Old Enough to Stay up Late Alone?

Eight is still pretty young to be staying up until 10. I'm assuming her goes to bed at about 8:30 on school nights? If that is the case then maybe give him an extra half hour. The more you relax the rules the more you'll have to later. I'ed go pretty slow on giving him freedom. Kids theses days are doing things younger and younger. In my opinion it causes them to grow up faster than they are really ready for.

I guess, children at such a young age needs more sleep for them to grow and be healthy. it is better to set a sleeping time for him. he will have a lot of waking up times when he grows older.

Hmm... I think it's up to you mom... I guess if you think he is mature enough. Only you can tell if he is ready. I think it might be to young, but then again, he could be very mature & at least you will be in the home & only a few feet away. What I would do is get a timer & set it & let him know when it goes off he needs to turn the lights off & head to his bed. If I was you, I wouldn't camp in the living room... I would act as if you are going to bed & maybe set your alarm to go off at 10 to make sure he is doing what he needs to do, that way you have an idea if he will fallow directions.. Good luck mommy!

I have an 8 yr old and would never let her stay up when I am in bed. I do allow her to stay awake in her room, but she has to be laying down watching tv. With the internet, it is just too risky to let an 8 yr old stay up and wonder the house when everyone else is sleeping. My daughter goes to bed at 8:30 during the week and 10 on weekends.

While I do not have children, I do have opinions about how to raise them. Your eight year old is wanting to see how far he can press the rules(even if he is asking very nicely). I would let my child go to bed an hour or two later than their bed time or have a later lights out time, but not have run of the house after I go to bed. No matter how trust worthy the child there are dangers to an eight year old at home (he might decide to make a snack) I think that 10 years old is a good time to give a little freedom, middle school a little more and high school a little more (according to grades) At the end trust your instincts, he is your kid and you know if he has the maturity to saty up with out you.

I have an eight year old daughter, and she is in bed on school days by 9:00. On the weekends, we stay up a bit later, but she goes to bed when we do. I think if he is a responsible child and dosen't spend his time on line it would be okay. I have raised 5 children, and up until they were teenagers, they always had a set bedtime never any later than 10:00. This was because I felt they needed their rest since we all had to be up early.

I do think that ten it is a bit late for an eight year old child. I do think that eight year old kids should be home by nine or half past nine the latest. One has to remember that they should go to school in the morning. If it is a vacation week 10pm would be fine. However can you supervise what is he going to do? Is he going to be safe if he brows the internet or watching television?

I allowed my two children to stay up when they didn't have school the next day. Most of the time they were in bed by 9 or 10 on school nights. Weekends, Friday & Saturday nights they could stay up as late as they wanted with limits on activities. No horse-play or noisy activities and of course no using any cooking appliances. Television was not as much of a problem then as late night programing wasn't all that bad and we didn't have cable or satalite service. Nost of the time they would choose a movie on tape anyway. Summer vacation they had no limits of bedtimes and as they got older they were allowed use of the microwave but not the stove if they wanted a snack. If your children follow the rules of your household I think staying up can be allowed so long as they understand being tired is not an excuse when it comes to chores or planned activities. Once the newness of being able to stray up got old my kids were usually in bed by ten most of the time.

I think that eight years old is an age where a mother can make her own judgment and discretion about bed time. I have a five year old boy that pretty much has a routine of going to sleep at a certain hour. I think that being on vacation can somehow change sleeping patterns and the like but I would try to make sure that he stays on a good routine.

I think that if you set up a bedtime for his limit and stay the first few times, he should be fine. If he listens to you well and you are confident that he won't break any rules while your asleep I don't think it would be a big deal. I know that my cousin was 7 when his mom first let him stay up later that her and her younger son. I think that it all depends on how well behaved the child is and their level of maturity.

I think it all boils down to if your comfortable with it. If you have trust with him, then I think you could give it a whirl and see how he does. Especially since it's a vacation week, that way you can tell if he's gonna be a hard one to get up out the bed in the morning. My son has a bed time of 8 30 during the week, but he knows on Friday and Saturday nights he can stay up later, and most days he still gets up at regular time as he would for going to school, so I know letting him stay up later doesn't affect his sleep schedule.

i have a four year old baby boy, and i still make it a point that he takes a nap after lunch, i believe that brain develops more when they're asleep, so i try to make him sleep as long as i can and as he would want to, but there are still times when i let him stay up or skip his afternoon naps if he does well in our home study or behaved well, which serves as his reward. but still even if he's been a good little boy, i still imposed on sleeping early and taking a nap in the afternoon...besides, his body clock makes him sleepy on regular hours that i make him take his nap and at night...

Okay, I am no pro, trust me, but I do have 4 kids, 28, 21, 17, and 14. I strongly believe that at 8 years old there should be a max bedtime of 9:00pm. That way you actually have an hour of peace to unwind and prepare yourself for bedtime. If you don't set boundries, (and truly they want them) he'll be up till midnight by sixth grade. My girlfriend is having this exact issue. Or he sleeps with them, and they don't sleep.Hope this helps...

Nooooooooo! No matter how good kids are they are still kids and they don't always make the best decisions and it is never a good idea to have them up and doing whatever they might be doing while you're asleep. Aside from the fact that kids need their rest and routines need to be kept even when school is on vacation because it is too hard to get them back into the routine after even a short break. I can't sleep with kids in the house still up and moving around at night. I just have too many stories of someone getting cut and needing stitches or trying to cook and almost setting the kitchen on fire... Absolutely no way!

i don't have any children yet... but i think 8 years old is too young to be allowed to stay up by himself... when i was 8 years old, my parents still set for me a bed time and i have to go to bed before them... they always make sure that i sleep first before them... but again, it is entirely up to you... if you think that he is matured enough and you trust him, then go ahead... take care and have a nice day...

If hes that obedient, i think u should give it a try, then again 8 year old so i duuno lol

Hi friends, I myself would not be able to sleep knowing my child/children were still up and about. I just think too many things can happen. I think 8 years old, even at holiday time a good bed time is 9:00. I think that's plenty late. But as everyone says, you're the mom, you know what to do. I like the idea that you had to perhaps lay down on the couch and sleep so you are still in the room because I imagine he would be lonely up all by himself. Good luck Cheryl

I make sure all my children are sleeping already before I go to bed. I am afraid if I sleep first, something wrong might happen to them. So to make sure everything will going to be okay with them, I rather be the last one to sleep.

I say yes, if you trust him! My hubby is a night owl and up late - so is my oldest child (now 11) some periods when I'm in more pain than usual I need to go to bet at 8 - if not I can't manage the next day. Those nights the 11 year old and 9 year old can be up until 9 if it's school the day after - if they have a vacation they can stay up a bit later. I know they manage and I can trust them. The older one I would have let her be up alone at the age of 7 no problem at all.

I think whether you should let him stay up late, should depends on what he is doing when he stays up late. When I was a child, when i stay up late just to watch TV, my mother would pretend that she was angry and ask me to go to the bed, but when she found that I was reading, she would not disturb me.