to bed by 8 p.m. and I started that at 18 months. I have 4 children and they are 9 1/2, 8, 3 and 17mths. I started early on my youngest son, the 17 mth. old. He likes to go to upstairs when everyone else goes upstairs....lol. So I would suggest you start some kind of routine....she'll get used to it eventually and expect to do these things.

Fatima

maire, ASN, RN · Jun 16, 2004

I have 3 children - ages 10, 9 and 2. They are all in bed by 8:30pm. The two older girls tend to stay awake for another hour talking (they share a room) but the little dude usually crashes quickly. Toddlers and preschoolers can be difficult at bedtime, especially if they don't have their own room. If you don't have them, try putting shades on the windows to darken the room a bit (get rid of the "sunlight" still coming in from outside). A nightlight (not too bright!) might be helpful. Make sure she has her last drink, her last kiss, her last trip to the potty. Try getting into the habit of reading a bedtime story every night. If she's bound and determined to get up anyway, you really just have to be firm with her. She'll probably cry and wring your heart around her little finger but in the long run it's best for her to get on a regular bedtime routine.

You can do it, Mom. :) Good luck with whatever you try!

OCCHCanada · Jun 16, 2004

I'm going to sound like a mean battle-ax mother. My boys are 12 and 14. Bedtime is a 9:00 on school days. But they are also up at 6:30 am for school.

Weekends and summer are a free for all though - they go to bed when

A - they fall asleep in living room

B - they get sent to bed for fighting

C - when I've had enough of them

My husband tells them to stay under the radar - bedtime is much later then.

smk1, LPN · Jun 16, 2004

my 3 yr old gose to bed between 8-9 in the winter and 9-9:30 in the summer. (hard to tell her "night-night" time when it is broad daylight outside.)

HisTreasure, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2004

My girls (ages 2 and 1) go to bed at 8PM every night, despite the season. My two year old likes to try to stay awake as long as she can, because if it's my husband's turn to check on them and she is still awake he will take her out of the bed and let her watch tv. 9 times out of ten, however, she doesn't make it past 8:30. My seven month old son follows shortly thereafter, around 9.

With children that close together, I need some semblence of order.