For parents with 3 year olds [bed question]

[mommariffic]

What time do your kids go to bed/wake up?

I'm trying to get into an early grove for bed time, because DD does NOT nap and I want her to get a full nights sleep. Lately it's been 7:30-7 but I'm trying to get her sleeping BY 7

[ShadowMoon]

DS goes to bed around 9pm and wakes up between 7-8am. He takes a 1-3 hr nap in the middle of the day as well. We live in a small, lively apt and I don't get home from work until 5 or 6 so I don't mind him being up late. He also isn't in school or daycare so there's no pressure to wake up early.

[ChetMC]

Three Year Old Sleep

At the age of three our girls needed roughly twelve hours of sleep. Our second DD probably needed a little more than our first DD, but they were pretty comparable in terms of the amount of sleep that they needed.

Kids are different though, and you can't necessarily tweak sleep. In fact, I think you're quite lucky if you can do it. A lot of preschoolers are really hard wired, especially for wake-up times.

Our oldest would always sleep for exactly twelve hours at night. If something kept her up late, she slept in late the next morning. In contrast, our younger DD always woke up at the same time, and we had no choice but to work backwards from that.

Our girls are 5 and 6 now. They are still somewhat like this, but it isn't as pronounced now that they are older. Younger DD can sleep in a little bit now, though not as much as she needs to when she's up late, and so it's still important to watch when she gets to bed. Older DD is still inclined to sleep in if she needs it, but not quite as much as she used to.

[MacroMama]

For our 3 yo DS, in theory it's 7pm. When I put him to bed, we're upstairs around 6:45pm-7pm so he'll be asleep by 7pm. However, with my DH, it can vary up till 8pm.

He wakes up anywhere between 6am - 7:30am. It seems like the later he goes to bed, the earlier he wakes up.

Good luck!

[jenfl]

DD goes to bed at 7pm but doesn't fall asleep right away. She's asleep around 7:30pm (sometimes as late as 8pm). She's up at 7:15am (very rarely sleeps an extra 15 minutes). She doesn't nap, hasn't since 20 months old.

[Llyra]

I put mine to bed at 7. But they only rarely fall asleep at that time-- it ranges from about 7:15, on a really tired day, to close to 8:30 on other days, and they've been known to still be up looking at books until past 9. They recently gave up napping though-- so they've been doing better with falling asleep earlier. I have three kids in one room-- both three year olds, and my six year old as well-- and my six year old NEEDS to be asleep by 8 or she can't get up for school, so having them asleep earlier is a priority for me. If the twins aren't asleep, then DD1 stays up, too.

[lonegirl]

My son....4 next month....goes to bed about 10-11....if he hasn't napped and is extra sleepy he will fall asleep like 930ish....on the couch or in the car. He sleeps in our bed so generally goes to bed with me. He wakes generally by 8/9....we are fortunate that on our schedule he doesn't have to wake earlier...with me though he usually wakes earlier but on days I go to work he sleeps in with daddy.
Works for us and I can't see him going to bed before 9....we are lucky to have dinner by 7ish.

[leighi123]

Ds goes to bed at around 10, and sleeps about 9 hours, sometimes 10 at the most.

He never naps, even on long car rides

[sunnygir1]

Dd doesn't nap either. She's usually in bed by 7:30, but sometimes later. I think we could push it back to 7:00 in bed, but we haven't. She usually gets up at 7:30 or 8...sometimes 6:30 or 8:30, though.

[Cujobunny]

DD goes to sleep btwn 8-8:30pm and is up around 7:30-8am.

[BetsyS]

At 3, mine was sleeping 7-6, with a 2 hour nap. Sometime right around 4, his sleep needs really went down, but until then, he was always really sleepy.

[Drummer's Wife]

My 3 ye old goes to bed between 9-10:30 pm (or later on the weekends), and gets up at 8 am for school (will sleep until 9:30-10 am on the weekends).

We don't even eat dinner until 7 pm or later, so he'd never to to bed that early.

[pianojazzgirl]

Ds usually goes to sleep around 8 or 8:30 and wakes anywhere from 7-8:30. He doesn't take a nap (except on rare occasions in the car or if he's sick or something).

[BetsyS]

My kids go to bed early, cause we go to bed early, too. Dh and I are usually headed to bed by 9; no later than 9:30.

[Carma]

Our 3 year old goes to bed at about 9, falls asleep at about 10, wakes up at 7:30. He naps 1.5-2 hours. I work so we come home at about 6:30, have dinner at 7:30.

Carma

[elmh23]

Bedtime is officially 8pm, but many nights he'll still be awake at 9. He wakes up between 6-7am, though sometimes is up at 5am or 7:30am (he can't sleep longer than that during the week because we have to take his sister to school.) IF he naps, it'll be for 30mintues-1hr, depending on how long we're in the car (he only naps in the car now and wakes up as soon as I get him out of his carseat.)

I've considered doing an earlier bedtime, but there are many nights when dh isn't home before 7 and I've found that if ds can have some time with daddy before bed, he goes to sleep better.

[ecoteat]

DD is 4, but she's had the same sleeping schedule for at least 2 years. She wakes up around 7-7:30. She takes a 2-3 hour nap every day and is asleep for the night around 9:30. So she's getting about 12 hours of sleep. This works well for us right now with our work/preschool schedules. This routine has been so solid for so long, though, that I'm already wondering how we're going to shift into a schedule that works with kindergarten next year if she doesn't phase out her nap on her own by then!

[zippy_francis]

My dd is 3 and she goes to be around 8-8:30 and is usually up by 7:30, sometimes 7. She still needs a nap during the day, otherwise she is just a cranky mess. Some days she doesnt get a nap (the fight can be too much) but she still goes down around 8 and gets up around 7. My younger dd is 20 months old and her sleep schedule is the exact same as the old one, except she almost always takes a nap. At least a 2hr one. Both my kids are up by 7:30 at the latest, no matter what time they go to bed. They are like me, internal clock says GET UP when the sun comes up. My DH could sleep till noon, and I see many kids can sleep late. Mine dont. But I love that they go down at 8ish because that gives DH and I alone time to reconnect from the long day.

[Carma]

Originally Posted by ecoteat

DD is 4, but she's had the same sleeping schedule for at least 2 years. She wakes up around 7-7:30. She takes a 2-3 hour nap every day and is asleep for the night around 9:30. So she's getting about 12 hours of sleep. This works well for us right now with our work/preschool schedules. This routine has been so solid for so long, though, that I'm already wondering how we're going to shift into a schedule that works with kindergarten next year if she doesn't phase out her nap on her own by then!

We also have a (just) 5 year old in K, and it is indeed an issue that she is not napping anymore. She is tired at 8 pm, but of course does not want to go to bed earlier than her little brother (3 year old, often naps for 2 hours). Our compromise is to have a bedtime of 9 pm, she falls asleep right away (3 year old takes an hour) and we let her sleep longer in the morning, but then she has very little time to get ready in the morning, not ideal.

Carma

[Holiztic]

DS is 3.5 and just gave up napping for the second time about a month ago. He sleeps from 7 to 6:30.