What time is a reasonable bedtime for a 8yr old?

Question

I have 3 kids the other 2 are 13yr old boy and a 12yr old girl.
My 2 sons share a room so yougest goes about 8-30 he doesn't always go straight to sleep, but the teacher mentioned that he seemed tired at school so I'm just wondering what time you put your kids to bed.

Answer 1

Well they are all different and it changes too if they are having a growing spurt or whatever.
I always had mine in bed at 7.30 (a little later for the elder ones on cub night) but that's also because I needed a break!
They say 10 - 11 hours sleep is the norm at that age so go on that and the time he gets up (he should not get up still feeling tired except in some cases where there have been bad dreams or whatever) - and if he complains this site is quite a good one for children of that age (and your elder ones too come to that!) -

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/sleep.html

Best wishes,
Joan.

Answer 2

Have you considered seasonal allergies??? In most of the country they are really bad right now. That will make my son act tired.

OR - is there something distrubing his sleep (like snoring, which might mean trouble with his adenoids - which keeps them less rested)??

OR Does the 13 y.o. snore, makes noises, or otherwise distrub the 8 y.o.'s sleep??

It might not be a bedtime issue. If it is, then bottom line is....

**** - if he's tired, then it's too late for him.

8:00 is our bed time - which means "lights out" at about 8:30. Although sometimes we move it up a 1/2 hour if he seems tired, or let him stay up a bit later.

Good Luck

(PS - Avoid game boy, TV, computer time, etc. They all act as stimulants. Have him read, write, or even sit quietly and play - my son has his Legos in his room).

Answer 3

You'd want an average 8-year-old to be asleep by nine at the latest. Remove telly and any distracting things. Is he worrying about anything? Plus is he waking up at the 'right time' or do you have to wake him up? Bear in mind that different children require different amounts of sleep.

It does make a huge difference in concentration levels - I'm a teacher and I know how well some of the children are sleeping by how many fights there are on the playground!

Answer 4

It depends what time he has to get up. If he gets up at 7:00, then I would say he should go to bed at 8:30. But if it takes him a long time to get to bed, I would say put him to bed at 7:50, then read him a story until 8:00 to get him tired, and then leave a night light on if he needs one. Good Luck!

Answer 5

to be honest it dependson the child. i have a six year old who goes to bed at 8 and is still up early for school and can concentrate fine. whereas my 9 year old cant go to bed later than 8.30 as she needs a lot of sleep. id suggest putting your child to bedat 8 and see how things are after 2 weeks. u may find he still needs more. but wen he goes to bed makesure it is too bed. if he watches tele, reads for hours and has the light on fullbeam he wont sleep. makesure he doesnt have much to eat before bed as well, just a milky drink and a biscuit. GOOD LUCK, its gonna take time but it will work!

Answer 6

ooops , mine go to bed when they are tired i don't really have a set bedtime , altough usually my daughter falls asleep on the sofa , way before nine lol , on a weekend i'll let them stay up ,and watch a dvd if they want , my parents were really strict on bedtimes putting us to bed as early as 6.3o we were all different ages but that didn't matter we all went to bed at the same time , unfair i know esp in the summer holidays when we could hear the kids still playing out in the street lol , i dunno sparkles ,each child is different if he's sleeping straight away i would leave it as it is ,maybe he's finding it hard to settle after the long summer holidays , give him a few more weeks and if he 's still tired at school change the time to 8 good luck anyway xx

Answer 7

i have 2 boys aged 12 and 9 and they too share a bedroom. since my eldest started high scool bed times have created a huge problem as my younger son is not quite asleep and he disturbs him. what i do now is put my youngest son to bed at 8 and he is allowed to read or play his gameboy till 8.30. i go in then and turn his light off. i have extended my eldest sons time to 10. his bed is nearest to the door so there is sufficient light from the landing light so there is no need to put his bedroom light on and disturb his brother. my youngest son is the same, lack of sleep affects his behaviour in school so i keep my elder up later and so far this school year we have had no probs.

Answer 8

Well, If 8...8-30 isn't working, Send him an hour earlier. That way, by the time he gets to sleep....he should end up getting at least 30 minutes more sleep than he is getting now.

Answer 9

For my family it is 7-8 pm, and if the child was bad them the bedtime is 6:30pm.,
P.S no i am not a mom, but i am in high school and have 3 siblings and countless young relatives that i deal with each summer.

Answer 10

Between 8 to 9pm is fine.
I used to go to bed that hour during the weekdays and Sunday, but on Friday and Saturdays were 10pm to 11pm depending how tired I was then.