How Late?

My kids are often outside past 9, but they're not out roaming the neighborhood or anything. We don't like to waste good weather. :)

Here in MN it doesn't get dark until after 9 in the summer and for three years I have seen my DD's body respond to it by not sleeping until it's dark, regardless of what time we put her to bed. So lately she plays with the neighborhood kids (with one of us in attendance, since she's only 3!) until a little after 8 and then comes in for her bedtime routine.

In theory, I agree with the responder who said it's best to keep them in their routine all year, but since she literally won't sleep, and since winter is so horrible here and we spend 5 months inside, in practice we just give in and let her make the most of summer time.

That's pretty normal for us in the summer time for the past several years.

ACTUALLY, year round my son is typically in bed about an hour after sunset. That means in the summer he's playing until 10ish, then inside for a bath and a snack and in bed asleep half an hour later. Then (for the past few years) he sleeps until 830-930.

"Outside" is kind of iffy... since we're in Seattle we usually have a few rainy days a week, even in the summer. But whenever the weather's nice, we're out at the park with the other kids until twilight (apx 10pm), or inside playing games when it's not.

The 8pm bedtime is just a generational + culture thing.

Earlier in the last century DINNER for most families in this country was 8pm. Dinner from 8-9, then reading time, then bed. For farm families, dinner was about an hour after sunset and then people were up at first light for fieldwork before school.

Bedtimes have shifted as school hours have shifted (gotten longer and earlier) and as parents have started jobs that start earlier as well. People didn't USED to have to get up in the dark to blaring alarm clocks. They got up at dawn. "Up at dawn" was, in fact, considered early. I don't know about you, but when my son was in school, it wasn't dawn until an hour after the bell rang in the winter. If we'd slept till dawn, then had breakfast and done chores, he'd be two hours late for school!

In other parts of the world as well (we spend time in Italy w/ my husband's family), dinner is at 10pm, and kids are typically in bed between midnight and 1am. It's because in southern italy, everyone naps in the afternoon. Schools and businesses close (except those that cater to tourists who, very silly creatures, stay out during the heat of the day), people go home and spend time with their families and nap (from around 2-5), then go back to school/work.

It's not WHEN kids sleep for that is important, it's for HOW LONG. Most elementary schoolers need 10-11 hours of sleep. Around the world. Whether that's from 8pm-6am, or 10pm-8am, or 1am-8am and 2pm-5pm. It all totals out to about 10 hours.

I think different strokes for different folks. In the summer I am extremely relaxed about bedtime. I am a full time student, so we are both free in the summer. My son is 6 and just b/c we go to bed later and sleep in later doesn't mean I'm being a bad mother. In the summer he gets to stay up until about 10 or sometimes even later, but he sleeps in the morning. When school begins I will spend a couple of weeks before hand switching him around. He didn't have a problem with it last summer and he seems very content. He switched back just fine when I began to switch him back for school hours. During the school year he is in bed at 8. It's also harder in the summer time b/c the sun doesn't set until after 9.

I'm with Riley J. that it doesn't really matter WHEN a kiddo goes to sleep but HOW MUCH sleep they are getting. I liked how Bug pointed out we make the sleep schedule to fit our schedule and everyone's is different. Good answers ladies!

Well, my sisters and I were allowed outside until 10:00 when we were that age. In fact, all the kids in our neighborhood were. We didn't run around, or anything. It was in our backyard with the other neighborhood kids. (Or another backyard.) Bedtime was pretty relaxed for us, the first half of summer. Then, in the second half we slowly had to go to bed earlier to get used to the new school year. We were fine. We didn't expect to stay until all hours as teenagers. No one caused trouble. We weren't sleep deprived. We weren't loud and rowdy, and no one was ever disturbed by us.

I totally agree with Riley, it's the amount of sleep that matters. What time doesn't matter. We create times, because of certain schedules. That doesn't mean that 7:00 is the best time for everyone, it just means it's the best time for your family. I don't plan on being strict with my son about summer bedtimes. And, he will be fine.

By dark is my rule. If I can't see them then a passing car may not either! I love to see them riding bikes, playing basketball all that! Better then the stupid playstation!

Mine had to be in before dark. I find it's best to try to keep them close to their original sleep schedule otherwise it's really hard for them to transition back to those hours when school starts. They got to stay up later but I definitely didnt let them stay outside running amuck during summer. Some of the moms here in my apartment complex let their kids stay out late too, it's annoying to some of the other tenants since kids tend to be noisy. I get complaints about it all the time. Of course there really isnt much I can do, you cant tell people how to raise their children.

He's too young to miss sleep. Once a child is 8 1/2 they can manage to sleep less in summer. I realize how short your summer night is.

This Robert Lewis Stevenson poem was used every night when I was a child. And, I recited it to my children until they could afford to stay up late.

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

My kids go to bed at 7:30, so the latest would probably be 6:30-7pm. 10pm sounds way too late and inconsiderate of neighbors. I think the time you have your kids come in sounds very reasonable.

It depends on what time we went outside. I don't allow them to play outside once it's dark though so 7-7:30 is about right. I think 10pm is too late unless there are adults out socializing as well. I don't mean running throughout the neighborhood though. I mean on your own porch or in your own yard or driveway.

I decided this year to let my 8 and 10 year old stay out until 9pm (during the summer). The 10 year old is doing okay with it - the 8 year old? Ha! By 8:00pm she is so cranky and whiny it is so not worth it for her to be up. So now I am working on getting them in earlier each night.

In the summer we let our almost-6-year-old and 8-year-old stay up until 9:00. The goal is to have them in bed by 9:00, but I will admit a lot of the time we don't call them in from outside until 9:00. :)

Im a mean mom. :) my kids have to be in at 5pm. This way they help with dinner and relax before eating. My kids are 13,8 and 4.

I think its absolutely ridiculus that some people let there little kids play outside all hours of the night, especially little kids! Now if they're out with the parents thats a whole different story, any time you can make to spend with your kids is a good time. But man a few weeks ago we had to call the police because a 2-3 year old was playing in by the (fairly busy) road at 11:45, no parent around. Who lets a kid that old outside by themselves anytime of the day?! As far as letting kids stay up later just cause its light longer and they sleep in longer, I wish my kids would fall for that! the fact that its light earlier makes them get up like 1-2 hours earlier than they do in the winter, even with blackout blinds!

When I was a kid we always came in before dark unless we were chasing fireflys and had permission. I think your time sounds reasonable. I would worry about kids that age being out until 10. What will their curfew be when they are teenagers! Yikes, some parents are going to kick themselves for this later!

No that's ridiculous in my opinion. I have neighbors like that and they aren't the greatest parents either. With my 2 1/2 yr old we stay outside til 7ish, which will probably stay the same as she gets older. Come inside, clean off, calm down, then bedtime routine. Outside til 10? Can you imagine how late they probably go to bed?

My kids are 5 and almost 3. We are outside playing with them until about 8:00 or 8:15 pm. Then its pj, bible stories, brush teeth an off to bed. They are usually both in bed by 9pm at the lastest. Of course as summer winds down and school gets closer we will work on transitioning back to school hours (in bed by 8pm). I figure its summer, and it is light out longer, and it gives us more time as a family to play so I am a bit more relaxed about bedtime. 10 pm is late, my parents live in Alaska and it is harder to realize that it is as late as it is with the sun being up for so long...... but 10pm is late for the younger ones.

I think you are smart to have your kids in by that time. 10 pm is super late for little ones~ I wouldn't have my kids out that late unless it was a special occasion.

M

Your not the only one - my kids are almost 6 and under and they come in for dinner and rarely go back out after dinner unless they are helping dad move a sprinkler or something. I too see kids in the neighborhood running around to near 10 and have said the same thing to my husband.

Anyway, your not the only one who brings their kids in at a reasonable time, even though it is still light enough for them to play outside :)

Oh, and I live in Alaska where it is light out until nearly midnight.