How many hours of sleep does your six year old get a night? (sharing bedtime with sibling question)

[jrose_lee]

Up until now my five year old (six this weekend) has been sharing a bedtime and wake up time with his younger brother who is 2.5.  According to my google searches, ds1 needs about 10-12 hours a night where as ds2 needs 12-14.  Neither of them nap.  They have generally been getting about 11-11.5 a night.  They go to sleep about 6:30-7pm and wake (no matter what!) by 6am.  They will not sleep in in the morning.  Last night about 7:30pm I snuck into their room to get something and ds1 was wide awake and asked me to stop turning on lights in the hall.  That made me wonder how long the poor kid is laying there awake before he falls asleep.  Part of me says, don't rock the boat b/c he hasn't complained about it really.  But the other part of me knows that eventually he will probably stay up a bit later and ds2 will have to go to bed on his own for an hour or so.  Any thoughts?  How much sleep is your six year old getting a night?

[tooraloora]

DD's (7 at the end of the month) usually heads to bed around 8 falling asleep within 20 minutes of her head hitting the pillow, and she normally wakes up somewhere around 7-8. Lately she's been needing more sleep, though, and has been taking a few naps a week and heading to bed closer to 7. I think she's in the middle of a growth spurt. DS (17 months) who is supposed to need more sleep wakes up around the same time, but doesn't usually fall asleep until around 9-10, and in addition to his 1-2 hour midday nap, that seems to be plenty of rest for him. I'd be inclined to just follow their lead and adjust the bedtimes according to the child in question rather than trying to get them down at exactly the same time. Different people have different sleep needs. Maybe give it a test run and see how it goes.

[jrose_lee]

Thanks :)  Ds2 won't like it if his brother is going to bed a different time then him, but I suppose we'll just deal with that if it's looking like ds1 should stay up later. 

[tooraloora]

Understandable. DD got pretty cranky briefly over having to go to bed before DS, but she realized pretty quickly after a few late nights that she just doesn't feel well when she doesn't get more sleep. After DS got a little older for awhile he'd pitch fits over DD going to bed because he wanted her to stay with him. We got through it, though, and they're both happy with the current setup now. Just takes some time to get used to the change.

[northerngirl]

Dd1 will be 6 in a couple months and she gets around 11 hours of sleep.  We have her in bed by 7:30 and she wakes up around 7 am. She usually looks at a book until around 8pm. 

Dd2 will be 2 in a couple months and she goes to bed between 7-8pm and wakes up around 6:30 no matter what! She also takes a 2-3 hour nap after lunch time.

In dd1's room we have an air purifier for "noise" and we shut the door all the way so she is not awakened by dogs or cats or people walking about. 

Since we usually put the older one to sleep first she was upset that sissy got to stay up later that her and didn't understand why. I told her "do you take a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day?" And plus there is way more to do in getting the little one ready for bed than the older one who can do a lot for herself. She is ok with it now though. 

[NicaG]

We have an almost-7-yr-old and a 3-yr-old. They both go to bed around 8:15 and get up around 7. Ds often reads in bed or looks at catalogs for another hour after bedtime, and sometimes we let him come downstairs after his sister goes to bed, for a little extra game time, reading time, whatever. He has a flashlight in his room for reading. Dd could probably use a little more sleep, but it seems difficult/impractical to have 2 different bedtimes.

[SweetSilver]

That time after I went to bed when I was little was one of my favorite times of the day.  I was extremely imaginative, I play pretended quietly, even going so far as folding down my covers so the sheet looked like a Little House apron (being the 70's and all, with the show on the TV).  Sometimes, I admit, it took me a couple of hours to drop off, but I loved the time all to myself, no worries about big sisters barging in, the quiet, my cats.

In our house now, my nearly 7yo is struggling with the same bedtime as her 5yo sister (tossing and turning but not complaining), but just like you, the boat would be rocked and capsized if I tried to change it.  Unless you suspect that your son is too afraid to balk, then I would let it go.  Maybe, if his brother would settle down (yeah, right, I'm laughing even as I write this!)  your older son can read quietly with a small light on.....

[~cassie~]

I have a 6.5 yr old a 4.5 yr old and a 3.5 yr old.  They all go to bed by 630 on school nights and are up by 615-630 every morning.  My oldest could probably go to bed about 715 and still be fine but they all share a room and I don't care to hear a fit every single night.  My 6 yr old actually used to go to bed about 730/8 and was miserable to get up in the morning for school.  Moving him to 630 bedtime enables him to wake up rested and happy and usually able to wake up on his own versus me dragging him out of bed.

[emaye_to_2]

My DD turns six next month. She is a "good" sleeper. She gets between 11-12 hours per night.

[Danielle283]

DD turned 7 last week, and goes to bed around 7:45 but that just happened in the past couple months. It used to be 7:00, but she was waking up way too early and would be tired in school. She wakes up around 6:15 for school.

[Mum2JocelynAngus]

6 y.o. twins. Both are in bed, lights out at 8pm. DS is sound asleep by 8.15, DD usually talks to herself for awhile then asleep by 8.30 at the latest. If it's been a busy day both will be asleep earlier. Then they wake up between 7.30-8.00. So a solid 11 hours. And often a Saturday afternoon nap too.

[Ally Nathaniel]

10-12 hrs total. mine used to wake up no later then 6 am, and went to bed by 8-9 pm. they took a nap 1-1.5 hrs .

my currently 3 years old sleeps 10-11 hours a day.

Ally

[crowcaw]

6 yo twins.  Both are in bed by 7:00.  One goes to sleep immediately and sleeps until 5:30-5:45 (and stays in her room until 6:30 when the alarm clock changes color).  The other takes 30 minutes to an hour to wind down but does so in her bed looking at books or drawing and then wakes up around 7 usually.  Meaning they both get about 10-11 hours sleep.