What time do your children go to bed (around 8-9 yrs)?

Question

I have two boys and they share a bedroom. The only trouble is my eldest son who is 8 and a half says he's not tired when I put him to bed at half 8 and they end up mucking about and I end up tearing my hair out! What time do you put your children to bed and how old are they? What do you do if they play up?

Answer 1

I have a 5 year old and she goes to bed at 8, some nights she is out like a light in 30 seconds, other nights she drags it on until 9 and keeps getting out of bed, playing, etc. The nights she stays up playing I try not to worry about it. I figure its her bodies way of saying I don't need that much sleep right now,and other times she needs more sleep. You still have to be a responsible parent and get them ready and into bed at 8ish, but if their body isn't tired then let them playing quietly in their room for a little while.

Answer 2

I have 3 boys ages 3, 10 and 13. The 3 year old goes to bed somewhere between 8 and 8:30. The other two go to bed at 9:30. The 13 year old might be allowed to stay up untill 10 or so, but he is not a morning person and has to get up at 5:30am on school days

Answer 3

I would have said 8pm no question. However, it migh be a good idea to put him to bed 20 minutes later than the younger one so that the younger one should be asleep before the older one goes up. I also used to allow an extra half and hour on Friday and Saturday nights and in the school holidays. If they played up i would just go n in and very firmly tell them off and made it clear it was sleep time; incidentally I never raised my voice or my hand being quiet but with a firm tone was usually enough. I had not used to have much trouble. Is there any way they could have seperate bedrooms?

Answer 4

Mine are 11 and 9 and go to bed at 8:30 most nights with half an hour to read or whatever. Weekends it's later depending on what's on tv and how tired they are in general.

I have to admit the best policy I've found for them playing up now they're older is to ignore it, if it's not a big deal to you then they get bored and go to bed. Mine used to be up and down the stairs for an hour if not more when they were younger and I'd be up and down with them, it's not easy but if you just put them back to bed every time they do learn.

Answer 5

I have a boy (8) and a girl (6) and they are sharing a room at the moment. They also mess around and I am at the end of my tether. I put one in my room and move them when they are asleep. I have tried putting my daughter to bed half an hour before my son but she kicks off and doesn't settle, so that was a no go. I put my kids to bed between 7 & 7.30. Other than gagging them and tying them to the bed I'm out of solutions.

Answer 6

My 2 year old goes up at 7:00

My 5 year old at 7:30

The 8 (nearly 9) year old very reluctantly goes to bed at 8:45 and depending on his behaviour he may be allowed to read until 9.

If they do not behave themselves when they go - they have the playstation/tv taken off them the next day - harsh but fair in my opinion.

Luckily we have moved house so they no longer share a room, but when they used to I told them that they weren't allowed to talk to each other and if I heard a noise then they would get a punishment, luckily, the 5 year old always used to be asleep by the time the older went up, but weekends were a nightmare!!

I also find it'a much harder with the light nights - roll on winter, if only for the darkness!!

Answer 7

I have 4 kids but my oldest three all have quite strict bedtimes. My oldest is 10 and half and she goes at 9pm at latest on school night, 10pm weekend. Second is 9 years and she usually goes between 8-9pm school nights and 9-10pm weekends. Third on is 7 and half and she is always in bed by 8pm or 9pm at weekends. All these times are subject to slight change depending on behaviour, attitude and obvious tiredness. They all share the same room but they dont play up because they daren't because they know that they will go to bed earlier the night after.
Hope this helps.
My youngest who is only 21 months also has a very strict bedtime routine which is the key to success

Answer 8

I have a 9 year old and since it's summer time she usually goes to bed around 9:30 or 10:00. During school time she goes to bed around 8:30. If she's not that tired when she goes to bed she usually just reads or listens to the radio. If she's up & about I just leave her be, as long as she stays in her room.

Answer 9

My 8 year old twins boy and girl go to bed at 8 to 8.30 if he says he is tired well maybe in the day or after school let him go outside and do some sports so he wears himeself out a bit i promise you it works. When the play up then tell them lightly the health issues that occur when they do not have enough sleep may seem harsh but it is the right thing todo

Best wishes

Answer 10

My children ages 11 and 7 1/2 goes to bed around 8:30 and get up at 6:45. I would suggest a bedtime 8 hours before you want them to wake up and adjust it from there if that doesn't seam like enough. It is possible for them to require different amounts of sleep. I let my older one stay up about half and hour later so her sister is already asleep when it time for her to go to bed.