what time does your 7yo/1st grader go to bed? - Page 2

[Sage_SS]

For all those parents who have different aged children with different bedtimes.. HOW DO YOU DO IT?? We have three girls, 8, 6 and 4. Trying to get anyone to go to bed earlier than the others is impossible. They just cry and fight and yell in their rooms until the others are in bed anyway, so we don't see the point of making them miserable right before bed.

Anywho bedtime round these parts is usually 8:30 - 9 pm. They're up by 7 am and on most days it takes all of them about 10 mins to actually get out of bed. I go in, sing them awake, open their blinds, turn on the lights, pull their blankets down. Then I go make coffee and turn the music on. I come back up, pull their blankets BACK down and ask them again to get up, and remind them that they aren't the only ones that will be late if they don't get up and get ready. We're out the door by 8:25.

Not bad for three girls!

[MyTwoAs]

My son is 6 and in 1st grade - he is usually in bed no later than 6:30pm and asleep rather quickly afterwards. He's up early - 5:00 or 5:30 if he's in his room and 6:00 if he's come into our room in the night. We leave to go to school between 7:05 and 7:15 so we have an early morning. He's an early-riser (even if he has a late night) but his bedtime is something that he kind of set - he's usually asking to go to sleep about 6:15.

[onlyzombiecat]

Dd (7) gets 10 hours of sleep. If she doesn't get that she is unpleasant. We homeschool so it doesn't matter what time she goes to bed and it varies.

OP- could your dc take a nap, spend a little time with dh and then go to bed? Or go to bed earlier but everyone get up earlier to have time together in the morning?

[LookMommy!]

My first grader (6.5) goes to be around 9-9:30 and gets up at 7. Saturdays she sleeps till 8 or so. She is tired when she wakes up, but calm and easy-going throughout the day. I would love to put her to bed earlier, but it's that 3rd child thing combined with the small apartment thing.

Also, eating dinner before 6:30 or 7 pm. to me just feels like eating a late lunch.

[1xmom]

My dd goes to bed between 7:30-8:30. Gets up at 6:30 and has to be at school by 7:30. ut she generally is not a morning person. Sometimes it's better when she doesn't get right up b/c more things distract her from doing what she needs to do to get ready and it seems like we are still rushing out the door no matter what time she gets up.

[vtgirl]

thanks for all the input!

it's so interesting to see all the diversity from one family to the next - reminds me yet again that there is no *right* way to do this parenting thing!!

i like the idea of an earlier getting up time - i'll try that tomorrow.

she went to bed 15mins earlier last night and seemed pretty happy this morning - maybe it's as simple as that!

[Katie Bugs Mama]

My 6.75 dd goes to bed at 8 pm and gets up at 7 am. 11 hours seems to be enough for her, although she is often dragging a bit by the end of the week. (She's fine in the morning and at school, but wiped out Thursday and Friday evenings.)

[mamalisa]

I just yelled at ds and told him he's going to bed right now and it's 6:42. Rough night. Thursdays always are for us.

Normally ds heads to bed by 8, but Monday and Tuesday he seems to stay up later for some reason. He's up at 6:20 because he's a freak (just kidding, he's been an early riser for 2 years now). As the week goes on he gets up later, by 7:30, but we don't have to be out of the house until 8:10. I feel bad that he can't stay up later on the weekends, but he really needs 11 hours of sleep.

[HarperRose]

My 2 go to bed at 7. By 7:30 at the latest. They have to get up at 6:15 and I KNOW their bodies need the rest.

[mistmama]

my 7 yo first grader has lights out at 8:30, but don't know how long it takes her to actually fall asleep, then it's up somewhere between 7 and 7:30 am. this is the same routine as last year, but as a kindergartener this was just not enough sleep and she would basically be dragging out of bed around 7:30 and be a compelte grump. this year she's bounding out of bed happy and chipper, it's amazing to me what a year's difference can make in their sleep needs

[sarahmae1]

My DS goes to bed at 9pm, which I guess is late reading some of the posts here... He gets up at around 7:15-7:30am and we leave at 8:15am to go to school. Some days he seems really tired in the mornings, but other days he is fine. He's always been one to not need much sleep so I think this works okay for him.

[gassadi]

You all are amazing. My 8 yo may go to bed by 9 but he doesn't sleep until ? At least he's finally entertaining himself instead of doing the "I need a drink of water" "I need to go to the bathroom" "I need the cat to come sleep in here, too." excuses. Did you ever read "Bedtime for Frances"?

My dh wanted to cut the electricity @ 6 to get him to sleep earlier.

[mom2mywiggles]

My three are 4, 6.5 and nearly 9. The older two(girls) have a weekday bedtime that varies between 7 and 7:30-depending on the day they've had. My youngest goes to bed when daddy does, usually around 9:30 or 10(but that will change next school year, as he'll be in kindergarten).
The girls get up between 6 and 6:30am. Shower, get uniforms on, eat breakfast, hair gets done, socks, shoes, get everything together and then chill for a bit until it's time to leave. We walk out the door at 8:15 every morning(lil man and I walk them to school each day).
Ds gets up whenever he wanders out in the morning, or if he doesn't, I wake him at 7:45 or so. Just giving him enough time to get dressed and shoes on, plus something to drink. He eats breakfast with me when we get back from taking the girls to school.

Weekends, it varies, but the girls are very rarely up any later than 9:30-they get too tired and can't stay awake, lol. And they get up pretty early on the weekends.

Lil man also naps daily-at least a 2 hr nap-sometimes a 3 hr one. The 6.5 yr old also naps at least 3 times a week after school for about an hour. The 9 yr old naps maybe 1-2 days a week after school. On the weekends, if we're home, all three nap for at least 1-2 hours. Especially Sundays-when we all tend to nod off around 11am for some weird reason.

[Datura]

On a completely different vein of thought: Could there be a sleep disturbance? I had a deviated septum as a child that seriously interrupted my sleep and wasn't caught until pretty late in the game. Does your dc need two pillows to sleep?

Are they eating/drinking anything that could be stimulating before bed and affecting actually falling/staying asleep?

Nightmares/sleep walking, anything that would indicate abnormal sleep patterns?

My son is tired and cranky when he's having a growth spurt. He doesn't get the quality of sleep, its broken and he's often sore from growing pains at that time.

Hope things improve soon.

[rockergirrl]

My DS is 6 and is in Kindergarten. We are upstairs in PJS, teeth brushed by 7:00. we read books and lights out by 7:30. He gets up for school at 6:30am and on the weekends gets up anywhere from 6:30-7:00ish.

[rubelin]

my kids are freakishly early risers. They are up around 5 or 6 no matter when they go to sleep, so we have needed early bedtimes forever. They are in bed between 6 or 7 and generally asleep pretty soon after that. My 7.5 yr old second grader actually will now sleep in a little if he's tired, but the 3.5 yr old is up with the birds even if he's exhausted.

Oh, as far as not seeing Daddy?? When DS1 was 4, we moved farther from Daddy's work and tried to keep the kids up later to wait for him to get home but they were just too tired. So we needed to put bedtime back earlier and Daddy had to get up with them at the crack of dawn t oget time with them. It's not ideal, but it was the best way for everyone to get their needs met and I decided it was just cruel to keep the kids up late when lack of sleep has such an adverse effect on their well-being.

[DavinaT]

PinkDiva, could your daughters do their chores after school, like your son does so they don't have to get up that half hour earlier, would that help?

Datura - I've always needed two pillows to sleep on, is this something to worry about?

Is it possible that your 7 year old just isn't a morning person. I know I have nothing to say to anyone when I get up at 5.45 and my Mum is the same, she's a real night owl. But if I don't have my Saurday lie in I'm like a weasel (ok that's a nasty thing to say about weasels) all week. My father tho' would have a running convesation with a fence post at 6am but don't expect him to make sense after 11pm!!
I suppose kids here are lucky, Primary school starts at 9 and secondary (high) at 8.30 earliest.

Interestingly, my Mum, even from a young age had no qualms about me drinking tea or coffee if I preferred, in the morning :

[arihillfarm]

My first grade daughter (soon to be 7 years old), is in bed at 9pm each evening. At 8pm, she gets a shower, brushes her teeth, etc. and then any time remaining until 9pm (usually about 30 min.), she's allowed to watch some approved TV (kid friendly) or play a kids learning computer game or something else of her choice. She gets up at 7am and I usually only have to ask her once and she's up and moving, so I know she's getting enough sleep otherwise she'd be VERY grumpy. She gets herself dressed, hair brushed, bed made up without prompting and then we leave for school around 8:15am after eating breakfast together.

-Astrid

[arihillfarm]

My first grade daughter (soon to be 7 years old), is in bed at 9pm each evening. At 8pm, she gets a shower, brushes her teeth, etc. and then any time remaining until 9pm (usually about 30 min.), she's allowed to watch some approved TV (kid friendly) or play a kids learning computer game or something else of her choice. She gets up at 7am and I usually only have to ask her once and she's up and moving, so I know she's getting enough sleep otherwise she'd be VERY grumpy. She gets herself dressed, hair brushed, bed made up without prompting and then we leave for school around 8:15am after eating breakfast together.

-Astrid