Age of Kids and How Much Sleep Do YOU Get?

Hi J.-

I do not want to frighten you...BUT...once kiddos hit the teen years (at least for me) there was little sleep AT ALL until all were home safe and sound.

It is a 'different' kind of lack of sleep as you worry about where they are, and if they are safe going too and fro.

For me, when they were babies/toddlers and waking up...I knew where they were...what they were doing...and who they were with (ME!!!!).

Teen years (even with the best kiddos...like mine...) there is an element of unknown that I found/find unsettling through freshman year of college...

Best luck!
michele/cat

My kids are 5 and 2. They go to sleep around 8:00 and wake up at 7 or 7:30. They almost never wake in the middle of the night.

As for me, I stay up WAY too late and then I am cranky. I usually go to bed around 12-12:30 and wake up whenever the first kid wakes up. However, I often don't sleep well and sometimes wake up multiple times in the night (hubby snores) or have a hard time falling asleep.

The smart thing to do would be to go to bed around 11:00 every night but I like my quiet time in the evenings too much.

I was also a lucky one. My daughter was sleeping through the night by the time I had to go back to work at 12 weeks and after that only occasionally woke up in the middle of the night. She's 6 now and goes to bed at 7:30 and gets up at 6:30 on weekdays and 7 on weekends.

I'm in that sweet spot right now where the kids are older (no more nighttime wakings), but not yet old enough to be going out at night and making me worry. So for right now, I get as much sleep as I want. It's awesome!

Ask me again in a couple of years when I have to worry about curfews and kids driving and boyfriend troubles. I'm sure my abundance of sleep now will make up for the lack of it then.

I've gotten as much sleep as alive wanted since my son was 4. Could have done prior to that... But I worked nights for a year or so (toddler all day, work all night) to get my ex through school. Slept about 3 hours a morning. I was b. e. a. t. ((Which is also why I take a dim view if someone being "too tired" to be nice to, much less watch their own kids. Not only have I done it, but millions do it every day. Being a jerk is either a choice or a neurological disorder. Knock it off or seek help.))

UNTIL my son was 8. Excluding the times my son was inpatient (blessed, lovely sleep! With alarms arts he'd to him for whenever he'd arrest), I was up every hour checking vitals for a year, and every 4-5 hours the following year (severe asthma). My son has been sick as a dog this week, so 3 ER stays overnight for oxygen & nebs = great sleep, and the test of the week its every hour, again. ((That's how we headed to the ER 2:3 times)). He hasn't stopped wheezing for 9 days.

Fortunately, these are rare times. But I get TICKED at people sending their kids to school sick. I had to drop out this quarter, losing thousands, to care for him... But that's better than him dying. Yeah. Losing $50 at a min wage job, or having to take a vacation day at a decent job... Versus kids they infect either dying, or saddling their parents with 10's of thousands in debt for "its just a cold". Selfish, self centered, AWFUL people. This totally could have been avoided. But M was sent to school sick and got my son's entire class sick with "its just a little chest cold". I'm waiting until I'm less sleep deprived to decide if Im going to go yell at her mother.

Whoops! Sorry. Tangent Rant over.

Sleep deprivation. Wheeeeeeee

B. B. I am with you. One reason I am dreading the teenaged years is that DD will want to stay out late--and I plan to be awake when she returns for curfew. Those "just got home" hours will be crucial moments in our relationship and contain a lot of parenting opportunities. What I dread is not the conversations, but the having to stay awake part. :)

I know...9-10 hours a NIGHT?!? I doubt I've gotten that much sleep since I was a kid myself.

I'm LUCKY if I get 8...it's usually more like 6 or 7. I can do fine or 6 or 7. My children are 7 and 2, and the 2 year old still doesn't sleep through the night. ;)

Either she goes to bed REALLY early, or doesn't get up to get the kids ready for school. I can't figure it out.

Me, personally, I really value that adult time after the kids are in bed (at 8) and I usually try to stay up until about midnight, just to have that time to watch a movie, crochet, play my OWN video game, read, etc.

Assuming my son is sleeping next to me, I get about 8-9 hours of sleep. Any more than that is too much for me and I am not tired the next night. If he is not with me, he wakes up between 3-5 a.m. to have me sleep next to him. I think you know what I usually choose...I like my sleep.

That mom was me. :) I get 9-10 because I go to bed shortly after the kids and we get up at 7:30. I simply found out that I function really well on that, and with 5 little kids, I need to function well. During pregnancy I'd get 10-11 and I slept insanely well (it was always the only time of my recent life I didn't have a child still waking at night, too). Before the next baby arrived.

Now, whenever I've been nursing a baby that's interrupted sleep, of course.

In high school I didn't get a lot of sleep, then one day I slept for a long time and woke up feeling so good. I couldn't believe I didn't know how good I could feel! So ever since that time I made a commitment to sleep and not sacrifice. Sure, there are days when something happens, etc. Days when I stay up with husband a bit, kid-free (though he goes to bed early too; and yes he's still tired getting up at 5:30am).

I do a lot during the day and at night when it's time for bed, to bed I go. Makes a huge difference!

My son is nearly 4. I get 7-10 hours a night, depending on when I decide to get in bed. He has always been a good sleeper, and has stayed dry at night since he was a year old. (Daytime potty training was a whole other beast!! He only got there 6 months ago.) We've been very fortunate to have never experienced the sleep deprivation many do. We were one of the lucky few, that had an infant who slept through the night right away. When I was pregnant, I almost never slept. Having him sleep was such a relief.

I feel for people who don't get enough sleep. Last week my husband and son were sick. I hardly got any sleep. It was seriously awful.

My kids are 21, 20, 20, 19, 11, 8, 6 and 3. In 21 years I have never had more then 5-6 hours of sleep. Some of it is kids, some of it is me. My youngest is up between 5-6 am. Has done this since she was born and it doesn't matter what time she goes to bed. A later bed time just means a grumpier little one the next day. We are working on "if the sun is still asleep, you need to be quite" but it only goes so far.

My older kids also wake me up when they are getting ready for work. Not because they are loud I'm just a light sleeper after the firs few hours of falling asleep. In those first few hours a bomb could go off and I wouldn't notice, but after that ever sound wakes me up. I also can't sleep once the sun does start to come up (I've always been that way). I also can't sleep during the day, if I do everyone knows something is wrong and will leave me alone, if I do happen to fall asleep I can not go to sleep at night.

I'd like more sleep, but I do fine on the 5-6 hours I get. I guess I'm just used to it.

My only sleep issues are my own, not my kids (and almost always have been). I was blessed with babies that took to sleep training and slept "thru the night" from 3 months and 6 weeks respectively. They are both champion sleepers, and pretty much have been since they were babies.
I just stay up too late, regardless of what time I have to get up in the morning. I have always been a night owl. Getting up at 6:00 a.m. to get the kids up and going in the mornings and to the bus stop (I drive them to the bus stop) doesn't make me go to bed at a decent hour. It should. But it doesn't. :/
They are 11 and 14 now. I probably sleep less now than I did when I was pregnant. Usually from around midnight until 5:55 a.m. But, then I take a nap sometimes... Being over 40 I can't do without my sleep as well as I used to be able to do.

A teen and a college age. About 7 hours. If I am lucky. If its not the teen out somewhere then I am worried about my college age kid. Then, it could be the menopause hot flashes or the reflux. Could be that I need to take magnesium because the nexium is draining it from my body. Partly just because I am older I can't sleep as long as I used to.

Just a thought. It's not normal for kids to wake up to go to the bathroom. They are supposed to go to sleep and not wake up til morning. Their brain is supposed to stop the urine production so they should not be waking up at all for a bathroom break. Plus if they are potty trained completely they should be able to get up and go by themselves. So you should not be uninterrupted at all by this.

Other than that get sleep when you can. Once the baby comes you'll be up all sorts of hours for feedings and diaper changes.

My boys are 7 and 10. I get as much or as little sleep as I want a night. They usually sleep ten hours and I usually sleep eight hours.

I go to bed way to late and lately inevitably some one gets up, I don't sleep as heavily as I used to so if the kids get up to go to the bathroom or if they are having trouble sleeping ( we all do from time to time) I hear and wake up. My daughter is notorious for leaving the bathroom light on , it's right across the hall from my room and I have to leave the door open so the cat can get out of our room , so it shines right in the door and wakes me up. I only get 6-7 a night , not uninterrupted. They are 11 and 8.

My girls are 7 and 8 now. I do sleep much better now that they are a little older. I usually go to sleep about 9:30pm and get up around 6:30 am-about 9 hours, but that is not usually uninterrupted. My husband works second shift so usually doesn't get home until late and my girls still wake up from time to time. I also have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night sometimes. When the girls were younger, I was lucky to get 7 hours a night and I need and love my sleep, so this was very difficult for me. I did sleep much better before kids, but I guess that is just part of it.

I don't need much sleep, regardless of if I have children or not.

But my kids sleep fine.
But they are 6 and 10 now.
So that makes a difference.
But sure, when they were younger, I was the one that gets up at night.
But I did not, mind. Because, kids are only young once.
So that is also a big difference.

My kids are 8 and 3. I get terrible sleep every night. First I am a light sleeper so little sounds wake me up. Second I have to pee 2-3 times a night! Third my 3 year old often crawls into bed with us around 5am. Ugh. I just want sleep!!!

7 hours. 1130-630. I get up with a kid once or twice a week.

kids are 5 and 7.

but my younger child woke up at 4 am till he was over 3 years old..

12,9,2 and im 20 weeks pregnant.I don't get a lot. And before pregnancy,My Husband would get up at night when ever the kids needed us.So before i got 8 or 9 but now,not so much

My kids are 10 and 12, so unless someone gets sick they don't get up at night. Oh wait, that isn't not entirely true. We have a cat that wakes me up momentarily around 3am every night.

Up till my son was about 2.5, he got up several times a night and didn't want to be alone - so he would come to me and I'd take him back to his bed.
Then he figured out if he woke me up, I'd take him back - so he stopped waking me up and just tucked himself in at the foot of our bed.
I'd wake up and find him there sleeping away and holding onto my foot.
He did that till he was almost 4.
But I got a lot more sleep that way.

Hope your hubby gets his phone fixed (or juices it up, if that's what happened.) I'd be a wreck too if I couldn't get ahold of my husband at 38 weeks pregnant!

Glad you're still hanging on - I was wondering how your pregnancy is going. Keep us posted!

Oh, about the sleep - my kids slept through the night early on because I sleep trained them. I was working outside the home so I needed to be able to get a decent night's sleep. It worked for us. (And I do know that there is some luck involved in this - smiles!!!)

Dawn

I don't know about your friend but I was in the same boat that you are now in when I was pregnant and had a toddler too. I try to take naps when my daughter did on my off days. I worked nights then. My husband would help by keeping my daughter up late and I would go to be earlier on my off nights to help. Until both my kids got older it was me on my off nights that got up with the kids at night for the bathroom. But one trick I did do was to not give her something to drink a about 2 hours before bedtime then take her to the bathroom to help reduce the frequency of me being woke up during the night. My husband did this too when I was at work too. I hope this helps.

My son is 3.5. I get about 6-7 hours a night. Unless I have to work at night, then it is much less.

My kids are 7 (almost 8), 6 and 4. I sleep from 11:30 (or earlier if I get to bed on time) until they get up around 6:30 or 7:00... so 7 or 8 hours straight most nights.

DD has always been a pretty good sleeper. I would have no issues sleeping 9-10 hours if I wanted to. On the weekends, I do tend to sleep in and sleep longer. DH is very understanding that way.

My kids are 1 and 2. I wake up when they do, so I get about 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night.

My kids are 2 (25 months), 7 1/2 and 10 1/2.
If I went to bed when they did then I would get plenty of sleep! They all get up at about 7.
But, when they all go to bed (at 9pm) is when I finally get some "me" time. So I am usually up until about 11-12. Especially if I decide to have some husband time.
So, about 7 hours.
L.

I sleep from 10p-7a, every night. I am a lucky one. I dont feel right if I dont get sleep. I was blessed with the easiest babies when it came to sleep. They were both right around 8 weeks old when they started sleeping all night, sometimes 12 hours. Today, at ages 7 and 4, they are both alseep by 8:30 and I dont hear a peep until 7am.

My kids are 5, 7, and 9. I get between 7 and 9 on a regular basis. It's been this way for about 3 years now.

i have never had issues sleeping since mine was a few weeks old and discovered his thumb. he slept through the night like clockwork after that. we didn't do "nighttime potty training" - when he was ready to be dry at night, he was. before that we used pullups.

disclaimer though - i HAVE to have a decent night's sleep. it doesn't have to be long (i can do ok with 6 or 7) but it does have to be solid. so it is a priority. thankfully that "need" for sleep (or perhaps just good sleeping genes) was handed down to my son! he is 6 now and i don't know the last time HE kept me from getting a good night's sleep.

My dd is four and a half and I get eight hours of sleep sometimes with one bathroom interruption by her...she has always been a good sleeper but an early riser!

I have a two year old and and eleven month old who both sleep about 11-12 hours a night. I usually sleep 7 or 8 hours (uninterrupted) a night. I am very thankful for the good sleep I get as it makes my day go so much more smoothly with young children.

I hope your new baby is a good sleeper. : )

I usually am in bed by 10pm and get up by 530. So that would be 7.5 hours of sleep...IF I slept all night. I'm usually up 2-4x to go to the bathroom, I wake when hubby comes to bed, my son usually wakes me before I get up because he has wet through his diaper and bed or my son/daughter has woken up anywhere from 1-3x each per night. So UNINTERRUPTED, I get maybe 1-2 hours. But OVERALL, I aim for 7-8 over the course of the night. Some nights, it's seven one hour intervals!!!!

on the weekends, my 10 yr old will sleep til anywhere from 9am-11am depending on what time she went to sleep......she loves to stay up late and sleep in. it's 9:20am and she's still sleeping right now.

My children are all school age. I will sleep anywhere from 9 hours to 11 hours a night. If for some reason I get less on a particular night, I will take a one to three hour nap during the next day.

One of my favorite sayings is, "BEDTIME! My favorite time of day!" I don't only say this because it's time for my "break" from the kids, but also because I can't wait to lay my head on my pillow...I love to sleep!