8 y.o. Bed Time

We have always put the kids in bed around 9pm no matter what age they are. They did that as a baby on their own so it just fell into a pattern.

My 6 and 7 year old go to bed between 8-9 on weekdays. Same on the weekends. My 11 year old goes to bed at 9 on weekdays and 10 on weekends. This works for them. Seems to work for us. They don't get many colds at all. I believe in vitamin C too when I can get them to take it.

Catching up on sleep on weekends is a fallacy. You need the right amount of sleep each night. Our 7.5 year old is in bed at 8 p.m. on school nights (wakes at 6:30 a.m.) and anywhere from 8:30-9:30 p.m. on Friday/Saturday.

My son is seven, and his bed time is 8 sharp, and 9 to 10 on nights with no school (Friday and Saturday night, and back to 8 sharp on Sunday).

Make a bedtime routine and stick with it. Give him the consequences of not keeping to his routine-- increased risk of illness, difficulty in concentrating in school, less energy to play and other such issues...

Yanno, I just thought of something, and this just hit my seven year old. My son is currently going through "growing pains". Is he restless when lying down? Will he tell you if he's in any discomfort or pain?

Try giving him a banana and a glass of milk before bed.

Hope this helps.

My 8 y/o goes to bed at 8 and reads for 15 minutes then lights out. He gets up at 6:20 for school. Weekends I let them stay up until 9 (sometimes later if its a special occasion/holiday/party). My 8 y/o is a 10 hour sleeper ~ whatever time he goes to bed, he is up 10 hours later.

My boys are in bed at 8:10 and then they are allowed to read for 20 minutes before lights out on school nights. On weekends we often let them stay up until 9, with quiet time starting at 845.

At 8 yo, my GD went to bed at 8:30. I would read a story and it was lights out before 9:00.

Now that she's 10, she goes to bed at 9:00, reads for 1/2 hour and lights out at 9:30. She gets up between 7:00 - 7:15 and wakes easily so I'm sure she's getting enough sleep.

8:30. That's what time my kids went to bed from the time they were infants until they were through middle school.

Yeah, you can laugh. Actually, by middle school, they were putting themselves to bed by then if they had finished their homework. If they had not, they groused because they were tired and wanted to go to bed. It wasn't until they were IN high school that they had a later bed time.

The reason is that they knew the next day (they could NOT sleep late) that they were suffering because of lack of sleep. Even when there was a special circumstance and they had to stay up late, they paid for it the next day. My older child especially could not take a late bedtime. He'd fall apart the next day.

I don't believe that catching up on sleep on the weekends is the answer. Scientists have said that about adults. The same is probably true for kids, though I haven't seen those studies myself.

As far as your remark that bedtime on school nights seems to be getting later, you are in the driver's seat regarding when your child goes to bed. It's a matter of being organized and not letting choas rule in your home.

Dawn

My 9 yr olds go to bed during the week between 8:30-9:00. The one twin, it's closer to 8:30, the other it's closer to 9:00. They get up at 6:30 for school the next morning. On the weekends, they can stay up until 10:00, but usually end up falling asleep between 9:00-9:30. And they usually end up waking up around 7:00 am on the weekends.

My son will be 8 in March, is in 2nd grade, and goes to bed at 7:30.

He gets up at around 7:00 a.m.

Our 8yo goes to bed at 7:00 most nights. I know that is incredibly early, but he gets up at 6:30, and this child needs his sleep or he is a grump. He goes to bed at 8:00 on Wednesdays and sometimes on the weekends, but 7:00 is the norm. He doesn't mind; he knows he needs his sleep. Even in the summer when it's bright outside, he still goes to bed that early. If he would sleep later, we could change his bedtime, but the boy won't sleep in. He is an early riser.

My 7 and 10 year olds go to bed at 10:00pm. They both need about ten hours of sleep a night. They start school at 9:00am and get up at 8:00am. On Friday nights they can usually stay up as late as they wish, unless we have something going on Saturday morning. They have to be at church for 10:00am on Sunday, so they need to go to bed by 11:00pm Saturday night. Sometimes if they are feeling a little run down they will go to bed a little earlier, like 9:00pm. Both of my boys are healthy and active. Everybody is different, and as he gets older he will need less sleep. I sleep about 8 hours a night, but my husband sleep 5-6 hours a night. Most of my kids friends sleep about the same as my kids, but a few go to bed much earlier. You will be able to tell if he isn't getting enough sleep. He will be tired, cranky and have a hard time concentrating. If he is getting enough sleep there is no point to making him go to bed earler than he needs to.

I have 2 kids. 6 & 10. I know them and their tiredness cues very well.

Both my kids, go to bed at 8:00 or 8:30 at the latest.
My daughter though, often goes to bed late or later, because in her grade level there is SOOOO much homework.
And because of that, yes, she needs to catch up on sleep.
My son needs to catch up on sleep too, if he goes to bed a bit later.
And if catching up on sleep, means doing it on the weekend, then yes, that is what they do.
During school nights, THIS is when, I make sure my kids go to bed at their bedtime. Not letting them stay up later willy nilly. School is the next day. If they don't get adequate sleep, it rears its ugly head the next day... all day, and they get, irritable.

But again, since my daughter gets so much homework per her grade level, she often just cannot go to bed at the normal time, even if she is tired. And yes, she is tired all week. And yes, the teachers know this is a problem. And yes, ALL her other classmates in this grade level, have the same lack of sleep issues. Due to school work.

Both my kids, wake up the next morning, at about 6:30am. or by 7:00am. They wake, at this time, since they were babies. It is just their internal clock. No matter what time they go to bed... they wake the next morning at the same time.

What time does he get up? That makes a big difference. My 8 yr old goes to bed around 9, often not asleep until 9:30 but 90% of the time is awake before she needs to get up for school. I'd love her to go to bed earlier but so long as she's waking herself up vs I have to wake her up, it seems she's getting enough sleep. Do you have to wake your son up for school? I'm a huge believer in sleep too but my kids didn't inherit my propensity but take after my husband who doesn't need much.

ETA: I'm finding the catch up on weekends to be a total myth bc if we let them stay up later, they still wake up same time so they're getting less sleep on weekends. Also, I use how long it takes her to fall asleep at night as a basis too for whether or not she's gettign enough sleep.

8pm was bedtime for my boys at that age during the week. On Fridays and Saturday they can stay up until 10pm.

Now my boys are 10 and 11. My 10 year old's bedtime is 8:30, but he's usually in bed reading and falls asleep before then. Last night he was out at 7:45. My 11 year old's bedtime is 9pm.

8:30 during school nights, a little later on Friday, Saturday, summer and/or special occasions. At his age no later then 10 PM on non-school night, etc.