We have always been pretty lax about bedtime for our girls, adjusting it based on our lives/the kids' needs, etc. With school about to start though, I feel like I need to start getting my 5 yo into bed at a reasonable set time every night so that she will not be tired during the day at school. She will have to be at school at 8am...which means she will need to be up by 7am and out the door at 7:45am.
Please give this 1st time K mom some suggestions for a bed time!
Start the bath/reading time around 7:15-7:30. My son was asleep by 8-8:30 and got up on his own around 6:30 am. So much better when they wake up on their own schedule than trying to wake up a cranky kid in the morning!
my daughter is an early riser (she gets up by 5 or 6 at the latest) so she always goes to bed between 7-8 so that she gets enough rest.
My son is going into 1st grade this year. Through PreK and Kinder we started to bed (shower, picking up, etc) at 8:00 and he was usually asleep by 9:00, 9:30 at the latest. We get up around 7:00 or 7:30 (we live 2 blocks from school and I work from home so I don't have to get ready). I'm planning on starting the school year off with the same routine.
He's always been at the more sleep end of what is healthy for a child his age, and God bless him for that! : )
I would start playing with the times a few weeks before and see what works out best for y'all. Also, I read an article that says the week before school schedule outings to where you need to leave the house around the time you will when school starts -- even if it's just going to Wally or to the park. That way you won't have any surprises on how long it will take when the big day comes!
Best of luck!!! The fun is just starting.
My almost 7 year old is going into first grade this year. Last year in kindergarten his school day runs 7:30-2:30. He was in bed every night (except the occasional football/baseball game) by 8:30pm and I typically got him up by 5:30 or 6 at the latest. He seemed to do well with this so we will continue his bedtime at 8:30pm this year.
No later than 800pm. They really need their rest. Sometimes mine go before that. There's no more nap time in kindergarten so sewill have a busy day at school.
Sometime in the 8:00 to 9:00 o'clock range. My son was in bed by 8:30 and to sleep by 9:00 as we read everynight for wind down time. He slept straight through and did quite well on this ammount of sleep. I'm a working mom so quite honestly this allowed me to spend time with him in the evenings and still does. My son is going into 2nd grade and his bedtime during the school year is 9:00 on most nights.
I think we have to remember that every child is different with their needs. Mine would not have been able to go to sleep at 7:30. Just too early for him ...he would of just stared at the walls.
I also quite honestly would only been able to see him 2 hours a day if I had done 7:30. Selfishly, I wanted to spend time with him in the evenings and still do.
I agree with the majority of others, start getting ready for bed (pj's, story, brushing teeth, etc) so that lights are out at 8:00....
I taught kdg for 10 years and YES this is a great question so many kids were so tired during the day and this really affected their learning and attitude.
Asleep by 8 is a great policy. One idea to help get on a schedule is to take a walk or bike ride right after dinner or some type of exercise then bath, story, bed. They can relax and fall asleep much better after some fresh air exercise and it helps so much with routine :)
For half day kindergarten, I agree with starting bedtime routine at 7:30 and being in bed no later than 8....that's what time my brother and I went to bed, and we still had naptime back then! Now they don't have naptime and are very active, even with half day kindergarten....in my babysitting experience, the kids often come back pretty tired. If my son was going to full day kindergarten, I'd have him in bed by 7:30. Try that out, and if she gets up too early, adjust the bedtime accordingly.
my 5 yr old pre k...soon to be kindie...boy has the same bedtime as my oldest boy. always has. it's 9 pm. it's only earlier if he has a special reason to get up earlier than normal the next day or if he's cranky. if he requires extra sleep, he takes a nap the next day to catch up. he also takes a nap at pre k. the same bedtime makes bedtime for more than one child much easier to deal with.
Kindergarten and 1st Grade my son was in bed by 7:30. When he started 2nd grade I let him stay up until 8pm. My daughter will be staring kinder and she will be going to bed at 7:30p.
My son goes to bed at 8:00pm. I usually start brushing his teeth,getting his last drink and going potty around 7:30pm. And after reading a book he goes to sleep. He usually has no trouble. I also make sure he gets his dessert before 7:15pm. He is ADHD. If he has too much sugar in his system he has a harder time falling asleep. I used this routine last year while he was in pre-k and most of the time during this summer.
I would suggest no later than 8:00. When my daughter first started school, we were letting her stay up until 8:30. But we also read her a story before turning out the lights so some nights it was 9:00 before lights out and she was very cranky in the morning. The we moved it back to 8:00, and lights out by 8:30 every night and it made all the difference in the world. Every child is different, so your child may need more or less sleep than mine. For us it was a trial and error process. I would start putting her to bed early and waking her up at 7am a couple of weeks before school starts so she can get used to it and so you can tell if you have chosen the right bedtime.
We start Kindergarden in the fall as well (scary!!) and my daughter goes to bed at 8pm on the weekdays...She is a very early riser - 5:30am most days, so she really needs the extra sleep. We start bedtime routines (bath, teeth, pjs) about 7:30pm to give them time to get everything done. Good luck!!
