Bedtime - Saint Augustine, FL

I normaly put my kids to bed around 830 or 9pm and they still get up at 6 or 7 am. Its really hard for me cause I hve 4 kids ages 8 down to 9 months old and the oldest is rebellious at age 8, and the 6 year old says its not fair lol but hey if you get them to take a nap about 10 am it shouldnt be hard to get them to sleep early just dont let them take a nap after 11 am. Good luck

I am a true believer in early bedtime and also put my 19-mth old daughter to bed no later than 7:30pm. Sometimes, she's so worn out after a hot day... she's fading by 7pm... so whenever we're done with all our little routines, even if it's a few minutes earlier, and occasionally later, she goes down. There are nights when she does stay awake and chatter to herself for a while before dropping off, but I think a little of that is good for all kids... kind of their alone time, but a safe version. :) Early bedtime allows YOU, Mom, to have a little time for herself in the evening and still get a good night's rest, which is absolutely necessary when you work full time and have kids. Keep up the great work! The routine alone is great for kids!

K.

all mine to to bed at 8, i start getting them ready around 7:30 7:45 and that gives them some time to settle down. find out what time nap time is because they may be getting naps a little later in the afternoon and thus aren't ready for bed then. keep the routine they will adjust.

All kids have their own internal time clocks, so there isn't a magical hour for everyone. I would start a regular bedtime routine an hour before you put them down. This way they will know that it is time for bed and won't fight it as much. Never do things that will excite them because it will take a while to get them settled down. Begin an hour before and talk about it. I always put my kids to bed at 8 PM when they were at that age and they were pretty tired by then.

Remember that they live with you and you have to set some rules right now. If they have their own rooms put the baby to sleep first, and explain to your older child that babies need more rest. This will make her feel good about herself and it will be easier to put her down knowing that all people need their rest...even you.

I have an 18 month old - we have been doing an 8:00 bedtime since he was about 8 months old. Seems to work for us. It is starting to get a little later with the procrastinating and continuous story reading but at least it is downtime! Good luck!

I have a 26mo and a 8 mo old so our kids are almost exactly the same age. My 8mo goes to bed b/w 7-7:30 and 26mo b/w 7:30 and 8 and they are both usually up at 7am. My 8mo will have a last nap around 3:30-4 for about an hour, 26mo old will nap once for about 2hr usually b/w 12 and 2. They both are ready for bed at their bedtimes. Sometimes my 8mo old won't even finish her bottle she'll fall asleep. I don't think their bedtime is too early, esp if they are getting up at 6. Check into their naptimes, maybe they are too late. Otherwise just keep your consistent routine going, they are probably just testing you.

Hello, I have a two and three year old, their bedtime is between 8 and nine. If they take a long nap they wont want to go to sleep at eight. Also talk to whoever is taking care of them during the day and see how long their nap is. It shouldnt be longer than two hours. Also when their to tired they will fight sleep. Try not to let them watch tv an hour before bed because it stimulates them. Lastly try to give them a bath and warm milk and read a story. But kids will always give you a hard time, bedtime is boring to them. Good luck!

Good Morning B. B:
From the information you've given, it sounds like the bedtime is fine. I have three teens(18,16,15) now and to this day we are still fighting bedtime.(haha)Raising kids is not easy and the only rule I can tell ya is to go by your motherly instincts and intuition. We all have to set boundaries...yet be flexible. the schedule you have set for you and yours is appropriate. According to the experts(i recall)they say that children grow when they are sleeping and require ten or more hours of sleep and as they get older the amount decreases. Having a consistent bedtime routine is a good way to help the children's bodies schedule themselves(of course it can get difficult sometimes.) thirty minutes give or take is a normal estimation before sleep time for all of us to wind down. Like I said before, from the info you gave us, it is okay. I don't think your girls are rebellious,it just takes their little bodies longer to register" oh it is time for me to sleep" what ever they are doing during the day will predict how they will be for you at night,too. I don't think eight is a bad time, but if you need them to be asleep by 7:30, maybe try starting the winding down period earlier.(at least 30min-1hr before sleep time). I don't know if that helps, but good luck and May God Bless and Keep you and yours...PS during that winding down period is also a great time for quality time for you and the girls. Reading to them with soft classical or instrumental music in background are what helped my three to settle down. I even laid with them until they nodded off to dreamland or played the winding down game where you have them tell their bodies to quiet down Like" it is sleep time and my toes and feet need to be still, feet and toes please be still...etc. One more thing, Breathing slowly and deeply helped my little ones to settle down.( my husband taught me that technique) Children learn by example and watch every move we make. the breathing technique we learned to eleveate stress(breathe slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth) you do it and they pick up on it and soon they are out.
C. G

B.,
My 2 boys get up between 6 and 6:30 everyday as well. I have the 11 month old in bed by 6 or 6:30 and my almost 3 y.o., 35 months, in bed no later than 7:00. The baby goes to sleep fast but with the three year old it takes some time. Like your kids, it takes him 30 min. to an hour sometimes. I know it usually takes me some time to fall asleep at night too so I do not worry too much. If you are concerned maybe you could try giving them a relaxing bath just before bed and maybe move bedtime back in 15 - 30 minute intervals to see if it helps. I know sometimes if kids are too tired they have a hard time settling down. I know that is usually what it is when my 3 y.o. takes an hour to go to sleep.

Good luck, K.

I have always read that kids that age need about 10 to 11 hrs. of sleep so sounds right to me.

Is the oldest still getting a nap during the day? For how long? If not she maybe overly tired at bedtime and have a hard time settling down. Same for the baby. If my babies didn't nap the night time routine was a mess. They would be fussy and harder to put down.

I think it may depend on whether they share a room or not. I have a similar problem with my 28month old and a 10month old. They share a room and feed off each other...laughing and making noise for an hour or more! I started putting the baby down at 7:30pm, giving her time to fall asleep without distraction. Then I tuck in the big girl at 8:00pm. It seems to help out situation. All kids are diffrent, though.

good luck!

I have always put mine to bed 12 hours before they have to get up. Do they both nap still? My daughter gave hers up at 18 months or so and she is now 4. My son still naps, but only for an hour to hour and a half and he is almost 15 months. If he gets up from his nap any closer in time than 4 hours to bed time, then I have to fight him too. My son is asleep by 9:30pm and sleeps until 11-11:15am. My daughter is usually asleep by 10:30-11pm and wakes around the same time. I work late and have them during the day, so they are on my schedule. It seems that I read that babies the age of your youngest, as well as my youngest, need around 14 hours of sleep a day between night and nap times. It should be a bit less for your oldest. My 4 year old seems to need 12 to 12 and 1/2 hours. But each child is different. Good luck with this one. The problem sounds like maybe the last nap is either too long or too close to bedtime. The time for bed seems fine.

K.

This bedtime seems right, especially for the 7 month old. When my son dropped down to one nap a day at around 15 months, it moved up to 6:30. Now that he is two it is closer to 9:00 by the time we give him snacks, read, and sing. With him, he is definately procrastinating!! he has a bunch a tricks he uses when i tell him that we will be getting ready for bed soon. Along with that, he could never go to bed at 7:30 anymore like he use to. He goes to daycare and usually wakes from his nap around 4pm, so he needs to stay up a little later.

No matter what the issues, I think this is something every child does and I don't think there is a "fix" for it. I think it is very common for bedtime routines to take up to one hour. I just tell myself that I am happy once he goes down, he stays asleep!