Bedtimess

[divanerd]

As this year comes (I'm excited to see it end-tough year) to an end my mind like every one thinks of ways to do things differently...

Wondering what time is bed time for your 2nd grader/7 year old?

[waverly]

I have a first grader, will be 7 in a month. She goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 7-7:30 or whenever I can drag her out of bed. She needs a lot of sleep.

[twinmomma]

At my house my 7 year olds are in bed between 7:30 and 8. They read in bed for 30 minutes on average each night. Some nights more, some less depending on our schedule. They get up at 6.

At dad's house, I think everything is pushed back - they stay up a lot later, but can also sleep in a bit more at his house.

[mommyatty]

8:00 sharp. We are bedtime nazis. DH is scandalized that we now let them stay up until 8:30 on weekends. Sometimes (gasp!) 8:45.

[k3am]

DD is almost 7 and goes to bed by 7:45-8 anytime I can swing it. If I had her in bed by 7:30, she’d knock out then.

We also are up by 6am during the week (and even earlier on weekends because children are assholes), so that plays into it.

[campermom]

Dd is 8 and lights out 8pm. The kids are up at 6:15 and out the door at 7.

[callmekd]

DD1 is 6.5 and in 1st grade. School starts at 7:30am. She is lights out by 8pm, sometimes earlier. Usually up by 6:15-6:30am.

[mae0111]

DD2 is 6.5 and I try to have her in bed by 745 on school nights. But she stalls a lot, so that’s usually closer to 8, even 815. I drag her out of bed by 645-650.

[mrsGreeko]

DS just turned 8 and is in 2nd grade. Most nights I’m leaving his room after reading stories right around 8:30. Ideally I think it should probably be 8, but no matter what we do that mostly doesn’t happen (did last night, probably won’t happen again this week). Then there’s nights like tonight where things just line up badly (I had a school meeting, DS didn’t finish his work at school so had to do some at home, kids had riding so dinner was late and Since I was gone DH was in charge and he’s more loosey goosey with timelines) and it was more like 9. 🤷‍♀️

I do my first pass wake up (when no kids actually wake up) at like 6:40 and second pass around 7 (when they actually start to wake up) and then he actually gets up around 7:10.

[covergirl82]

For DS when he was 7, we targeted 8:00/8:15 for lights-out, but he needs more sleep. DD does not, so for her at age 7, lights-out was 8:30. Right now, we target 8:30/8:45 for lights-out for both kids on school nights/nights when we have something first thing in the morning. Most school mornings, DD is up around 6:30-6:45 and DS is up around 7:00.

[divanerd]

Thanks ladies it appears most kids are in bed btwn 730 and 830...my son stalls bed time until 9p weeknights...

I may need to try like last year back to 745p/8p..
We shall see!

[librarychica]

Dec 3, 2019 9:36:45 GMT -5 divanerd said:

Thanks ladies it appears most kids are in bed btwn 730 and 830...my son stalls bed time until 9p weeknights...

I may need to try like last year back to 745p/8p..
We shall see!

We go through these periods with our oldest (8.) Last night she was in bed about 9 and her official bedtime is 8:15. Especially when it’s just me for long periods of times and I get tired of being rules parent 24/7. I usually start to drag it back if she starts sleeping later than my leave for work time (7) but she is usually up and moving by 6:30 at the latest so I figure she’s getting enough rest.

[186momx]

DD 8.5 (3rd Grade): goal is 7:30, reality on gym nights is by 8pm. If she could wake up on her own it would be about 7:40 but she needs to be up by 7. DD has always needed a lot of sleep. I thought she would adjust better to the later practice times but she still starts looking checked out around 6:30 like her body is telling her it is time to wind down and go to bed.

[madringal]

My 7 year old (2nd grade) goes to bed around 8:30. She is up naturally at 6:30 most days. If she "sleeps in" it's only until 7:30. She is very active and has swim and/or gymnastics every night of the week, so I would think she would need more sleep, but she just has a lot of energy to burn.

[divanerd]

I know my son will be that HS who I will have to wake with water..EXCEPT of course on weekends

[k3am]

Dec 3, 2019 11:10:43 GMT -5 librarychica said:

We go through these periods with our oldest (8.) Last night she was in bed about 9 and her official bedtime is 8:15. Especially when it’s just me for long periods of times and I get tired of being rules parent 24/7. I usually start to drag it back if she starts sleeping later than my leave for work time (7) but she is usually up and moving by 6:30 at the latest so I figure she’s getting enough rest.

I go completely opposite. When it's just me, kids are in bed even earlier than normal so that I can enjoy the peace and quite. Wednesdays I have both kids in bed (and usually asleep) between 7:15-7:30. 

[186momx]

librarychica, k3am, When it is just DD and me she is in bed by 7 if not earlier. I want some alone time by then.

[mommyatty]

Dec 3, 2019 11:15:43 GMT -5 186momx said:

DD 8.5 (3rd Grade): goal is 7:30, reality on gym nights is by 8pm. If she could wake up on her own it would be about 7:40 but she needs to be up by 7. DD has always needed a lot of sleep. I thought she would adjust better to the later practice times but she still starts looking checked out around 6:30 like her body is telling her it is time to wind down and go to bed.

My BFF is like this. She goes to bed pretty early and literally sleeps until noon on weekends even now I’m our 40s. I’m on the other end of the spectrum. I sleep maybe 6 hrs a night on average. And I’m awake without an alarm clock no later than 6 am every day. We have always looked at each other like “WT actual F is wrong with you??” about this issue. So your DD may not “outgrow” this.

[186momx]

mommyatty, I haven't outgrown it. I'm in bed by 9 and get up at 7. I can stay up later but it catches up to me. I'm also a bear when I don't get enough sleep.
DH used to go to bed early but then was up at 4am. He now goes to bed later 11ish and is still up at 4am. Part of me thinks he just likes having the house all quiet and to himself as the dog follows me to bed.

[sandandsea]

Ds1 has always needed less than average sleep. He goes to bed around 9 and is up by 7 and this is the most he’s ever slept. He is almost 8 and in 2nd grade. Bedtime is 8 but he’s never asleep before 9 and will push it past 10 if left up to him. He also just started STtN this year so he’s super special when it comes to sleep. He’s lucky he’s cute.

[mommyatty]

sandandsea- and you had more??? Honestly if DD hadn’t been a great sleeper, she would have been an only child.

DS needs a lot less sleep than his older sister. She’s pretty much exhausted at 8:00. He goes to bed at 8:00, and he’s great about staying in bed, but I hear him hop up to turn his nightlights back on (they are stars that turn off after 20 minutes) until at least 9:00 every night. He immediately gets back in bed and lays there, but sleep is elusive for him.

[waverly]

My neighbor was bemoaning how her son was still awake at 9 and at 9:30 she had to give him melatonin. I'm like OK my similar age child, 9, is usually up bouncing around until 10pm and then sets his alarm to watch TV at 6:30am (which I told him he can't get up that early to watch TV).

[mustardseed2007]

His stated bedtime is 8pm, but most times it's really 8:30 and on busy nights with homework and dinner and baths etc it's closer to 9pm by the time he's in the dark laying in his bed. When he starts getting emotional at night I know it's time to make a Big Effort to shift it earlier.

ETA: almost no matter what time DS goes to bed, he's awake by 6:30am. For him to sleep later than that takes multiple nights of staying up past 9pm. On the upside, getting him to go to sleep once he lays down has never been a problem, even if he takes a nap in the evening. Also, if he's in a car for more than 20 minutes he also falls asleep. 

[sdlaura]

My 7-year-old goes to sleep at 8. She shares a room with my almost 6-year-old son, who has a harder time falling asleep, and he will often be playing in their room after 8 with the lights on while she’s already fast asleep.

She’s always needed a lot of sleep and at least once a month she’s so tired that she goes to sleep by 7 pm. She wakes up at 6:30 most mornings.

[polecat8]

If there is anything that I am strict about, it is bedtimes.
DS2 goes to bed at 8pm. He is my crappy sleeper - usually up once during the night for one reason or another at least once a week. But he goes down pretty easily within 30 minutes. It takes him awhile to get going in the morning.
DS1 is a bundle of energy from the time he gets up until he goes to bed. But as soon as he is quiet in bed, he is out. If DS1 wants stories before bed, he goes in his room at 8:30 and we'll read 3 stories. Otherwise, he is asleep at 9:00.
DD goes to bed at 9:30 during the week and pushes to 10:00 on the weekends. She loves her sleep. I think she would sleep in on the weekends more if DS1 wasn't a screaming banshee in the mornings.
Everyone is usually up between 6:30 and 7:30 on weekdays to get ready for school.
This past weekend, we got really lucky and everyone slept in until 8am on both days.

The best thing about strict bedtimes? These kids struggle to stay awake much past them. DD went to a sleepover one time and ended up asking to go to bed at 10 while the other girls were wide awake.

[sdlaura]

polecat8 my DD hasn’t been to a sleepover yet, but I’m sure that will be her asking to go to bed early.

[sunbutter]

DD (7) and DS (11) are inseparable so bedtime is a compromise of around 8:30 most nights for both. Later on the weekends. They wake around 6:30. Never sleep in but they entertain themselves until we roll out of bed at 8 on the weekends.