My daughter wakes up between 6-6:30am to get ready for school. By trial and error, she goes to bed between 7:30-8pm, depending on her attitude. If I let her stay up later, she is a MESS in the morning.
Anyways, between dinner, homework, and reading, we dont have a ton of time for much else. Since it is so nice out, I want her to be able to play outside for awhile at night, but, like I said, we dont have a lot of time.
I am noticing once I put her to bed, there are still neighborhood kids, the same age or close to my daughter still outside playing. I would love to have more time in the evening with her, but like I said, I feel like she isnt getting enough sleep which alters her "tude".
So what time does your kid go to bed? I feel like the mean mom!
We strive for 8:15-8:30 but once or twice a week it can be 8:45 almost 9...no later than 9 unless it's a non school night.
She is up at 6:30.....I hear you about the "tude"...we recently started the eye rolling. She'll be 7 in May.
ETA:Tonight will probably be a 9 night... just cause we are Jayhawk fans.
It is not even dark by 8pm now. I let the kids play outside until the first street light comes on. That is about 7:45 now. They come in, have a snack, bathe, dress for bed, etc...then lights out by 9pm.
I have a first-grader and a kindergartner and they go to bed between 730 and 8 and get up between 630 and 730. Same boat here: later bedtime=meltdowns and whining. Not mean: doing what's best for you and your kid! :)
Our first grader starts the bedtime process at 7:30 p.m., w/ lights out being at 8 p.m., just like yours. She also wakes at 6:15 a.m., so exactly the same as yours, too. On Friday and Saturday nights, we allow her to go to bed around 9 p.m. and she then sleeps in until 7:30 a.m. or sometimes even 8 a.m. :)
I think you're right on track. My niece is 3 months younger than my daughter and goes to bed around 9:30-10 p.m. on school nights and wakes at 6 a.m. She consistently has dark circles under her eyes and is sick constantly. May or may not be related to her lack of sleep, but I personally think it is.
When my kids were in 1st grade, we would read a story together around 7:45 and then it was lights out.
If it's not too distracting (or cold), maybe you can both read in a quiet area outside to get some fresh air !
Let her have extra time to go outside on Friday night and play with the neighborhood kids.
My kids went to bed at 9 on Friday and Saturday nights. Then, on Sunday it was back to the earlier time.
I would go by how much sleep she needs !
Nope! Your daughter is going to bed at the right time (in my opinion). My son is in 1st and he is in bed between 7:30-8 too. He naturally wakes around 6:30am. Kids need sleep!
In first grade, my kids went to bed at 8:15. They were up about 6:45-7:00 in the morning.
8:00 pm ~ mine also get up early, about 6:20, for school. I do notice on the weekends he sleeps longer than the 10 hours he gets during the week and catches up a bit. But if he doesn't get 10 hours he is weepy and short-fused.
I feel the same - my 1st grader has lights out at 7:30 (right with his 5 yo brother and 3 yo sister). They all get up between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. He's starting to be awake till 7:45 or even 8:00 sometimes, but we've kept the same bedtime. Partly be cause I can tell if he's up till 8, then he doesn't fall asleep till 8:30 - and that's too late because he's a terror the next morning.
Summer is the worst, because I think all the neighbors stay up till 9! My kids just can't handle that. I offered last summer for them to all lay down for 1 hour (not sleep - just lay down) and we could stay up later in the eveing, but they all refused. We'll see what happens this summer :)
My kids are on the same schedule as yours. We have neighbors who let their kids run around outside until 11pm, even on school nights. My kids are used to me saying things like, "Every family is different. We do it this way because..."
My kids are 5, almost 7, and almost 9. They all have lights out at 9.
My daughter gets up at 630, but the boys don't have to get up until 730. We realized my daughter just needs that much time to get ready in the morning...if she gets up as late as 7 during the week, she feels rushed and gets in a really bad mood.
I'm with you. Ours goes to bed at 8:00 also. He has to be on the bus at 7 so he can get up at 6:30. On special occasions, I will let him stay up later, like tonite b/c he wants to watch the NCAA final game. But he will be extra tired in the am. I hate it too b/c its so nice out but luckily just a month & half left of school!
My kids are 5 year old not in school & 7.5 year old in 2nd grade. We put the younger one to bed at 8pm and the older one usually closer to 8:30pm. They both wake up at 6:45am.
Most kids this age need between 9 to 10 hours of sleep. My daughter goes to bed by 9 and gets up around 7:30, she is 5 and a half. I drive her to school (she starts at 8:20) which is about 10 minutes away.
You are not a mean mom. Soon it will be summer and then she can stay up later.
If you're mean, I'm downright awful!
My second grade son needs lots of sleep, or he gets grumpy and run-down. He also gets up at about 6:00 in the morning. He goes to sleep at 7:00 most school nights, but stays up "late" until 7:30 about once a week. On the weekends he stays up until 8:00 or 8:30, but he's super tired by Sunday. He's ready to go to bed at 7:00 again on Monday. :)
My first grader goes to bed at 8pm (I'm sure she doesn't fall asleep until later, but that's when we put her to bed). She gets up around 7am to get ready for school. Yes, we put her to bed early compared to others in our neighborhood, but that's just the way it goes. During the summer, she's in bed by 9pm. We don't have time in the evening for all the things we need to do, it's hard, but I believe that rest is important. good luck :)
