What time do your kids go to bed, and where are you from?

Question

I have a five year old and three year old, and their bedtime is 8:00. We live overseas and I've noticed that whenever the neighbors see our kids at 7:30, they say, "Oh, you're still up?" 8:00 seems perfectly reasonable to me, so I'm chalking this up to cultural difference...

Answer 1

I'm in Texas, and my kids (10, 7 & 5) go to bed at 9:00. Bedtime used to be 8:00, but in the summer it's still pretty light outside until 8:30 or 9 and it seemed pretty ridiculous to make them go to bed. For the sake of consistency, we moved it to 9:00 year-round. Besides, if they go to bed too early they wake up at 5:00, and Mama can't handle kids before coffee.

Answer 2

From the US, my daughter goes to bed at 8 but until she turned 3 it was 7. You're probably right about the cultural thing, I think it's a perfectly good bedtime, at least you have some sense and are not letting your kids stay up until 10 or 11 like A LOT of people on this site do. I mean, that's just crazy!

Answer 3

I have a 1 yr old who goes to bed anytime from 6-7:30, the main reason for this is when she was little she and I had to drive daddy to work and that meant being up by 4 sometimes 3:30 and at the latest 5 so now even though we have two cars she wakes up between 5-5:45 so by 6 she is cranky---- she only takes one nap though and its after lunch at around 12:30-1 for about 1 hr (not by choice- shes an active child and napping isnt something she does without a fight or for very long). I am trying for a more constant 7:30 or even 8 if I can eventually get her there...... I am in the US....

Answer 4

I find it totally ridiculous that a child is in bed at 7:30. Thats more for the parents then for the child's benefit.

When my kids where that age, it was 8-8:15 but now, at 8 Yrs. and 12 Yrs..it's 9:00 and 9:30 during the school week.

Answer 5

When we lived in the States, my 3 children went to bed at 8:00 PM. But once we moved to Germany, we pushed it back to 7:00PM. The eldest had just reached school age and needed to be up by 6:30- 7:00 AM. I've tried moving it to 8 several times, but they don't want to wake up the next morning for school (and I hate them waking up cranky!). All three (8, 6, 3) also believe that they are supposed to go pee 15 minutes after bedtime. So they play their wierd little games and still manage to be asleep by 8:00PM.

Answer 6

when my kids were your age which they are now 10 and 13 I had them go to be at 8:00 as well Ont he weekends they were allowed to stay up until 9:00-9:30. But you will find that there will all ways be people telling you how to raise your kids. You just have to put it in your head that you are the parents and you know best. But of course all ways listen to others suggestions because sometimes they are good ones.

Answer 7

Overseas from what? Our kids (2 and 7) go to bed at 7:30 week nights and 8:30 Friday and Sat nights. Sometimes friends arrive at 8:00 with their kids and ours are already in bed. They always seem surprised we send our kids to sleep so early.

Answer 8

I am from Texas, but am now living in Germany...my hubby is in the Army. We have 3 children, ages 7, 4, and 2. My oldest is allowed to stay up until 8 or 8:30 on school nights, and until 9 pm on weekends and summer break. But my yougest 2 are always in bed by 7 or 7:30 pm. On very rare occasions do they get to stay up later. Like when we are at a friend's house, or they have friends staying over. We set the times from day one with our firstborn. It makes it so much easier, and my husband and I get our time together at night, too.

Answer 9

From England. Our 3 year old goes up at 7:30 but she doesn't nap. Our 21 month old goes up about 8:00 but she does nap during the day. 11-12 hours is a rough guide for preschoolers but they all vary slightly - you know whether they're getting enough sleep or not.

Answer 10

I am originally from India now living in US. Our bed time for kids is 8:30 PM. They stretch it a little bit to 9:00.