Suggested Bedtimes by Age

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I really believe that sufficient sleep makes for well behaved kids! Our 7 year old generally gets 11 hours a night. We have a lot of friends who insist their kids don’t “need” a lot of sleep or are naturally energetic, but given the number of meltdowns and general aggression exhibited by those same kids I feel like they could definitely use a couple more hours a night.

I met a new friend and pretty much instantly asked her if they drugged their kid to sleep too. Melatonin was the secret sauce we were missing until enough friends and our ped recommended it. No medical advice here, but sleep does everyone good.

Also, I’m just letting it ALL hang out in this neo-Covid world. Real friendships, where we can all be our authentic selves!

Our kids (5 yo, 4 yo, and 2 yo) are young enough that they don’t reliably sleep in if they go to bed later and are little monsters (beloved, but monsters) the next day. The 5 yo and 4 yo sometimes sleep in after a late night, but not always. And they all naturally rise around 6. Only the 2 yo naps, so bedtime for the older two is in bed at 7 and my husband reads them to sleep, which usually happens by 7:30. Summer bedtime gets a little “squishy” and we let the 2 yo stay up until 8 sometimes, depending on how nap time goes, but we have to be more militant during the school year. When they outnumber you, you gotta keep a tight ship!

I love hearing from all the parents. :)

We read so much Sandra Boynton! I don’t even need the books anymore, I know them by heart. “Hello little person, how are you today? Is your mood quite terrific or only okay?” HA!

3.5year old. Used to be down at 07.00 before the summer holidays. Now around 08at the latest. She needs her sleep. Also can’t be whitout her weird 11h midday nap (1.5/2h) that forever messes up our lunch plans. It’s a blessing when home. A pain When out.

My 7.5 yrs old has always been an early to bed, early to rise kid. She’s in bed without fuss at 7:30p most nights and up between 6-6:30a.
Took forever for her to sleep through the night though. Thankful we are finally at that part!

This redesign makes me want to cry!

Two people in my house wake up naturally at 5:45am. Even if bedtime was midnight, no sleeping in will ever happen. Hell, when we stay with grandma, there are THREE people raring to go at 5:45am – and can I just say these people should have a disclaimer tattoo warning about this genetic aberration before you make babies with them, but ANYWAY…

Bed time is 7:30 reading, 8pm lights out. Summer 8:30. Because we’ll all be up at 5:45am.

On the plus side, there is no tablet sneaking or flashlight reading in this house because this mom who is not a morning person? She is all business at 7:30pm; I miss nothing. One story, one snuggle session, and good night. And no, you may not have any water. I feel like a drill sergeant compared to all the fun late night moms commenting here, but then I’ve been awake since 5:45am for the last thirteen years.

Accurate

? this is too spot on and we have nearly one in every category!! Although with the eldest – he has discovered a new passion for reading- we are the parents who take the books away at 11pm! The horrors!! I forgot how much fun it was to read under the covers as a kid.
For the toddler, we also have to read all the Anna Dewdney board books too. Phew. No wonder we are so tired by 11:05.

We went way off the rails and none of the kids really had a bedtime anymore. That’s what happened after a year of homeschool! They were up late and sleeping in which was fine until it got out of control. Now it’s 5yo @8, 7yo @8:30 and 10yo 9-9:30. My eldest has started staying up to fold laundry with me and watch The Great British Baking Show. :)

Honestly, my 3 year old goes to sleep anywhere from 730 (if he skipped his nap) to, like, 11? Generally by 930 he’s out.

7:30pm is our “official” bedtime, but it gets quite wobbly in the summer months. I try to be firmer with our 3.5 & 5 year old, but our 8 year old often stays up until 11:30pm reading in her bed. I’ve noticed my mental health is better when I can get them all in bed by a descent time. Mom needs a predictable break in the evenings.

Something we just figured out is that bedtimes vary seasonally, especially up here in the PNW where the sun doesn’t go all the way down until 10pm in the summer. Even with blackout shades and an elaborate, consistent routine, if their bodies registered a certain amount of natural light at a particular time, your curtain trickery will not work! Our kids are 2 and 6, and in the summer their bedtime is 8:30/9, and in the winter it’s 7. Which is a bummer because I had *PLANS* for those extra daylight hours post bedtime.

Ha! This is WAY too accurate!

Quick note on the design: on my phone, as I look at the preview for this post, the full illustration gets cut off on each side as it’s so large. Could you make it smaller so the whole image is viewable?

Come bed, bath, and book time, my 4-year-old transforms into a literary agent. Every night must end with a story where Percy is bumped off the tracks by troublesome trucks into a very specific material. I’ve started writing down his requests for future nostalgia as they’ve become more imaginative—a pile of sticks, giant spiderwebs, ice cream! Whoever own Thomas the train, if you’re need new material, call me.

What has been so funny to me over the years is how different my children are about bedtime! My son (10) will occasionally go to sleep a little earlier than his 9pm bedtime because he’s tired (!) and my daughter (7) will come out to get water at, like, 10pm and obviously has been playing/reading covertly since “bedtime”. They’ve been different in this way since they were little (she sleeps in, he doesn’t) and it’s a nice reminder that kids are just people. Of course what works for one might be different than the other!

what about the summer light? 9 pm and it’s still full of light outside… I wish we had shutters… ;-) love from Paris.

Oh man. My 5 yo is in the boynton column AND the final water column. It’s always fun when he says, let’s do this book! To which me or my husband will respond, sorry bud, too long.

The final water request might be the most on-the-nose description of that age range I’ve ever seen haha.

Hahaha, we auto shut off the internet in the morning and after 9:30 p.m. and it’s been the best thing ever. Tweens and teens are actually sleeping in :)