How much sleep does your 7-8-9 year old need?

[LynnS6]

The title says it all, how much sleep does your 7-8-9 year old need? (How much they get, is another question.)

I just want to see how much of an oddball our ds really is. I swear the child needs an abnormally small amount of sleep.


(I think this belongs in Childhood Years and not Nighttime Parenting, sorry if it's misplaced.)

[stormborn]

I voted 9 hours for my 8yo but it varies. She's never been much of a sleeper even as a baby; I think she stopped napping at 14 mos +/-.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

My son is 7. He gets about 8 hours a night, which seems to be what he needs as he goes to bed and wakes up freely.

[VroomieMama]

my dd goes to bed at 9pm and usually wake up around 8am

[griffin2004]

My nearly 7yo DD needs much more sleep than she ever did as a baby. 11 hours is optimum; she can get by on 10.

She has such a hard time getting up in the morning and was crying because she was tired. We agreed to try a week of getting her to bed earlier and see how it goes. She told me just tonight that she loved this morning because she wasn't tired and didn't have to cry. And that she wants to go to bed early every night so she can feel that good in the morning.

[Alyantavid]

My 7 year old sleeps about 11 hours at night. Some nights a little more, some a little less, but average is 11 hours.

[s_kristina]

My 7 year old, 8 in January, dd only needs about 8 hours of sleep a night tops. I need more sleep in a night then she does! My dh doesn't need anywhere near as much sleep as I do and we just figure she takes after him in sleep needs as they can vary so much from person to person.

[4evermom]

I put down 10 for my 8 yo but debated between that and 11... He's always been a sensitive sleeper and seems to have a high sleep need. So it's a little tricky to tell because he will wake up before he is fully rested. I think he actually needs 10 at night and an hour nap but the nap only happens when we are in the car at the right time.

[Drummer's Wife]

My 8 yr old gets between 9-12 hrs a sleep, depending on the day. Most nights she goes to bed around 10 or so, and is up for school at 8 am. On the weekends she will stay up later, and sleep in later.

I would say, for her, she needs about 10 hrs to not be grumpy and tired by late afternoon.

[columbusmomma]

My DS is 7.5. I voted 10. He gets between 9-10 hours a night. It is rare that he awakens at any time while he is sleeping. Wish I got that much

[MtBikeLover]

My DS is almost 7 (in Jan) and he goes to bed around 9:30 and gets up at 7:30. So 10 hours seems to be the magic number for him.

[Mirzam]

My 9 year old needs and gets 10 hours of sleep most nights. He is usually asleep by just after nine o'clock and wakes around 7 to 7.15 in the morning.

[DaughterOfKali]

My almost 7 yr old needs at least 9 hours. 10 would be better.

[mistymama]

My 7 year old does best when he's in bed by 8pm, up around 6am. Accounting for the time it takes him to fall asleep, and the occasional day when he sleeps later - I'd estimate he gets & needs about 9.5 hours a night.

If he has any less (like weekends when he might have friends over late, etc) he will fall asleep in the car or just be generally grumpy and on a super short fuse.

[hipumpkins]

Originally Posted by VroomieMama

my dd goes to bed at 9pm and usually wake up around 8am

That's about us ,too.

BTW, I can not believe I am answering a question about 7 year olds. How did my Dd get so old?

[LynnS6]

OK, so maybe he's not sooo weird with his 8-9 hours. It's just that I keep expecting him to need 10 hours and he never does. He's had several nights this week where he had 7 hours -- far too few, IMO, but he can't seem to fall asleep any earlier, and he wakes up at the same time.

[greenemami]

Dsd usually goes to bed between 8 and 9 and is up between 6 and 7 on average. She is almost 8.5.