Childrens bedtimes!

Bedtimes is supposed to be 7pm here but the kids never go to sleep before 8. But as long as they are in their room and quiet I let them stay up until 8, sometimes 8:30 on weekdays and 9 on weekends. It depends on how cranky my oldest was that day because she is the only one in school and she hasn't taken a nap since she turned 2. By 8, though, I am fed up with them and they need to be in their rooms before I strangle someone. I am usually exhausted by then and want to lay down so they have to go to bed. They actually went to bed at 7:30 tonight without a fight and were asleep by 8, which was nice. And then my husband went to bed at like 8:30, which was super nice. now the house is quiet and all mine.

All my children had a bedtime of 8.30. They even found when they grew older that at 8.30 they would start to get tired. My youngest son is now almost 14 and we have let it go to 9pm on school nights but weekends he gets to stay up but invariably goes to bed at around 9.30 at the latest.

My stepkids are 12 and 15, so as long as they get enough sleep on schoolnights, it doesn't bother me. They can deal on their own in the morning if I want to sleep in. Not like I can though, with DS 15 months. He needs to go to bed with enough time to sleep until he has to be up in the morning. Luckly we don't have a set wake up time since I'm a SAHM. Usually we get him down to bed a couple of hours before we have to go to bed. That gives us some time to do things around the house, or just relax. And if I put him down too early, he'll want to be up early too.

Generally every parents want their childern to be in bed early and wake up early in morning. My dad used to take me for jogging in morning when I was kid. MY sister and brother were too lazy so he used to put me in bed early in night. Due to his efforts I wake up early in morning and I thank him for his good work .

absolutely this is not at all selfish.i have only one 4 years old kid,i want him to go early to bed, otherwise he will not wake up early. and to you second question yes adult needs some times for them to recharge or regenerates themslves.

i don't think that its selfish of you as it's better for the kids too to get in bed early so that they can have a full sleep and could wake up early in morning. better for them good for you.

For children who are still growing up fast needs to sleep early. Sleeping early will promote their growing. This is what I always heard from older people especially my mom and dad. When I was a kid my mom always sent us to bed as early as possible. I guess that really helps because I have a good height right now.

I don't do the rotating bed time thing, I find it to be so annoying. All of my kids go to bed at 9 at night, and usually so does my hubby as he's up at 5 in the morning to get ready for work. I enjoy the time alone after everyone goes to bed. Though I really don't consider them to have an early bedtime as I know plenty of other parents who send their kids to bed even earlier. On the weekends and non-school nights, have the kids stay up til 10:30 or 11 (except the baby, as he just doesn't notice the difference and he's tired at 9) so that they'll sleep later, because I am thankfully blessed with children who will sleep later if they are kept up later.

Oh. definetly i agree with you that we need some kid free time. As I am a mother of two yr old twin daughters, I hardly get any free time when they are awake. So, i make them sleep as early by 8.00 pm so that i can get some time to complete my household and laundry works. Yes, sometimes we r selfish becoz we also need our own private time.

I dont know if selfish is the right word but I was a little taken back by your comment about wanting peace and quiet. I look forward to my evening with the kids. I have one in school so evenings are my only chance to spend quality time with him. My husband works 12 hr day (6am - 6pm), 6 days a week, if I was to put the kids to bed at 7:30 my husband would get about an hour a day with his kids. Don't get me wrong, I know the importance of sleep and I realize kids need to be well rested but putting them to bed just so you get a break? Hmmmm. My kids (3&5) are in bed at 9. This way we get "family time", they still get 10 hours sleep and it's still early enough that I can read a book, watch a movie, or anything else my husband and I choose to do.

OH YES.Night time is my time.I put my kids to bed by 8:30 sometimes 9.Its such a relief to have the kids bathed and in bed and you can relax.If youre selfish ....so am i :)

I definitely don't think it is selfish, we all need some kid free time and kids need more sleep than adults anyway! My 5 yr old is in bed at 7:30 and my 13 yr old at 9:93 on weekdays - they both get to read for a while before going to sleep - Weekends are different but they both are still usually in bed quite early of their own free will and yes - it is bliss when they go to bed!

I believe that children should have decent bedtimes to promote healthy growth and to help them out in school (so they're not tired.) With that said, my daughter has went to bed at (7-7:30 pm) for the last several years and she is now 8 years and finishing off the second grade. On the weekend I allow her to stay up a bit later, maybe until 9 if she would like to watch a movie or something.

The night time is definatley a time that we all need to ourselves. I have three kids, all pretty young, and they're all usually in bed around 7-7:30(9-9:30 on the weekends) Which gives me a few hours alone to me and my wife. It's not selfish at all, time away from our children is neccesary at times. We all need a bit of time to oursleves!

I certainly don't think you selfish and yes a bit of kiddy free time is good for adults. We have set bedtimes for the kids as well, the youngest goes to bed at 7:30 and providing he has behaved is allowed to read or watch TV for half an hour then it's lights out, middle child goes to bed at 8:00 and again the half hour rule applies for her also, the oldest was going to bed at 8:30 but recently I have been letting her say up until 9:00 then she is allowed the same half hour as the other 2, the only problem with the girls is that they share a bedroom so it can sometimes mean that the middle child gets longer with the light on than she should but with the older one going up later now she is sometimes already asleep. As for the weekends they often head upstairs about 9ish to all watch a film together unless they are watching something in the livingroom that doesn't finish until later but they are usually up no later than 10.

You are definitely not selfish for this. I think that kids need to have a bedtime and stick to it. It helps in their sleeping habits. I always am more leinent on the weekends with my kids too, but we all need the time at then end of the night to regroup with out the kids running around. My 6yr old is in bed at 8, my 13 & 15 by 10, but they generally are in their rooms before this anyways.

When my daughter was 7 or 8 their bed time was 8:30. Now that she is 12, I have her getting ready by 9 p.m. so she will be ready to hop in bed at 10 p.m. She stalls everything and always has! It it's not getting up for a glass of water, it is going to the bathroom, so I make time for all of that. You are not selfish at all. You need adult time and children at younger ages require more sleep than older children. So, your actually right to put them in bed at an early time! I know with my experience, if she didn't get enough sleep she was a cranky poo.

I absolutely agree with you. We all need our quiet time. I try to have my daughter in bed by 8:30. Here lately that hasn't been happening. Between the time change and teething I'm lucky to have her down by 10. But not only do we need our quiet time but we also need our mommy and daddy alone time if ya know what I mean.

My kids go to bed arround 9 pm

My girls go up to bed at about 7pm, (they are 5yr+4yrs). What time they actually fall asleep is another matter! They have a dvd put on to watch, but I often hear them jumping about at 10pm. As long as they are not fighting I leave them to it as it's them that will be tired in the morning.