Bedtimes

S28382

Just a curious question...... What times do ye send your kids to bed at. I send my two lads to bed between 930 - 10 on a school night and at the weekend they go at 11 - 1130.

The reason i ask is that last night my oldest fella (12) was playing his xbox and it was around 10 that i told him to turn it off and go to bed he told his friend from school who he was playing online with that he had to go so he turned it off i asked him does he know what time his friends go to bed at and he said usually around half 10/11. I was shocked that on a school night they were allowed stay up that late.

I remember being sent to bed when it was bright out my mother would put a real heavy blanket on the window to darken the whole room the little bits of light still got in and let us know we were in bed way too early

RubyGirl

5 year old 7-730,
7 year old 8 -830

No time rule at weekend, would'nt even be up myself at 11pm.

Moonbeam

I went to boarding school and lights out was 9:30 for the junior cycle.

Wise Old Elf

4.5 year old goes half seven to eight.
Baby (age 1) around half six to seven.
Both are up then between half six and seven in the morning. Baby goes down a bit early, but she can't stay awake any longer and is major cranky.
When I was a younger teenager, I think 9 was bed time (based on being sent to bed after Glenroe on Sundays!).

S28382

God was i was younger i would of loved staying up until 1030. I remember when i was about 10 being left up one friday night till 1am so i could watch a match with my dad i dont know why i was left up as it was Sweden playing a football game in the US so i had no real interest in it, the excitement of staying up that late was cool haha how times have changed now i cant wait till im in bed.

S28382

Disco Stuart wrote: »

4.5 year old goes half seven to eight.
Baby (age 1) around half six to seven.
Both are up then between half six and seven in the morning. Baby goes down a bit early, but she can't stay awake any longer and is major cranky.
When I was a younger teenager, I think 9 was bed time (based on being sent to bed after Glenroe on Sundays!).

Haha yeah me too......after Glenroe we were sent packing then at 930 my parents went out for a pint it was the only time they ever went out...every Sunday night.

Davidth88

My 7YO , bed at 8-8:15 , she reads for 20-30 mins in bed ( she just LOVES reading ..... that's me being the proud Dad )


2YO ...... goes up 7:30 , she actually walks to the stairs and basically asks to go to bed , but is often singing /talking to herself until after 8 , I think she likes her own space.

MurdyWurdy

My Dad made my brother and I go to bed by 10pm during the week until we did our leaving certs!

Rosy Posy

7.30 is bedtime in our house but I'm a SAHM so I have plenty of time to get the dinner together and for them to have a play with Dad when he comes home. When I was a kid both my parents worked and I was in childcare so I stayed up til about 930 so I could spend some time with my parents after they got home from work.

IMO it's about finding the right balance for your family between them getting enough rest and having quality family time.

donegal.

2,3 and 5 yo all go at 7:30/8

ash23

10 year old goes at 8.30pm and in bed by 9pm on school nights. Usually goes to bed around 9.30pm on non school nights.

Mr.Wemmick

5 year old at 7:30 and 8/9 year old 8-ish - but reading in bed brings it up to 8:30 and a little later on weekends. Depending if they're tired then it's straight to sleep and only a short reading time.

If I didn't get an hour or two's peace of an evening, think I'd go bonkers

How Strange

It's 7 in this family and it's written in stone for the sake of my sanity. We'll start a bedtime routine with this little girl around 10 weeks, she's 5 weeks now, as that's what we did with our son. Hopefully by 3 months she'll be in bed by 7 too and we'll get our evenings back.

anncoates

3 year old goes around 7.

5 year old about 7.30 but is allowed to look at his books or play with his tablet for half an hour or so in bed.

Same schedule all week.

Toots

Oh god......my 20 month old gets jammies on at 9:30 and bedtime at 10......am I doing it wrong?

SusieBlue

I don't think there's such thing as too early when it comes to bedtimes.

I swear I'm not exaggerating, my sister and her son lived with me until last year, he's 8 years old (7 at the time) and it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to be up playing Call of Duty (an 18+ game) at 2am on a school night. It used to drive me mad but she was a complete and total pushover, she'd do anything to shut him up for 5 minutes and as she told me often enough, not my kid, not my business.

I think your bedtimes are reasonable, but I'd probably limit laptop use/playstations for at least 30 mins before bed on schoolnights to give their minds a chance to unwind.

rovoagho

Toots* wrote: »

Oh god......my 20 month old gets jammies on at 9:30 and bedtime at 10......am I doing it wrong?

Nope. Our fella was the same, although we've moved him back to 9/9.30 as it was dragging on past 10 some nights. I'd prefer to lose my evenings than get up at a ridiculous time like 6 or 7 am. I can't even dress myself at that time of the morning, never mind look after smallies.

That said, today I'm up since 4 cos he had a Supernap yesterday, and canines coming in to boot. If the wife doesn't get up soon, there'll be an Incident.

highly1111

Our 4 year old & 14 month old both go at 7. they would sleep till 7 and 8 respectively. We recently got our 4 year old a gro clock to keep him in his room till 8 and it's working great.

I'd much rather our evenings than our mornings (and we found that even if they are up late for whatever reason they still wake at the same time) because as far as I see it once they're in school (a matter of weeks now) they will have to be up at about 7 in order to get us all up organised and fed before we leave.

rovoagho

Our fella isn't a sleeper, never gone more than 11 hours and doesn't come next to near the expected times for his age. Doesn't seem to faze him though.

When the time comes, my kids'll be up at 8.30 and booted out the door at 8.55. School's very nearly in the back garden.

lonestargirl

Toots* wrote: »

Oh god......my 20 month old gets jammies on at 9:30 and bedtime at 10......am I doing it wrong?

He probably still had a daytime nap though? My guy is 29 months and bedtime is 8.30-9 but he sleeps a solid 2 hours in the middle of the day.

RubyGirl

Toots* wrote: »

Oh god......my 20 month old gets jammies on at 9:30 and bedtime at 10......am I doing it wrong?

Are you a stay at home mom/dad?

hoodwinked

our 3 (almost 4) year old is into bed between 7-7.30 but 7.30 is the official bedtime, she might stay up a bit after, reading books on a school night but no later than 8.

on a non school night she'll stay up a bit watching a movie but usually drifts off herself before 9, on a night where we have an event she'll stay up without issues,

and she always wakes up at 8am, regardless....

Lola92

I have a 2.5 year old and bedtime is generally 7.30/8, weekends are usually a bit later, around 9pm or so as we commute Friday and Sunday.

S28382

hoodwinked wrote: »

our 3 (almost 4) year old is into bed between 7-7.30 but 7.30 is the official bedtime, she might stay up a bit after, reading books on a school night but no later than 8.

on a non school night she'll stay up a bit watching a movie but usually drifts off herself before 9, on a night where we have an event she'll stay up without issues,

and she always wakes up at 8am, regardless....

Ah yes the early morning get up my oldest (12) still gets up around 7 ......only when he is off school tho

liliq

Toots* wrote: »

Oh god......my 20 month old gets jammies on at 9:30 and bedtime at 10......am I doing it wrong?

We're around the same, same age too.
Asleep at around 10, wakes at around 1 and 4, up at 7/8.
We go through phases of napping or not. The days without naps are pretty long!! Thankfully this week he's napping for around an hour during the day.
I think some people just need less sleep!

racso1975

3 and 5 in bath for 7 every night and bed for 7.30. 5yr old is always asleep first funnily but then the 3rd does sleep for an hour during the day.

Xdancer

18 month old has a bath a 7.30 and in bed by 8, sometimes 8.30. Ideally would like to make it a bit earlier but with work it's just not possible.
She's a very early riser too... 6.30am can be considered a lie in, so maybe earlier to would not be a good idea!

galah

18 month old in bed by 6 pm, can't get him to stay up longer (6.30 at an absolute push). But he's up then at 5.30 am...(but doesnt really matter since I leave for work at 6.30 am anyway...)

NextSteps

2year old in bed by 7:30, and he sometimes reads to himself for a while after that.

Toots

lonestargirl wrote: »

He probably still had a daytime nap though? My guy is 29 months and bedtime is 8.30-9 but he sleeps a solid 2 hours in the middle of the day.

Yeah, he has a good hour in the afternoon. He runs around like a mad thing and then has a power nap and he's up again!

RubyGirl wrote: »

Are you a stay at home mom/dad?

My husband is out of work at the moment so is at home most days, and I'm on long term sick leave at the moment so we're both at home.

Davidth88

Interesting this subject is in the news now

There is a report come out saying that teachers are finding kids tired and hungry

54% of 10YO have TV's in their bedroom !! , shocked me ( victorian dad )


http://newstalk.ie/Pupils-are-tired-and-hungry-at-school

hoodwinked

Davidth88 wrote: »

Interesting this subject is in the news now

There is a report come out saying that teachers are finding kids tired and hungry

54% of 10YO have TV's in their bedroom !! , shocked me ( victorian dad )


http://newstalk.ie/Pupils-are-tired-and-hungry-at-school

you see i find that annoying, my 3 year old daughter has a tv in her room (only hooked up to a dvd player but none the less) she also has her ipod in her room,


she still gets 12 hours sleep, funny thing about parenting, when she is going to bed and after her bedtime stories on a school night asks "can i watch a movie please" we say this funny little word called "No", and once we explain she has to be up early in the morning she's happy to lie down and go to sleep.


makes no difference to her,


i hate when they blame these peripheral things like computers and tv's, rather than admitting what we all know, if your child is staying up all night watching tv after you tell them not to, your child clearly doesn't listen to you and thats on your parenting,

if there were no tv's would it be "children are tired because they have toys in their room", or books, or anything else they'd use to stay awake?

/rant

either way that article says:

22% say children can't concentrate because they are hungry.

The authors say many parents may not be aware that the average 10-year-old needs about 10 hours sleep a night.

They blame student fatigue on the fact that 54% of 10-year-olds have a television in thier bedroom and 10% have a computer.

so they are hungry and fatigued because they have a tv in their room

S28382

My boys have a tv in their rooms they are hooked up to xboxes there is strict rules with playing it they still get their required sleep they definitely dont go to school hungry so i think the study is not really accurate at all, if parents let their kids do what they want then of course it will impact them in a negative way.

Davidth88

hoodwinked wrote: »

she still gets 12 hours sleep, funny thing about parenting, when she is going to bed and after her bedtime stories on a school night asks "can i watch a movie please" we say this funny little word called "No", and once we explain she has to be up early in the morning she's happy to lie down and go to sleep.

You would be surprised how many parents don't have that word ( in a consistent sense ) within their vocabulary.

clappyhappy

Heard that on the radio this morning and was glad that my nearly 9yr old son heard it also. He usually says that he goes to bed way before his friends, 8/8.30 and its "not fair". I know of kids in the school, tiny rural school (30 kids in total) that are up till 11/11.30 each night, dragged out of bed in the morning and no time for breakfast. They are lovely kids but they are the most disruptive in class.
Our 3 kids, 8,6 & 4 yr olds in bed by 8.30 latest and asleep by 9, usually reading, word search, play with dolls.
Routine is very important, youngest asks around 7 to put on his pyjamas. Up at 7.30 plenty time to est their breakfast and play before school.

S28382

clappyhappy wrote: »

Heard that on the radio this morning and was glad that my nearly 9yr old son heard it also. He usually says that he goes to bed way before his friends, 8/8.30 and its "not fair". I know of kids in the school, tiny rural school (30 kids in total) that are up till 11/11.30 each night, dragged out of bed in the morning and no time for breakfast. They are lovely kids but they are the most disruptive in class.
Our 3 kids, 8,6 & 4 yr olds in bed by 8.30 latest and asleep by 9, usually reading, word search, play with dolls.
Routine is very important, youngest asks around 7 to put on his pyjamas. Up at 7.30 plenty time to est their breakfast and play before school.

Yeah that seems to be the norm for some people some of my fellas friends are allowed to stay up that late aswell i think its a disgrace.

My routine with my fellas is bed at around 10, in the morning i go into their rooms at around half 7 turn on their lights and lifts their blinds i leave them lie in bed for around 15 mins then i go up to their rooms tell them to get up leave them off for another 10 mins and by that time they are up and dressed and ready for breakfast.

I remember when i was young my mam had some bother getting us out of bed and it used to start off rows so before i would even go to school id be after sleeping it in have a row with my mother then stroll up to school....god when i look back at it we were assholes but we didnt no better because there was no real structure to our morning.

So after being like that when i was young i promised myself that i would not be like that with my own kids and thank god i stuck to it.

Kaylee

I put my nearly 6 year old to bed at around 8:30 and stay with him quietly reading and talking until 9:15 ish....but he often doesn't go asleep until 10:30 because he his hopping up and down the stairs asking for stuff and is generally not able to wind himself down.

There is no TV in his room and I do not intend on putting one in there (because I am also a Victorian parent ) but does have books and toys....blaming tiredness on tv's in bedrooms is a bit silly.

I don't think that kids being tired in school is a new phenomenon anyway...kids are just human..... I'm sure I was tired in school in the early eighties

Sleepy

4 1/2 year old girl and 7 year old boy. Bedtime is 7:30 mid-week but often rises to 8. Then there's a battle of wills to get them to stop chatting to each other / running into each other's rooms / coming up and down the stairs to ask for things etc. so it's usually closer to 9/9:30 before they're asleep.

Weekends tend to be closer to 8:00/8:30 with an occasional 9 if they've been very good and we let them have a "movie night".

branners69

The boys are two and go to bed at 7.30. The girls are 3 and 6, the 3 year old goes at 8 and the 6 year old goes at 8.30. All asleep at 9pm latest and all wake up at 8am!

No naps or sleeps during the day, sometimes one of the boys might nap for 15 minutes if we have been to the playground or walked him around the shops!

wolfpawnat

4 1/2 year old, in bed between 8/8:30 with story. No excuses. Nana calls me Hitler and despises me for the routine, but no2 is due soon and school in September so I am not giving in. My partner and I cherish the hour or two silence before our own bedtime so we need him in bed then. Each family is different.

Moonbeam

my 2 year old and 4 year old go up about 8, if they are really tired i completely lie and tell them it is 8 when it is 7,most of my clocks are 24 hour and that confuses the 4 year old;)

Oral Slang

My 20 month old goes between 7.30 & 8.30. Closer to the earlier time Friday to Sunday as I'm off work so can have dinner cooked earlier & still leaves her time to play with mammy & daddy before bed. At the min Monday to Thursday its getting nearer to 8.30 as its so hard getting in & cooking in the evening & then she wants to go out & play with the kids on the road when it's dry. We usually bring her out for a bit & then it's story time & bed. Usually wakes once a night, although last night just tossed & turned a lot, gave her a drink of water & she didn't wake til 7, so would have been delighted with myself, only that I'm 18 weeks pregnant & not sleeping much.

Can't get over the size of the kids on the road still out playing at 9pm plus - 3/4 year olds. Mental! I hear one of them on a nightly basis sobbing crying at about 8.30 - clearly she's wrecked, so can't understand when the parents let them stay out so late.

miss no stars

The only experience I have with kids is 2 x 3 month stints in the USA in a residential summer camp (bedtime varied by age, but even the older kids (up to 17) were lights out by 10-10:30, under 15s generally lights out 9:30). They were sometimes allowed a late night but were noticeably crankier and in worse moods and generally buzzing on a lot of nervous energy the next day.

I know a lot of people can't stand her, but I do remember Supernanny doing a test on bedtimes. Took a bunch of kids, measured their aptitude, reaction times etc. etc. Let them do whatever they want about bedtime for a week so long as lights were out by 11 and remeasured their performance. The next week, she imposed strict bedtimes and restrictions on electronics before bed and remeasured the functioning of the kids. All of them had massive drops in performance when allowed to stay up til 11 and do as they pleased before bed, and iirc, all of them improved above their initial baseline when bedtime was set to much earlier and they had no electronics before bed. It's worth a watch, though. Kinda shows just how much sleep kids actually need (even many of those who are hyper and buzz about til 11, then crash, are overtired and need more sleep than they've been getting)

beertons

21 month old goes to bed at 730, just up from 7 two weeks ago. And 7 week old goes down at 7. Dream feed at 10, and sleeps on till 630 when the other one wakes.

S28382

beertons wrote: »

21 month old goes to bed at 730, just up from 7 two weeks ago. And 7 week old goes down at 7. Dream feed at 10, and sleeps on till 630 when the other one wakes.

Pardon my ignorance but what the hell is Dream feed?

December2012

S28382 wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance but what the hell is Dream feed?

Feeding the child while they are asleep / not fully roused.

beertons

Tis deadly, she doesn't even know she's getting it till i burp her after 2 ounces. Repeat twice more, wind again, swaddle and it's lights out. Thanks to Tizzie Hall for that one. Better than feeds every 3 hours throughout the night.

Irishcrx

My 7 month goes to bed at 7.30 - 8pm each night, try to keep him in a routine since he was a few weeks old. Since I'm working all day and his Mam stays at home I get home at about 6, dinner goes on and I'll play with him for an hour, tire him down if he's not already, get him into his jammies then his last bottle of the day which he usually falls asleep with after 5-6 ounces then up to bed and he's out for the count until 8 or so the next morning!