Does Everyone Have Early Dinner???

We eat dinner between 5 and 6 because you sleep better when you dont go to bed on a full stomach. Eating late dinner can contribute to obesity as well. It's best to eat dinner early and then have a snack later, not viceversa.

Yes, I think it is too early. I'm not hungry yet and DH does not even come home until 7! I feed my son at 5:30 because he's starving at that time, and a snack won't cut it. We eat after he goes to bed.
He goes to bed at 8 but we have to start getting ready at 7. Because sometimes he drags his feet, and sometimes he is really loosing it and needs to be in bed a bit early. He has always had particular need for routine. If we keep him up past bedtime he just melts down and spoils everyone's good time. So if we want to go out in the evening we need a babysitter or only one of us goes. It sucks, but it's the way things are for now. For what it's worth, I'm told that most kids are more easygoing than this.
Generally my bedtime can range from 10 to midnight depending on how much stuff I have to do

My children are ready for supper at 4:30. They eat slowly. (Depends what kindof food) 6:00 they have their bath, and go into bed 7:00. In between, if time, from one thing to the other, they can play a little. Go outside. I read them a story sometimes...
I see that if its after 5:30 they won't eat. They're too tired to eat that time, and I have to almost push it in.

We eat between 5:30-6 because 1. We're hungry at that time and 2. Our 6 yo has an 8 p.m. bedtime. I go to bed between 9-10 p.m. because I get up around 5:30 a.m. I'm a real stickler about getting enough sleep for myself and our child. My husband? Pshaw. The guy can't go to sleep before midnight :)

Ha! My neighbor eat's dinner at 4:30! Talk about an early dinner! We eat dinner around 6:30-7:00 here, which works best for us. As for bed time, my 3 year old takes a nap during the day so I allow her to go to bed at 8:00, my two older ones, well it's summer and so I really don't set a bed time for them which im fine with as well, but they never are able to stay up past 10:00 lol. If they had school then they would be in bed by 8-9:00 p.m. Don't hesitate to ask such a good question! You actually just answered a question that I have been asking my other friends! It's nice to read the other posts! It all depends on how your schedule goes and the time, for M. time seems to be flying by over here!
Add on- as far as hubby and I, we go to bed around midnight, sometimes earlier depending on how hechtic our day was, but we enjoy watching a movie or show together....

Snack now, snack later, what's the difference? We eat around 5:30 or so too. Sometimes we do eat earlier or later. Sometimes we tend to do little more than snacking every few hours.

In the winter, we are in bed by 7pm (early day the next day, since we're a snow family, and it's a 2 hour drive to the mountains every morning, unless we sleep over), and we eat dinner early.

Spring and Fall we eat dinner at 7 or 8. Kiddo goes to bed around 9. I go to bed around 230. We have tea at 4pm.

Summer we eat dinner at 9 or 10. Sun sets at 10, and kiddo is often outside playing until the first stars come out. Summer we have tea at 4pm and snacks at 7pm.

When we're in Italy, dinner is between 10pm & Midnight (non tourist restaurants don't even open until 10, 10's early), and bedtime for kiddo is 1am, and I'm in bed by 2 or 3. In Italy we all nap from 2pm-5pm.

((The super early dinner & bedtime is a product of early school times, and early work times... which have gotten earlier and earlier these past couple generations. It's not 9-5 anymore, but 8-5 or 7-5. Employers don't give you a 1 hour lunch break as part of you 8 hour day, but in ADDITION to your 8 hour day, and 2 15minute or 30 minute breaks are more and more no longer part of your now NINE hour day. So people are more and more "at work" 9-10 hours a day. Historically in this country -pre 1960s- dinner was at 8. By the 1980's school times had moved to 7am, meaning people needed to be up by 6am. So the "Eight O'Clock" bedtime became standard for kids, and dinner had been pushed back from 8 to 7 to 6. THIS generation, it's even earlier. With daycare often starting at 630 am, so dinner and bedtimes are getting even EARLIER. And here's a hum-dinger for you. TV shows changed MILLIONS of people's eating times. Dinner didn't used to be the moment husbands got home from work. But because that was how it was shown on TV millions of families started the practice.))

Early dinner is the bomb in our household when it happens that way! We have a snack or the children will have dessert about 30 minutes after. Once dinner is eaten it leaves time for everything else games, organizing for the next day ect....we are in bed by 9ish relaxing. Try it to see how it flows for your family.

nope....we eat around 8

Honestly, I think your schedule is the one that sounds "not normal." I'd just about throw a fit if my child napped from 5-7...she wouldn't go to sleep until midnight if I did that!!!

We have supper at five, and that's the way most families that I know do. My children can have a bedtime snack if they are hungry again...but even my six year old goes to bed at eight, and the baby around the same time.

To M., eating dinner that late is bad for your metabolism...you don't have enough time to digest a full meal before bed if you eat at bedtime.

I am one of those early dinner people. We eat between 5:30 and 6pm. I have always done it this way since having children because of two reasons. One is that I NEED my kids to be in bed by 7:30 or 8pm so I can have time alone with my husband before I am too tired. We have made this time "our time" to catch up with each other. Second, I followed the book "Baby Wise" with both of my kids since they were infants, and to protect good sleeping habits, they taught how to schedule naps & sleeping patterns. If I am remembering correctly, the naps should be over by 4pm to get a child to be sleepy again by 7 or 8pm. I've done this type schedule with both of my kids, and have stuck with it. They are now 8 and 4. (Yes my 4 year old still naps and I just woke him up!)

I usually am in bed asleep by 11 or 11:30 at the latest. I personally can't eat late (past 8pm) or it makes M. feel sick. As for the weekends - we go out occasionally with the kids past their bedtimes, but it is not an everyday or every weekend occurrence. I value them getting as much rest as they need for their ages. I try not to make it a habit to go out with my kids at night as they're usually tired which equals cranky which equals stressed mama. :)

You have to do what works for you and your family! It all changes invariably as the kids get older and are involved in extracurricular activities that may be happening during my "dinner" timeframe. I've had to readjust dinner certain days of the week for soccer and dance, but those kids are still in bed on time if it kills M.. :) I need some M. time! Good luck!

Well, my husband's lunch break at work is from 11:30-12. If we ate at 8:30 or 9 pm, he'd have already chewed his own arm off! He starts work at 5, sometimes 4.
Needless to say, he's ready for bed by 9:30 at the latest. So is my son, who, during the school year is up at 7-7:30.
Soooo...we have dinner at 5-5:30, about an hour later if it's a day I'm working (I'm home by 6ish).

Young children/toddlers need about 11 hours of sleep at night, so that's why we eat dinner at 5:00 or 5:30 so that H (15 months) can be sleeping by 7. He wakes at 6 am and if we put him to bed any later, we find that he just ends up waking up earlier. Sometimes I give him a small snack between dinner and bed, but usually it's only been 1 to 1.5 hours since last meal. My husband and I have dinner with our son and I wouldn't have it any other way. We sleep around 10, which is 5 hours after dinner, so usually we have a small snack around 8 or so.

We're definitely all ready to eat by 5:30. H and I eat breakfast at 6:30, lunch at 11:30 and an afternoon snack. My hubby gets home around 4:30 and is already hungry but I make him wait. :)

And yes, this does for the most part mean we don't go out in the evenings. Unless we have a sitter! Which has worked out fine because we can go out and about during the day time no problems and often go out for dinner and can still be home in plenty time for bed. This gives hubby and I lots of personal time as well!

Not judging, but you may want to consider changing up your son's sleep schedule because it seems off. Maybe it is working for you all fine, in which case make no changes. But if he's not a great sleeper or getting at least 13 or 14 hours sleep a day (I'm thinking you had said he's around 1.5 years old, right?) I would consider a change up. By 8 pm he should be sleeping for the night and most kids do better going to be even earlier. Skip that 5 pm nap and get him to bed around 7! He may sleep better after he transitions.

We eat dinner at 5:30. My 2 year-old goes to bed at 7:15 and my 4 year old goes to bed at 7:45. They both get up at 7 am with no problems and we eat breakfast at 7:30 or 8. We don't have any trouble going without a night time snack, but you would probably have to get used to it. The early dinner isn't perfect ... My husband often isn't home in time to join us. But, my kids do much better with an early bedtime. Yes, when the kids were younger, I didn't really want to take them out at night (so we'd get a babysitter if we wanted to go out), but now they are old enough to be a little flexible, and well have a late night out with the kids occasionally.

We generally eat around 5 or 5:30pm. The kids have snacks around 7pm and they both go to bed around 8:30pm. I go to bed around 10pm. I sometimes have a snack with them but I generally don't get hungry after that. My husband was used to eating early and when we moved in together 13 years ago I adjusted to that time. I was used to eating a late dinner. So it's just stuck. It's nice eating dinner early because then after we get done we generally go for a bike ride or walk the dog or let the kids play outside. Or we run errands. Sometimes the kids eat snacks in the car and we get back home by 8pm. They can stay up later on weekends.

Girl you just gotta do what works for you.

US?:
3 yr old wakes up between 7 and 8am.
Naps around 2. The latest he wakes up is 5pm.
We eat dinner between 6 and 7pm.
Play, wash dishes, bath-time, watch part of a movie, teeth brush, read books, etc. 3-yr-old is in bed by 9/9:30pm.
Husband and I are in bed by 10 or 10:30, sometimes later if we stay up to watch a movie.

We eat anywhere between 7 and 10 pm. depending on what we have going on and my motivation to go make dinner LOL My kids when they were little went to bed between 8 and 9pm. Now it's 10pm on school nights and midnight on weekends/summer. (I didn't put my kids to bed early because I DID NOT want them up early in the morning before they started school).

My husbands work schedule along with traffic didn't get him home until 7 at the earliest in the first few years of our marriage and it just became our schedule. If I had used an earlier schedule my kids never would have seen or had dinner with their dad, and I wasn't willing to do that. I figured as long as none of us (except the hubs) had to get up super early in the morning it was no biggie. It has worked great for us and I have no plans to change it.

Hubby and I generally go to bed between 11pm and 1am, unless hubby has a really early day. Then he's in bed usually by 8-9pm.

That... is a LATE dinner, for a baby.

With kids, you do have to amend, your dinner time, for the child.
Always.
Babies and kids, have a different cycle.
It just is.
Eating at that time you mentioned, is even LATE for M., and I am an adult.
By that time, your baby is ALREADY tired... and when babies and kids are tired... they cannot eat.... like normal.

Also, you breastfeed for give him his bottle, before bed and before tucking him in for bed.
That, is the usual routine.

We eat at 5:30. Our kids are early risers, so they go to bed early (late bedtime, they still wake up early). If we eat at 5:30, there's time for baths before we start bedtime with our five-year-old at 6:30. Our oldest goes to bed by 7:30.

Honestly, there aren't that many nighttime activities for kids, so it hasn't mattered much. If we have school functions or other activities, we push everything back, but most of the time it's a non-issue.

We dont get home until 5:30 -6:00. Karate is 2 days a week until 6:30 - we eat and then have very little together time. We spend our weekends doing family stuff because of it and then our house is a wreck :)

We get up at 5:00 and the kids up at 5:30 a.m. M-Friday, so we try get to bed before 8:30 for the kids.

We are a family that eats dinner at 530, the kids are in the bath at 630, snack, bed by 715. We eat breakfast at 7, so 12 hours between snack and breakfast, about 11.5 hrs of it is spent sleeping. We came to this arrangement after we had 2 kids and the youngest wasn't a baby anymore. No, we don't go out at night WITH the kids, we go out when we can arrange a sitter. We plan family outings for mornings or early afternoons. My sil and her family are more like yours, doing a late nap with the 2 yr old and then going to a fesitval or dinner after dark...my kids would be hellions nap or no by that time of day and my evening would be stressful. I remember having just one, less than 18 months old, and going out at 7 or 8...not anymore! Oh, my husband and I go to bed at 11 and I usually eat a snack between 8 and 9.

we are usually sitting down to the table at 5:30. and my kids are starving. bed time for my 6 and 8 yo is 7:30-8 ish during school and 8-8:30 ish in summer, Up by 7 during school and 8 during summer. I also don't give my kids a bedtime snack and they are fine.

oh and i am ready for bed by 10 but usually stay up to finish laundry or what have you until 11 and the asleep by 11:30.

I'm a mom, where the heck would i be going out to on the evenings?? hubby sometimes has meetings, if i had something we would just trade an one of us would be home with the kids.
works for us.
If i can brag a bit, we did have the kids out at a grown up eventthe other night and as we were leaving at 8:30 a stranger complimented us on how well behaved my kids had been for the last hour. It was so nice to hear.

It all depends on what your daily time schedules look like. If you have to be up really early to commute to work, drop kids off at daycare or school then 5:30 for dinner with a no later than 8PM bedtime makes perfect since. If your child falls asleep at 8PM and wakes at 6AM to get at least 10 hours of sleep(althouigh for some that's still not enough sleep.
In our house we don't eat dinner until 7-9PM, go to bed 10-12PM and don't wake up anytime before 9AM. My littlest naps about 2 or 3, sometimes 4 PM.
It works for us.
Unless you're running to the same places at the same time as your friends and neighbors you do not have to follow their same routines
I absolutely see those families with super early schedules unable to enjoy anything in the evening. You can always tell who they are when we go to Disneyland. Our kids are still good to go when others kids have completely fallen out or they've already left.

We eat dinner at 5:00. Growing up for M., that was the time we always had dinner so it kinda stuck with M.. I get up really early with the kids so we all eat breakfast early, and lunch early, so we're definitely hungry for dinner by 5 (sometimes we do eat at 5:30 or 6) My husband gets home right around 5, so dinner is usually being put on the table when he walks in the door.

My kids go to bed early and I love it! They are still young, 3 years old and 10 months. My husband and I get a lot of alone time. If there ever is anything going on late we either have someone watch our kids and we go without them, or depending on what it is we can still take them out to dinner or something and still be home early enough for them to go to bed. We are not on a strict schedule with them so bed time can get pushed back and it's no big deal. I would MUCH rather have my kids in bed early so I can have a nice long break and alone time with my husband.

my son is 4 1/2, almost 5. he wakes up at 6 am to go to daycare/preschool, he has a nap there, then we get home about 5 or so. i usually start dinner and we eat around 6 or 6:30, whenever it gets ready. then it's either baths if it's bath night, or playing, and bedtime at 8. now that he is older (once he passed maybe 3 1/2 or so?) i let him stay up later on friday and saturday nights. but often on friday nights i am so tired i am ready to go to bed too. the other moms are right, younger kids need 11-12 hours per 24 hour period. with our schedule, our family eats dinner together, and he gets the sleep he needs. and he is old enough now that he's flexible. if he misses a nap it's no big deal...and if we have something fun planned and he can't get to bed on time, on the weekends, also no big deal.

I don't know anyone who eats dinner at 8:30 or 9, personally. Same goes for their kids eating at 7pm. That seems way too late to M., and we'd all be way too full to go to bed.

I think it depends on your schedule. If someone works or has kids that get up early, their mealtimes will be reflected by it. For instance, DH & DD are pretty early risers, so dinner between 5-6pm is normal for us. I couldn't even fathom doing things as late as you do. Even 7pm is way too late for dinner for DD.

I think what you think is weird is actually more normal that you realize, because your schedule seems kind of odd to M..

M. and my kids eat around 5:30 or 6 every night. I like it that way. They eat dinner that time have a snack around 7, bath by 7:30 and in bed by 8. I love it that way. Then I have the whole evening to myself. If I need to run out to the store I can (cause the kids are in bed and hubby can just relax and watch t.v.) or if we want to go out as a couple we get a sitter. The sitter will either come before bed and then when come home the kids are already in bed or we leave after the kids are in bed and the sitter just sits at our house and watches t.v. My kids are ages 4,2 and 3 months. I like the schedule cause it's what it will be like once they start school. Do plan on keeping your kids up until 10 even when they are in school? School can start as early as 7:30 which means the are even up before that to get ready. They need to go to bed around 8 to get enough sleep. I know when I was a kid my parents didn't let M. stay up that late. Plus I love having alone time with my hubby. So yeah If my kids ate dinner around 7 or 8 they won't be ready for bed that early.

It was so hot yesterday that I didn't even think about food until 9pm! It's going to be very difficult to get my kids in bed when school starts. I don't know how. Even if we have dinner at 7, I'll be hungry again at 9!

I had posted on your earlier question as well. We do eat at 5:30-5:45 each night and then give the kids a snack about 1/2 hr before they go to bed. We have a 15mo old, 8 yo triplets, and a 10 yr old. We are all ready to eat at 5:30, so that is what works for us. Our 15mo. old is in bed every night by 8:00 (so are our triplets during the school yr and 8:30 for our 10 yr. old) In the summer the older 4 kids go to bed at 9 or 10. ALL of our kids have always been good sleepers and having to get up by 7-7:30 each morning, they are ready to go to bed at those times.
Would it work for you to do dinner at 5:30 and then snack at the later time? I'm guessing he eats good at the time you're doing snack now, and then just picks at his dinner? Also, why are you having him nap again once you get him home from daycare? How is he having snack at 5:30, if you're napping him from 5-7? When are you interacting w/your child? Even if he didn't take a 'good' nap at daycare, does he really need another 2hr. nap in the evening on your time with him? I'm sorry if this seems harsh or whatever, but as a mother of 5 kids and also a childcare provider, I think a childs time with their parents (if they've been in care all day) is very important. So many parents have their kids in care 9-10hrs a day and then they pick them up, feed them, bathe them and put them to bed. Makes M. sad/frustrated/confused as to why some parents have the routine that you stated.
We do go out as a family, each Friday night for dinner. We are home by 7:30-7:45 as to get our youngest to bed by 8. Once a month we (hubby and I) have date night. That night we get a sitter, but still stick to our bed time schedule.
Best of luck to you. I know it's hard to create a routine, and one that works for some, may not work for everyone. I hope you find what works for you and your family.

You should not eat so early that they are hungry by bed time, nor should you eat so close to bedtime that they don't have about 2 hours to digest before going to bed.
These days we're in bed by 9-ish and we usually eat between 6-7.
We dated a long time before we got married, then waited 9 years before starting a family so we were SO OVER late night dating/going out by the time our son came along.
When I was a teen, if parents wanted to go out late in the evening - I was there for baby sitting.
Parents had fun, kids were kept on schedule, I got paid - it worked out well for everyone every which way around.

We generally eat between 6-630p. Sometimes its as late as 8p.

Kids (10y & 4y) start fighting about showers at 9p, and go to bed between 10 - 11p. I usually go to bed between 11p and 2a.

I get up at 6a and the kids are woken at 7a.

Our dinner, due to when I used to work and when DH gets home, is typically no earlier than 6:30 and often more like 7. DD often asks for and receives a snack (fruit, crackers, cheese) around 4 if she is hungry. DD is often not in bed til 9:30. She sleeps to 7:30 or 8 and no longer naps consistently. She is not in daycare or preschool. While I know some other kids go to bed earlier, I also know she is not horribly unusual. She also used to nap on my return commute, which was something I could not prevent. The rest of us try to be in bed around 11 or 12.

When the big kids were in elementary school, we ate closer to 6 or 6:30 and they were in bed by 8:30 most nights.

We used to eat closer to 5:30 when I was a kid and I don't remember being overly hungry before bed.

I also think it may be a cultural thing. It was not unusual for dinners to be at 8PM when we were in Europe and plenty of other people were out and about that late, too.

When DS was an infant, he went to bed when we did - generally 11:30pm or so (after his last feeding). We would go out to dinner with him at our regular time (generally 7-8 pm). Now (he is 5-1/2) we generally eat dinner between 6:30 and 7:30 (start time) and his bedtime is somewhere between 8 and 8:45 pm. Later if we are out later, later in the summer and later on nights when he has no school the next day. If we are going out for a later dinner, we feed him a snack. We generally go to be around 11 -11:30 pm.

When my kids were younger we fed them no later than 6 and then we'd usually eat later. But as soon as they could wait a little longer we started to eat all together. They are 6 and 7 now and we've been eating by 6:30 or 7pm. During the school year we try to make it as early as possible because we do nightly bath and reading, and they are in bed by 8pm, sometimes 7:30.

I try to get to bed by 11pm, but usually bedtime is later. There's not enough hours in the day!

Hi S.K. Great question.

We eat what apparently is an "early dinner" as we eat around 5:30 or 6pm. We have a routine where I come home and start dinner while hubby gets kids from day care. We eat, then it is time for showers for the older kids (ages 6 and 7), then jammies and some relax time, then bath for the baby, then bedtime is around 8pm for all under 5 foot tall.

This routine works for us, and the kids eat a pretty good dinner. And yes, most of us will have a snack before bed. If the kids have a snack, it is about 7:45 or so, and I will have one about 9pm.

We do not go anyplace during the week together - sometimes hubby will go to the store or a friend's house alone, but I stay home with the sleeping kids.

We adults go to bed around 10:30pm.

When I was growing up - we had dinner at 545....

When I married my first husband - we had dinner between 6 and 630....my husband - if he had his way - we'd be eating dinner at 9PM!!

We now eat around 7PM...my boys are 9 and 11...

We generally eat around 7/730-ish. Sometimes it's a bit earlier or later, but that's our usual "time". It works for us because I get off work at 4:30, have a half hour-ish commute, usually need to stop at the store for something or other, & I demand about 20 minutes of quiet time when I get home before I start working again on dinner, homework, laundry, etc. so 7-7:30ish is just what works best for us.

Hubby and I usually have dinner around 7 pm. My son is hungry and thirsty when he comes home from preschool, so he has something to drink at 5:30 (watered-down juice or water) and has dinner around 6 pm. He sometimes has fruit or dessert, or his bed time snack with us at the dinner table. Sometimes he just plays while we are eating.

I would love for all of us to have dinner together but it would not work. Hubby would need another dinner if he ate at 6 pm. Son goes to bed around 8 pm, and hubby usually after midnight. My son would be too hungry to wait until 7 pm, and it would be almost his bedtime when he finishes.

Well, at least we always have breakfast together! We have big breakfasts every morning, even during the week.

I'm a single mom who works from 8-5, home around 5:30. Sometimes we snack then eat later, sometimes we eat and snack later. My daughter does her homework and if we have time we go do something outside or play games, watch her shows, do nails - she is 9. Otherwise it's shower and bed by 8:30 or 9. After she is in bed I do what I need to do around the house and get ready for the next day and then relax. I fall into bed around 12 or 1. Weekends - we both love to sleep in and eat when we're hungry!

We eat between at 5:15 and 5:30. The boys, 1.5 and 4, go to bed around 8. When I go back to work, I'd like to have them in bed by 7:30, since they'll be up earlier. On weeknights, my husband and I try to go to bed by 10:30. It is really nice to have that quiet time together every evening. On the weekends, or nights when there is something going on, we just keep the kids up later. It's not a huge deal.

I think it would have to depend on what time everybody gets home.
We eat at 6.30, because my husband gets home at around 6.
We don't generally eat again, although I will sometimes give my kids a bowl of cereal before bed.
I go to bed at 11pm, my 3 year old at 8 and my 8 year old at 9.30.
School time we get up at 6am

You have a very French schedule! When I was living in the Pacific Islands all the Australian, British, New Zealand and US expats would go out for dinner between 6 - 8 pm, then later on, you'd see all the French expats emerge to have dinner at 9 - 11 pm. My children eat their dinner 5.30 - 6.30, then play, showers and stories. They're in bed between 7.30-8.00. Sometimes they'll snack on apples or bananas at story time. My husband and I eat around 8 - 8.30, and go to bed around 10.

I make my daily routine similarly to how I make a budget. Plug in your "must do" list (work hours, school hours, extra activities or practices--kung fu 4-5, soccer 5:30-6:30, awanas 7-8 on different days, etc....then what time we go to bed/get up for the day (making sure the boys have enough hours to fall asleep and get the healthy amount of sleep they need), etc, etc). Dinner for us is between 6:30 and 7:30. This basically depends on what activity we have that evening (we need to eat a little earlier to get to awanas on time, or I need an extra 15-20 minutes to get food on the table after soccer practices, or when is daddy getting home for dinner...) But yeah we generally eat breakfast around 6:30-7am, no morning snack, lunch around 11:30-12, then they take a nap. We have a light snack at 3:45 on kung fu days or 4:30 on regular days. Dinner is generally somewhere around 6:30 or 7:30pm. The 1 year old goes to bed between 8-8:30 (days that we swim or go to the beach, he asks to go to bed earlier), and the 4 year old goes to bed between 8:30-8:45pm. If we're having a date night, the boys are super easy; I make their meal (always a favorite so the sitter won't have problems with them eating all their food; something like pizza or fish, mac 'n cheese and peas) and they will go to bed very easily for a sitter. Us: we go to bed around 10 or 10:30 on average. Jeremy is usually wiped out lately and would like to be in bed for 9:30 on weekdays, if he could, but it's generally later. On weekends, we stay up a little later and plan for a short nap after the beach (because with the boys, we have to get up in the morning whether it's a weekend or not).

I have no problem with a 5:30 p.m. dinner time because my school aged child is very hungry after the 3:30 p.m. afterschool snack. I don't do a 5:30 dinner though because I get home later. Bedtime for my youngest is 8 p.m. and oldest is 9 pm. My kids are taught that there are different rules for different circumstances & places and therefore, sometimes bedtime can be later, like when they go to the babysitter during my night out.

What seems to work best when my kids are under 3ish is to work the night out into our routine. For example, one Friday night a month the kids go to Parents Night Out, have pizza, movie, play and stay up late while I go out.

We eat around 5:30 so I can clean up the kitchen, bathe the kids and have them in bed by 7:30/8. My middle child has always wanted to sleep around 7:30, and now that my 4 yr old doesn't nap anymore, he NEEDS to be in bed around the same time.

We make exceptions to this every Sat nite, as we always go out to dinner after my hubby gets home from work around 6 pm. They also seem to be able to last longer when we do something special, like visiting family, at a later hour.

we eat dinner between 5:30 and 6:30 because my husband has severe acid reflux and has to eat at least 3 hours before taking his pill that he takes at bedtime. And he and my daughter are both hypoglycemic, and if they have to wait any longer for dinner, they go crazy on M..

We eat around 6:30pm-7pm (only because we get home at 6pm from working - hour long commutes) and my daughter is in bed at 8:30 or sometimes 9:30 on weekends if she's being good. We eat early so we're not eating and then going directly to sleep and would eat earlier if we got home from work earlier... not good to sleep with a full belly. I also don't eat from noon-whenever dinner is, so I'm usually starving by the time I get home.

I go to bed on weekdays anywhere from 930-10pm since I have to get up at 6 to get ready for work, and DO NOT function well on less than 8 hours of sleep. When we go out (especially on a work/school day), we get a sitter. Only on special occasions does my daughter come along and stay up late.

When I was growing up, we ate dinner at 530 every night beacuse that's when my dad got home from work.

We usually try to eat dinner by 6 pm. Our daughter is only 5 and we just can't wait to have a late dinner. We have to do her bath by 6:45 in order for her hair to dry and then we start getting ready for bed (brusing teeth, pj's on) around 7:15 in order to get her to bed by 8:00. If we wait any later than that she ends up being overtired and out of control and it takes us much longer to get her into bed and it takes her longer to relax and fall asleep. Once in a while we will sit with her while she eats and then my husband and I eat later - 8 - 8:30 - after she goes to bed.

My husband is usually in bed around 10 pm - sometimes earlier and sometimes later. I'm a night owl by nature so I have a harder time. I'm usually up until at least midnight. We get up at 6:30 am during the week. And, no, we don't go out in the evenings - especially during the week. Sometimes we may be out and about on Saturday afternoon/evening and we consider it late if we don't get home until 7:30 - and we pay for it when we're trying to get our daughter to bed. She's not one of those kids who will just fall asleep wherever she is when she's tired - not even in the car. If she is not in her bed at the right time then she fights it and overcompensates with extra energy. I always hate when she comes home from spending the night at either one of her grandparents' homes because they let her stay up until around 10 pm, because "she wasn't tired and she had so much energy" and we have to deal with the wrath of her not getting enough sleep for several days afterwards. It literally takes almost a week for her to catch back up on her sleep. Just realized I was venting a bit. Sorry about that. :)

We eat about 6-6:30. Bedtime for kids (3 and 4 ) is 8:30. My husband and I are up until 10:30 or 11am... when all goes as planned : ) And yes - typically a glass of milk and/or small snack before bed.

I think whatever schedule works for your family is fine, as long as everyone is getting the sleep they need.

My daughter has always been able to sleep in the morning until 7:30 or 8:00, because her school/my work starts later, so her bedtime has been 8:30 or 9:00 since she was a baby.

Now at age 9 and during the summer, she has started pushing it later and later! I feel like I have a teenager in the house, almost.

We eat dinner between 4 and 6 and we eat a snack at around 7 or so. My baby goes to bed at 7pm, my 6th grader goes to bed around 9, my 3rd grader at 8:30, my teens around 10 or 11 and same with us...

we have dinner around 5 or 6pm. 6pm is actually late for M.. I grew up with my dad HAVING to have dinner on the table by 5pm every night. My kids are in bed by 8 or 8:30 every night. I go to bed anywhere between 11pm to 12am. We don't really go out. Maybe once in a while if we do go (maybe once every other month) out then we are home at the latest 8:30 or 9pm.

We usually tend to eat around 6pm especially during the school year. Our kids are older(8-12) so after dinner there is hours of homework, practices, showers etc. My hubby gets home about 5:30 and is usually hungry by then. My kids and hubby will sometimes grab a small snack before bed( bad I know) they usually go to bed at like 9:30. During the summer we dont have as much of a schedule or on weekends for that matter.

My hubby doesnt get home until 930 4 days a week. So we eat dinner around 10 ( kids are allready fed & in bed) and than go to bed. Not the most ideal situation but not much we can do to change it.

Before I had kids, I found that dinners before 7 were way too early. Yes, I wondered, "Don't they get hungry later?" I went to bed at midnight or later.

We have four kids. 8, 6, 4 and 3.

THEN, I had kids, and they started going to school eventually. Because of school, I found that a proper bedtime for them should be 8:15ish pm (during school season- they have a hard time going to sleep that early in the summer cause of the sun, so they go to bed at 9 in the summer). So, I adjusted our dinnertime to mesh with their bedtime. They have to get up around 7:45-8:00 am to go to school, and kids need about 10-11 hrs of sleep, and they don't immediately fall asleep when put to bed, they may take up to a half hour to actually fall asleep.

SO, we have dinner at 5:30-6:00. That way, dinner ends around 6:00-6:30ish and they have enough time for their food to settle and such before getting ready for bed.

One BIG, MAIN key here is that is is UNHEALTHY to eat or drink less than two hours before bed.

My husband and I? We still go to bed late. Around midnight or 1am -we have a great time spending time just the two of us:). We will have a snack later or small meal several hours after dinner...

I have a question: what does a child's bedtime and parents going out have to do with each other? How does one effect the other? I've had PLENTY of times my kids were being babysat while they are asleep. Doesn't make a difference to M.... My husband performs music late at night very frequently and I see him sometimes... that's the way it has to be, babysitter while they sleep. Were you referring to BRINGING the kids? our kids are adaptable. If we all have to be out late one night, they don't have meltdowns- they start getting extra goofy at worst:) I think it is because they all get a good amount of sleep each night normally.

We try to have dinner between 5:30 and 6:30. The reason is to maintain a schedule. The kids get home from school at 4 they have a snack and get on homework while I cook. Two of my girls shower at night so they start showering at 7-7:30 and I want them in bed no later than 9 (most of the time 8:30). I go to bed between 11-2am. Husband and wife relaxation time and finishing up chores. It is just what works for us.

9???? Holy late! But to each his own.
I am a single mom who goes to school in the mornings and (used to, thanks economy) work in the afternoons. So in order to get to school on time we have to leave the house by 6:30 am to drop O off at daycare. SOOO by the time we get home it's around 5:00. O is starving by then and so I feed him and then bath, bed, book. All by 6:30-7:00. And repeat the next day.
Now that i don't have a job and my classes start at 10:30 am, I can be more relaxed and I love it!!! I'll be sad when I get a job again and have to start becoming bedtime nazi again :(

we eat all our meals later, go to bed later, and wake up later... I stay at home so our schedule doesn't have to revolve around school or daycare yet. We mostly work around my husband's schedule and he gets home usually around 730 pm at the absolute earliest Breakfast is usually around 10 o'clock, lunch is around 2-3pm and dinner is at 7-8pm. M. daughter is free to snack anytime... and so I kind of follow her lead as far as when she needs a snack. we go to bed around 10 or 11 as a family.

She eats well, sleeps well, and is doing great. in the future her schedule will surely change... but i don't think it makes since to run your life based on what is considered "normal"- but what works for your family!

(we also do baths in the morning rather than evening around here... oh my!)

What seems to be more important than the hour or time of day that you eat is the quality of your meals and the spacing between them. Our meals are about 4 or 5 hours apart, with a few snacks in between if needed. the average family might eat at 7or 8 am, 12 pm, and 4 or 5 pm... which is about the "same" pattern.. different timing. if we ate dinner at 5:30 in this house that would be 2 hours after lunch (for us) and 5 hours till bedtime! To each their own...

-M.

We eat around 5:30 or 6. The kids are usually in bed around 7:30ish. As far as weekends and evening plans go, we usually just let the kids stay up later. I know some people are extremely strict about bed times. That's not us. My husband and I got to sleep between 10 and 11. It's nice to have some down time to ourselves. Early bed times have never interfered with our social life, unless the kids get too tired and hit meltdown mode.

Our neighbors also eat dinner very late. But even in their house their youngest eats his dinner around 5:30 or so. By the time the family eats dinner around 8 or so, the baby is ready for bed.

We eat around 5:30-6pm; girls are in bed and asleep by 8pm at the latest. Hubby and I go to bed around 10-11pm.

Pesonally, I'd rather have dinner (typically a heavier meal) earlier and have a lighter snack around 8 if I'm hungry again. I can never sleep well if I go to bed too soon after a big meal.

And yes, sometimes our kids' schedule interferes with our social life, but their sleep is more important in my opinion. We've got some friends who keep their kids up and out with them till 10pm or even midnight sometimes, and we just feel that's irresponsible parenting. So we either leave early or get a sitter if we really want to stay out later.

I try to have everyone eat an early dinner at 5:30, because my daughter goes to bed at 7:30 (she's almost 3 years old). If I can't get dinner ready for the whole family, then I still have my daughter eat at 5:30 and my husband and I will eat after she goes down. She eats this early because her hunger won't last that much long after (even with a snack at 4ish) and she will start melting down without something in her stomach. She'll eat until about 6:15, then play for about a 1/2 hr. Then we start her bedtime routine, which is a bath, stories while she drinks some milk and brushes her teeth, then it's bedtime.

How old is your son? If he's still a toddler, in my opinion, a 9:30 or 10pm bedtime is way too late and a nap at 5pm isn't necessary. You can move up your whole schedule a lot earlier.

Yep, we eat at 5:30 normally. Late for us is 7pm. Usually we eat at that time because my husband comes home from work and is hungry! LOL! He wants food, and my kids want food. If we are hungry later, we will eat a small snack, but it will still satisfy until bedtime. Usually bedtime is 10-11pm. The kids go at 8 - 8:30pm.

ETA: If we do go out, the kids are excited and get to stay up late :)

We used to eat dinner at 5:30 (now 6:30 due to some schedule changes)
then outdoor play and activies.
Watch a show together, baths.
Kids in bed at 9:30pm and adults in bed by 11pm (unless we're really tired then it's 10pm).
Summertime is less strict because it's light out, more outdoor activies later, not getting up for school. We'll rent a movie or watch some new show together as a family then bed time is 10pm (except the youngest is still 9:30pm).
If we're tired, we go to bed earlier. :)

We eat NORMALLY around 7 but we are known to eat closer to 8 and i HATE it but it works for us id rather eat around 6 or 630 but it just doesnt happen

We typically eat between 530 and 6. Today I'm slated to have dinner on the table by 530. (Everything is from scratch today, so we'll see how it actually works out, lol!)

My kids are typically in bed by 10 in the summer and 9 during the school year. About half the time I let them have a snack around 730 or 8.

When my kids were home, we'd have dinner between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. They would go to bed between 8:00 to 10:00 pm, depending on their age.

Now I make dinner and have it ready for my wife when she gets home. We usually go to bed around 11:00 pm.

Good luck to you and yours.

We used to have early dinners cause the kid and hubby went to bed around 8 PM ( hubby had to be up at 3 am). That was ok by M., plenty of time to clean up the kitchen and have nice sit down and watch some TV. Right now we eat a little later but that can change again when school starts ( I have a teenager that is in bed by 9 PM --freaky I know LOL). Eating at 9 PM would be way too late for M. and would keep M. up all night. I guess everyone eats on their own schedule and whatever works works.

I think it all depends on the entire family dinamic. Growing up, my mom was a signle mom. She was working and going to Nursing school. She had to get up fairly early each day, and had to study at night. So, we ate dinner at about 6pm as a family, at the table. My bed time was 830, till I was in high school.
On the flip side, my own house is nothing like that. My husband and I each own our own businesses. His being a bar, kind of sets the pace for the whole family. Meaning we are up later. We generally eat dinner between 730 and 830. All of us. My oldest is 12, and goes to bed at 930, but is able to read till 10pm. My younger 2, since they don't have to be anywhere in the morning, stay up much later. When preschool starts back up in Sept for the 4yo, then she'll have to be in bed by 11. That way she's up by 11am the next day, with no problems, and we get to preschool in plenty of time. Its not ideal for most families, but its what works for ours. I struggled with the idea that letting them stay up so late was a good idea or not. But, after talking to some professionals about it, have come to realize, its really OK. As long as they are getting the sleep they need.
So in short, what time you eat dinner is really up to you and your family. And, what works best for you. What ever you choose to do will be fine.

Updated

I must first say that after reading several responses, I'm surprised at how many people do not eat dinner with their children. I feel that whatever time you eat dinner, that it is important to do it as a family. Builds relationships as well as better table manners. Also, despite our odd schedule, it is best to eat at least 3 hours before bed.
I think it all depends on the entire family dinamic. Growing up, my mom was a signle mom. She was working and going to Nursing school. She had to get up fairly early each day, and had to study at night. So, we ate dinner at about 6pm as a family, at the table. My bed time was 830, till I was in high school.
On the flip side, my own house is nothing like that. My husband and I each own our own businesses. His being a bar (means he doesn't get home from work till after 3am, which means he generally isn't up for the day till at least noon. The later my little kids are up, the later it is for them to wake up, making it that much easier for dad to get the sleep he needs), kind of sets the pace for the whole family. Meaning we are up later. We generally eat dinner between 730 and 830. All of us. My oldest is 12, and goes to bed at 930, but is able to read till 10pm. My younger 2, since they don't have to be anywhere in the morning, stay up much later. When preschool starts back up in Sept for the 4yo, then she'll have to be in bed by 11. That way she's up by 11am the next day, with no problems, and we get to preschool in plenty of time. Its not ideal for most families, but its what works for ours. I struggled with the idea that letting them stay up so late was a good idea or not. But, after talking to some professionals about it, have come to realize, its really OK. As long as they are getting the sleep they need.
So in short, what time you eat dinner is really up to you and your family. And, what works best for you. What ever you choose to do will be fine.

My kids (ages 5 and 7) eat around 5:30pm. They can have a small healthy snack before bedtime if they want. During the school year they go to bed at 7:30pm and get up at 6:45am. Now that it is summer they are in bed somewhere between 8-9pm and sleep until around 8am. I usually go to bed around 10pm. My husband is a different story. He is a night owl, so he does everything later.

As far as going out at night, the kids will have an occasional later night out if we have something for them going on. Tends to happen more during the summer. We don't go out much during the week. If my husband and I want to go out by ourselves on the weekend we will get a sitter for the kids.

In the summer I would prefer not to eat until 9. My teenage boys can't make it that long though, so we eat around 6-6:30. In the spring and fall we eat when my boys get home from track or cross country practice, which can be as late as 7:30. In the winter we eat around 6-6:30. I am a natural night owl, so going to bed at 2 is my norm. Of course, that means I snack at night because I do get hungry and absolutely cannot sleep if hungry.

My daughter & I eat dinner when it's ready LOL Most of the time it's around 5:30-6:00, just depends on what we are doing that day.

I grew up eating at 5:30. My dad works 9-hour shifts & starts early. He has lunch at 11:00, and gets off at 4:00. He has to drive 30 mins to get home, and is usually getting hungry by 5:00-5:30. He will have dessert or a snack later.

I think it just depends on your family's routine, when you start the day, when you need to finish your day, when you eat lunch, how big of a lunch you eat, etc.

We eat dinner everyday at 5:30, it's usually right when my husband gets home. This barely leaves us enough time if we need to go to wal-mart or run an errand before starting bedtime. We usually start doing bedtime routine (bath and books) around 7:15 or so. The kids, ages 4, 18 mo, and 3 months, have never complained of hunger, and seem to do great with it this way. They are asleep by 8, and wake up around 7am. I will usually have some ice cream or milk shake around 9, and bed at 10, not the greatest of habits huh?!!

We are a 6:00 dinner, 7:30 bedtime family. We rarely go out in the evenings. My kids are 6, 4, and 2.

If my boys (6 and 4) are not in bed by 7:30, the next day is a disaster.

Jessica