My husband and I have always been very strict about our son's sleep routine. He even goes to bed early on weekends and holidays because he has trouble staying in bed later than 6A.M. and then is cranky or complaining that he doesn't feel well. Our son begged us to stay up later this summer, especially when we were away with friends. We agreed to try as long as our son slept later in the mornings. He is asleep most nights by 9:30 - occasionally 10P.M. and sleeps peacefully until 8A.M.or even later. I thought I should start gradually getting him back to his school bedtime of 8P.M. I have tried putting him to bed a little earlier but he lies there wide awake and then sleeps late in the morning. We still have three weeks to get back to our routine. Thanks!
The week before school, I start getting mine up at the approximate time he'll be up & getting ready for school. The rest falls into place.
Worst case scenario? He'll be dragging butt the first 2 days then he'll "get" it!
Putting him to bed earlier is fine, if he is tired...
However, he has gotten used to the late bedtime, and compensates by sleeping in the next morning.
You need to determine what time he needs to get up in the morning for school, and start waking him up close to that time...... maybe a few days of waking him up at 7 am (and making him get up), and trying to keep him active during the day, that way he will be ready for an earlier bedtime in the evening.
Again... start waking him up earlier in the morning to shift his bed time to the earlier time.
Start today...bath @ 8 and quiet time right after (can read, draw, whatever as long as it is quiet and calm) then in bed by 9 pm w/ lights out. Get him up by 7 am tomorrow. Tire his butt out...keep him active. Then same thing with bedtime on Saturday. Sunday...up by 7 am and tire him out...do it all again over and over this coming week. Then next Sunday night, move the bedtime back to 8:30/8:45 pm and Monday wake schedule of 6:30/6:45 am). If you need early wake up, adjust again the following week...then you will have him on school schedule.
You don't say what time he has to get up for school but how to proceed will depend on that. The later he sleeps in the morning, the later he will want to go to sleep at night. Figure out what time you need him up for school as start working towards that now.
Start a routine of going to bed and getting up at regular times. Start the routine a week before school starts. Be consistent.
The first two answers are perfect. That's what we did with our 8 kids and it worked fine.
Something else to consider, the more physical exercise he gets during the day, the more likely he will be to go to sleep promptly when its bed time. That exercise can be mowing the lawn, digging in a fall garden, going to the pool, running around the block once or twice after dinner. Allowing him to "exercise" his fingers on a video game just excites his mind and makes calming down to sleep more difficult. There should be no video games after dinner.
Good luck to you and yours.
At least one week before school start putting him to bed at his school bed time. Yes, he will lay awake for a while. But if you wake him early he will be tired during the day and soon will start knocking out normally. I've done this with my kids for the last 20 years, and still going strong, lol.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
I found with my daughter (12) that it's not the going to bed that matters..... it's the getting up!!!!! So, maybe start getting him UP at 6am.... or whenever he should get up for school. Then make sure he stays up. Also - if you can get him some good physical activity during the day....take him to the pool, or play soccer or whatever.... that will tire him out and he will be ready for bed earlier.
Also - remember that it takes 21 consistent days to build a habit. Any habit. So, it may take some time to ease him back in.
Start waking him up the week before school at his regular time, this way he should be ready for the start of school. You will have a cranky kid but it shouldn't last too long.
Early to bed, early to wake, even if you have to go wake him and get him out of bed. Still having the option to sleep later isn't helping him get to sleep at night. You know what time he'll need to be up for school, so with that time in mind now, start getting him up earlier and upping his bedtime to 9 this coming week, 8:30 the following, so a week out from school he's going to bed his regular time of 8 pm and getting up at school morning time. This way he has an entire week to adjust back to his usual schedule.
Make sure there's no TV, computers or electronics after dinner (blue light inhibits melatonin production and causes the inability to go to sleep,) maybe some reading or a quiet game of chess so his body starts to relax.
No matter what time my kids go to bed at night... they always wake up, the next morning, around 6:30am.
They have been this way since they were babies. My friend's kids are the same way.
My kids are 5 and 9.
They both go to bed at 8:00pm, by 8:30 at the latest. And they sleep and fall asleep fine.
During the summer we let them go to bed later... and forewarned them that 1 week prior to the start of school, they will go to bed at their usual time. They had no problem with that.
They are already back at school, and adjusted fine.
Just start to wake your son up at the time he will have to wake up for school.
Start, now.
And have him go to bed at his usual time at night.
I tell my kids that a week before school-- the regular bedtime routine starts.
I mention it every so often, so it's not a surprise. I even have the date circled on the calendar in red (a visual). I tell them that it's ok to sit in bed for a while until their bodies adjust to the new time. I tell them that it could get kind of boring. My kids are old enough that I do not have to walk them back to their rms. Then, I have my Mom tell them that I had to march up to my room at 7:30-no matter what. I put my kids to bed later than 7:30, so they think it's great that I went to bed earlier!
As a parent educator, I would like to mention that this is not something any child should talk a parent out of. That's unacceptable.
If you want to be "active" and let him have a say, ask him to choose 7:45 or 8pm.
All good advice. I used to put up quilts over our daughters windows so her room would feel dark. We also used a fan and some music to hide the children sounds outside in our neighborhood.
I also had made a deal with our daughter at about 4th grade. She could stay up as long as she wanted, IF she would get up in the morning without complaining.
She learned her limits. She knew being tired was her fault, and she would still have to go to school.
Start waking him up at the time he will have to be up when school starts - no more sleeping in late.
If possible, wake him up even earlier - to SEE the sun rise!
Make it a festival!
His usual school wake up time will then feel like sleeping in.
He should be tired enough to go to bed at 8pm.
If not, work more running around into his day- exhaust him physically.
