# What is your 8-9 year old's bedtime?



## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

If they have a regular set bedtime.

People always tell me how early I put my kids to bed, but they need it. So I'm curious what other people do.


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## kittywitty (Jul 5, 2005)

My 8 yo is in bed by 8 pm and my 9 yo goes to bed between 8-9 most nights.


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## SubliminalDarkness (Sep 9, 2009)

8:30. He has to be up by 7:30am, but usually DS2 wakes him up sooner than that.


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

My 9 yo doesn't have to get up at a set time, but if he did, we'd be making moves toward getting into bed 11 hours before wake up. I think he needs 10 hours of sleep...


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

My 9 yo has a prolonged "bedtime" ritual. She must to be in bed by 9, but usually isn't asleep before 10:30. Going to bed later than 9 pushes sleep even later









She has to be up at 7:45 on school days.


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## A&A (Apr 5, 2004)

Between 8 and 9 pm. on school nights.


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## phathui5 (Jan 8, 2002)

9:30-10pm, but we homeschool, so we don't have to get him up "on time" for anything.


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## TEAK's Mom (Apr 25, 2003)

My 8 year old goes to bed around 8:30pm. Since we homeschool, I would be happy to have her stay up later, but she gets up at 5:30am no matter what time she goes to bed (this is SO not my idea). Since she needs the sleep, 8:30 it is. I will be so happy the day this child learns to sleep in.


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

Ds will be 10 in January. He is in bed around 8PM, but he's welcome to be im his room/bed doing quiet things like reading, listening to music, drawing, even playing his keyboard with headphones until he's tired. I'd guess he usually is in bed trying to sleep around 9 most nights. I have no idea what time he wakes up. We homeschool and he usually doesn't have to be up at a particular time, but he's always up before me - and I don't sleep in particularly late - usually 7ish.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

So we're not out of the norm really.

My 8.5 year old goes to bed at 8 but he usually reads for awhile after I'm done reading to him, so I'd guess he's normally asleep by 9. He does get up (on his own) between 7-7:30.


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## hermionesmum (Feb 8, 2007)

Lights out by 8pm on school nights, 9pm on Saturday nights; same as for her seven year-old sister. If I didn't have them so close together I might well be leaving it a bit later.
All but Monday nights, (Brownies then choir), she's in bed reading by 7.30.


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## MJB (Nov 28, 2009)

My 7 3/4 and 4 3/4 yr. olds go to bed at 8:30. They usually fall asleep around 9 and we get up at 7, pretty grumpily to the alarm.


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## katiecat (May 4, 2004)

Lights are out for my 8 year old at 8:15. We do need to leave the house on school mornings at 7:30 but he has always been a very early riser, between 5 and 6am, no matter what time he goes to sleep. I would actually like a bit of a later bedtime for him but then he still wakes by 6 so a later time means he doesn't get enough sleep.


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## kittywitty (Jul 5, 2005)

I guess I should have specified that those are our "bedtimes" but my kids are allowed a bed lamp on to read/write/whatever quietly in bed for however long. I usually make it lights off by 11pm if I'm up that late and remember.


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

My almost 8 year old usually gets into bed between 7-7:30pm and reads for about 30 minutes. He wakes early though (5:30-6am) so gets about 10-11 hours of sleep total.


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

8.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

i try to make it between 8 and 9 pm, but in reality it is 10 - 11.

she too has a prolonged bedtime so she needs to be in bed by 8 or 9 so she can be asleep by 10 or 11. she wakes up at 6:30.

so we have a 'set' bedtime but we dont seem to make it.

however dd is a night owl. before school schedule she wouldnt go to bed till midnight or two am.


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## greenemami (Nov 1, 2007)

Usually in er room by 7:30, lights out around 9. She reads, writes, etc. and then reads out loud with dad while I put the littles to bed.


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## amcal (Jan 13, 2003)

My kids don't start school until 11am so, we're pretty lax about bedtime. I try to get them to have their bedtime routine completed by 8:30 and than they're allowed to read until 9:00. More often than not, my 7.5 yo falls asleep and my 8.5 yo gets up and we read together and then she goes to bed when I do at around 10:30.


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## seriosa (Apr 2, 2009)

My almost 8yo starts his bedtime routine around 9pm, and is usually asleep a little before 10. We wake him at 6.45 am on school days. When he can wake up on his own its usually around 8am. On the one hand that makes me think he could be using an hour more sleep, but its really difficult (difficult for me logistically, but also he is dead set against) putting him to bed even half an hour earlier as we have tried to do. He is not grumpy or "off" the days we wake him early and never lacks energy, so on the other hand perhaps that extra hour is sort of just a flexible zone for him - nice but not essential.


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

Goal is in her room at 8, but this is usually pushed back to 8:30. She can read, write, draw whatever but if I notice she's grouchy the next day she loses that. I wake them up at 6:30 because they need to leave for school at 7:30.


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## JayGee (Oct 5, 2002)

Upstairs at 8:30, asleep by 9:00. I wake him at 7:30 the next morning for school, but he's usually awake and reading in bed by then.


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## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

My son will be 9 in just a few days & goes to bed at 9:00 most nights... some nights more like 9:30 or 10, depending on what we're doing. But 9:00 is his "bedtime." He does watch TV or read in bed, though, so I'd say he's usually asleep around 9:45-10.


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## annethcz (Apr 1, 2004)

Bedtimes are fluid at our house, and my kids do a lot of extracurricular activities that keep us out late some nights.

But I like to have my 8 & 9yos in bed by 9pm on school nights if possible. If I feel like they need more sleep, sometimes we'll send them to bed before 9, with lights out at 9. Other times we allow them to stay up and read until 10, it just depends.

On the weekends, our schedule varies. They often stay up later, and it's not uncommon for the whole family to be out visiting friends until after midnight.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

We're struggling with this right now. With two teenagers in the house, evenings tend to be busy- DD1 comes home from school around 7:00 PM Mon-Thurs, and on Wednesday nights they both go to a meeting that doesn't get them home until 8:45 PM.

I've been aiming to get DS to bed by 9:00 PM on school nights, but too often he's not asleep before 10:00PM. He clearly needs more sleep, but it's hard getting him to bed earlier when things aren't "calm" at night. How would an 8:00 bedtime work, if we'd need to start winding down at 7:00 and DD1 is just getting home at that time?


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
How would an 8:00 bedtime work, if we'd need to start winding down at 7:00 and DD1 is just getting home at that time?

What is it about dd's arrival that messes up ds's wind down?

Consider having ds take some "room time" from 6:45 onward, with the promise of reading time with you at 7:30. 6:45-7 gives him time to get involved in something quiet (reading, puzzles, quiet play) and settled in his room before his sister gets home. His sister could pop in and greet him, say goodnight, and then come back out to do what she needs to get done. You'd have 30 min to help her with her "get home" transition (eating, getting started on homework), and then tell her at 7:30 you need to get ds settled in bed. Read some books to him, tuck him in, turn out the lights at 8....and then you are free to spend more time with dd.

eta...if you want them to spend some time together, you could have dd read a book or two to him just before bed, after she's had some time to relax into the mood of the evening.


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## Heavenly (Nov 21, 2001)

All 3 of my kids (4, almost 8, and 9) go to bed at the same time because the oldest needs more sleep than the others and the youngest needs less than you would think for a 4 year old. We start getting ready for bed at 7:30 with the goal of lights out by 8:15. If we let them stay up later I have to drag them out of bed for school in the morning (have to be up by 7:45am). Actually the middle child (almost 8) could probably get away with less sleep but she shares with her sister so it's just easier to have them all go to bed at the same time. And yes, most people do think we are nuts for putting them to bed so early!


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## attached2ethan (Oct 4, 2004)

My almost 8yo goes to bed at 8:30 for reading time and is usually asleep around 9ish.

My 5yo has to be asleep by 8pm or he's a total mess the next day.

They have to be up by 7am for school, but 5yo usually gets up around 6:30am on his own regardless of his bedtime. Sometimes I have to wake 8yo but usually he's up by 7ish on his own.

I think the important thing is to be sure they're up on their own in the morning and not cranky- if you have to wake them every day and they're grouchy all day then earlier bedtime is probably neccessary


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## mamalisa (Sep 24, 2002)

Ds has to be asleep by 9. He gets up at 715. Some nights I send him to bed at 8 but we really aim for 830. He needs a lot of sleep. His friends make fun of him for going to bed at 830, seems a lot of them stay up until 10. I don't know how, he's a crying mess if he doesn't get enough sleep!


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