What is a good time to put my 3 year old to bed?

Question

He starts preschool in the morning and i put him to bed last night at 8:30 he woke up at 10 and was up till 2..hes not used to haveing a bedtime. weve just kinda let him fall asleep when he wants..

Answer 1

And now you're paying the price of not giving him a routine. I'd say put him to bed at around 8:00 p.m....

Answer 2

At least by 8:30 p.m. I put my 5 year old son and 4 year old daughter to bed every night between 8:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. My son goes to school (he just started this year) and my daughter goes to daycare, so we are up around 6:30 a.m. When they started daycare, especially my son, (my daughter was 2 months and my son was almost 2) is when I started the 8:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. routine. They know the routine now and they go to bed when they are told and they wake up when they are supposed too. I let them stay up a little bit later on Friday and Saturday nights, but they are not up much longer, because they are so used to this routine. The latest that they stay up on the weekends is about 10:00 p.m. Start a routine with your son now and real soon, he will know the routine. Set a bed time, stick with it, if he gets up, make him go lay back down, he will fall asleep. He just needs to get used to the new routine.

Answer 3

geez, you've created this monster, now you've got to be the adults and get a routine established. If he doesn't nap, I would suggest that you start the bedtime routine @ 7pm and have lights out by 7:30. If he gets up in the night he has to go back to bed, no interaction or playing. Wake him @ the needed time each morning. After about a week I think he'll be on track but you as the parent have to stick to the routine too!

Answer 4

My 2 year old goes to bed around 7:45 - 8:00 and wakes up at 6:40 and she seems to be fine, it is going to take about a week or two because your child has not been on a regular schedule, my daughter use to go to bed at 11 and wake up at 10 and we had to move her, we just tried to do an hour a night earlier, and he will be tired for a couple of weeks and be moody but eventually after being on that schedule for some time he should get use to it
!

Answer 5

I don't understand these parents saying they don't believe in set bedtimes! How do you expect your child to function at preschool or kindergarten when they've never had to go to bed before 10!!! You need to get on a routine and stick to it, whether it's a bath or stories whatever, and be sure to have lights out by 9pm. This should have been done a long time ago, kids need consistency and predictablity. I think it is just plain laziness that people don't enforce bedtimes.

Answer 6

Put him in to bed at 8 or 8:30, tell him the rules. If he wakes up during the night, he is to stay in bed. Leave some books on a table by his bed and a night light on. Tell him, he can look at the books in bed but nothing else.

I did that with my son from the time he was 2. He woke up during the night, unless he was sick, he stayed in bed and looked at books.

Try putting a gate up too. This way you know he will not be wandering around the house.

If he cries and screams, ignore him, do not give up. As soon as you give in once, he will become even more persistent.

If you do not put up a gate, do not talk to him, just walk him back to bed, put him in, cover him, kiss him on the forehead and leave. He will get the idea.

Answer 7

I'd recommend starting bedtime routine (snack, bath, brush teeth, stories, cuddles) around 7 and try to have him sleeping by 8.

Of course it's going to take time for him to adjust, completely normal. Just keep following through!

I don't know what time he has to be up to go to preschool but make sure he has time to start his day off well (ie. not having to rush). He'll probably need at least an hour to an hour and a half to get up, eat a good breakfast, get dressed, cleaned up and out the door. I know this is hard, I have to leave the house with my kids at 7:15 am!

Answer 8

The best thing you can do for your toddler is set good habits now. There are so many sleep deprived children whose parents can't seem to figure out why their children have behavior problems. A child of 3 needs a MINIMUM of 10 hours of sleep and 12 would be even better. Even my 8 year old still goes to bed at 8 p.m. and sleeps until 7 a.m.

Since you have not had a set bedtime until now, it may take a week or two to get his body to "reprogram" itself, but I guarantee you its worth the effort. His health and behavior will be the reward you will get!

Answer 9

Ooooh.. That's what happens. You have to get him on a routine. My 3 year old goes to bed at 7:30, and usually falls asleep around 8:30. He needs that hour to wind down, and is more than happy to lay down at that time. Whatever time you choose, stick with it. A 3 year old needs around 11 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. If he doesn't take a nap during the day, make sure he is in bed early enough to get that much sleep.

Answer 10

I think that 830 is a good time to put him to bed. You have to be persistant with him though. When he wakes up you simply put him back to bed and make him go back to bed. My son used to do the same thing and we would tell him to go back to bed and not to get up again unless he had to use the restroom. some nights we would tell him that 5 or 6 times but we eventually got the point across that bedtime is bedtime no matter what.

Answer 11

He needs a routine. At 8:00 give him a bath and let him play until 8:30. Get pajamas and a book and have special time together and then at 9 (no arguments) he goes to bed. If he wakes up- he stays in bed. Let him cry and pitch a fit until he gets himself back to sleep. He'll soon get used to this. Good luck.