Bedtime for 8 year old?

Skittlespink

Hi,



Ive an 8 year old girl who normally is in bed, routine done at 9pm.We usually give her 20 mins to look at a book at this stage or watch a short episode on netflix. (Controlled by my phone as I chromecast ) then its light out. I find it takes her until around the 10 o clock mark to nod off.Some night she will have called me 2 or 3 times by this stage,usually a worry about school or a question of some sort. So last night I let her stay downstairs watching telly with us until close to ten and then she noded off straight away. IM wondering is it nearly better to let her up later and then sleep quicker ...what sort of routine does everyone else have? Ive no idea what time other 8 year olds go asleep!. She gets up at 8am for school.

markpb

The official advice is that you should not let children have screen time for 30-60 minutes before sleep time because it stimulates their brain and stops them from relaxing.

However, we follow that advice and our 8yo is exactly the same - she starts getting ready for bed around 7:30, she reads for a while, we read/talk with her for a while and then she reads to herself again but it's still after 9 before she finally nods off. Some nights she's happy to lie in bed quietly until she falls asleep, other nights she wears a path in the carpet going up and down the stairs to us worrying about something or checking something. We've tried letting her go to bed later but then it's later before she falls asleep. It doesn't help that she's awake between 5:30 and 6 in the morning

Skittlespink

Thanks for the advice... Im glad we are not the only ones up and down like yo-yo's!

GreeBo

I would ditch the screens, let her read for as long as she wants (within reason!) and she will fall asleep, you can pop in a turn the light off when you are going to bed.

I would also try to distinguish between a real, actual worry and something she just wants to talk about because her brain is active, if you go every time she calls then she is going to keep calling...

Gru

bedtime for an 8 year old is recommended at School-age 6-13 years old 9-11 hours.


but like anything it depends on your routine and your child's, some are night owls others early birds,


ours go to bed at 7pm, as they wake at 7am, but for the older one at 8 she used read until 8ish and then fall asleep herself on school nights. the younger one still sleeps 12 hours.


on weekends (non school nights) they watch a movie from 7-8.30ish and then go straight to sleep.

shane b

markpb wrote: »

However, we follow that advice and our 8yo is exactly the same - she starts getting ready for bed around 7:30, she reads for a while, we read/talk with her for a while and then she reads to herself again but it's still after 9 before she finally nods off. Some nights she's happy to lie in bed quietly until she falls asleep, other nights she wears a path in the carpet going up and down the stairs to us worrying about something or checking something.

This is exactly what we have with our 7 year old. She wakes about 8 ish herself most mornings.
Although we had her at a childminder up until covid and she was in bed a lot earlier and up at about 6.15 am.