JFF- What's the Earliest You've Put Your Kids to Bed?

If the kids are showing signs of being tired and especially if they are sick, go for it! Ive put my kids to bed as early as 6p (usual bedtime 7-8) if they exhibit the signs (or if Ive had it!). Now with it being dark so early, it should be easy!

Oh yes. They're usually in bed by 7.45 pm. Some days my three boys are just like a cartoon fight - all you see is a moving cloud of dust and various arms and legs occasionally protruding... On those days any time from 6pm is fair game.

last night was a record for me....8:30....we are usually night owls

When my oldest was an infant, one time 4:30. Avoided the witching hour and she slept until 7. By 5 am, I thought she must be dead, but it was great until then.

More recently, probably around 6:15 if my three year old has skipped a nap. Her normal bedtime is 7:30. For my older daughter, the answer woudl be 7, her bedtime is around 8-8:30.

It depends on what their normal bed time is. My daughter's normal bed time is 8 pm, but when she is having a bad day or a sick day, I've put her to bed at 6:30. But I've been in your shoes where I wanted to put her to bed at 4 pm I was so frustrated, but I held out until later.

Lol, no but I've seen many moms do it! At least wait until the sun goes down :)

Definitely! I have put my son to bed early before when he was so cranky that even HE couldnt stand it. Sometimes you just HAVE to if you want to keep your sanity.

Put the kids to bed early and then do something for yourself and relax! I hear a glass of wine calling your name!

My kids are 5 and 9.
Last night, they went to bed at 7:00pm.
They were tired. Very tired after a full weekend.
They passed out.
Usually, they go to bed at about 8:00pm. 8:30 at the latest. Both of them.

I go by their cues.
But not having them go to bed late... because they both go to school.

If your kids need to go to bed, already, earlier than usual, then do so.
And your kids are sick.
So nothing wrong with going by their cues... instead of a clock.

When my son has gone through growth-spurts... it is not unusual for him to fall asleep earlier than usual and sleep for like 14 hours straight.
I don't wake him.
I let him sleep and go to sleep, when he needs to.

Well, you may not believe this, but some day before you know it (and hopefully before you have to be institutionalized from extreme stress and hallucinations due to sleep deprivation) you'll be like me. Where you'll go to bed WAAAY before your three teenagers who apparently need only oxygen and electronic devices to survive, certainly not sleep or nourishment, and def do not need YOU!

And like me, you'll probably think that sucks, and wish you hadn't whined even once to yourself (OMFG!! Will they EVER go to SLEEP?!).

Still, I'll consider trading with you if you promise we can trade back once I get too tired!

:)

Hi Queen, I have trained my kids right! They are older, 15, 12 and 9 but they are in their rooms at 8pm every single night. They start taking a shower at 7:15, 7:30, 7:45 and they all go in their rooms. they don't have to sleep but they have to STAY in there. They don't have tvs or computers but they read or draw or play with whatever until they fall asleep. Its been great for our sanity!!! So our quiet time starts at a reasonable hour and the kids have learned to put themselves to sleep. I go in and shut off radios and tuck them in when I go to bed. And I have moved it to 7pm if we had a long day at the fair or something like that. Good luck!

Up until probably age 2, our daughter DID go to bed at 6:30 p.m. :)
Oh, those were the days! lol
And when she's sick, yes, I do get her into bed early because she needs the extra rest.

I feel like I have the reverse situation going on here, for some reason I can't keep my 1 year old awake much past 6pm. He would totally go to bed earlier if we let him. . . And nothing works to keep him awake longer, it just ends up making everyone miserable!

My 10 year old was grounded to his room (for the first time ever) punishment lasted about 3 hours before he came down and said he was going to shower and go to bed for the night because he was bored, it was about 630. And honestly I was happy to see it happen, cause yes it had been one of those days.

My kids have always had what others view as early bedtimes though, my 8 and 10 year old still have to go up to their rooms at 8 and lights off at 9. I need my time at night too. The baby (almost 1) goes to bed about 730.

Does getting over jetlag count?

We got in around 8:00 pm in the states, and about 10:00 pm, I got my elementary kids to bed. The next day they got up at the normal time, and my mom and I went out to get some shopping done. I came home and couldn't find my younger son, who I had left with my dad. My dad was reading in the bedroom, and had no idea where he was. I was very upset, calling him, looking everywhere, going outside. I couldn't imagine where he would have gone.

It turned out that the mess of covers on the bed that was unmade, contained my passed out son, who had crawled back in bed sometime after I left. I had been calling all over the house, including in his room, and he didn't even hear me. It was almost impossible to wake him up, he was so exhausted! I've never forgotten that! So that was probably about 1:00 pm that he went to bed. He slept til 3:00 am and came in the kitchen to get a snack, and then went back to bed. The only way I can do THAT is to take Ambien! I am envious of being able to sleep that long!!

Dawn

When my youngest was 2 - 3yrs old, her bedtime was 6:30pm. I'm not kidding. I'd put her down in her bed and 5 minutes later she'd be fast asleep. And she'd sleep until 8am and THEN take a 2 hour nap sometime during the day. Maybe that's why she's so tall (it does NOT run in our family to be tall)...all that growth during sleep?

Does 6am (technically 620am) count? ;)

My son's been on med for the past few months that have given him MASSIVE insomnia I thought 5am was bad (what we did for 2 months), but then for a week, it pushed to 6am. I never thought I'd be GLAD to have him crashing out at 4am/5am. I NEEDED that extra hour!!! I can cope with 4 hours of sleep, I CAN'T cope with 3!!!

HONESTLY, though... we often go to bed at 5pm in the winter. We get up at 4 or 5, drive to the mountain, spend all day in the snow, and head back just before it gets dark (dead of winter it gets dark at 3pm...but most of the winter it's dark 4ish). Dead of winter, we're home by 5, and have eaten in the car. Sluice off in the shower, and crawl into bed. The rest of winter, we're in bed by 6ish.

And SICK??? Foh'geddaboutit. Bedtime is when you shut your eyes. If that's 3pm, 5pm, 7pm... crash out!

Yep! I think I made them go to bed at 6pm one night. AND, it was summertime!!

I'd love to hear how it works out. I usually can't go more than an hour earlier than the regular bedtime, currently around 8 pm for my 5.5 and almost 3 year old. My little one will nap if tired and still go to bed but my older one if he naps bedtime is a fight (he just likes to fight anyway). I have had the early bedtime thing backfire when my older one was losing his nap. He would fall asleep at 6 and then wake up at 11 or 12 and not want to sleep again for hours. It has worked for me to get the kids ready early and not rush and maybe get them in bed 30 to 60 minutes early.

Absolutely! But just be forewarned that considering how young they are, they will probably wake VERY early!! Enjoy your quiet time and get some rest!

4:30 because child was sick and mama was worn out.

I don't want to rub it in, but my 2.5 year old goes to bed between 6:15 and 6:30 everynight. He sleeps until 6:15.