How many hours of sleep for an 8 year old?

[Anonymous]

My 8.5 year old is asleep by 9pm and her alarm goes off at 7:15 am, and she often sleeps through the alarm and needs me to wake her up. She’s groggy and exhausted in the mornings, but rarely falls asleep before 9, no matter what time she gets into bed.

Is 10 hours of sleep not enough for an 8 year old?

[Anonymous]

It is within the realm of enough, but the better question is is it enough for HER. Your details seem to say no.

My 9 year old falls asleep around 930 and wakes up at 730, but is not groggy or complaining so I know its enough for him.

[Anonymous]

10 hours isn't enough for YOUR 8 year old.

On a normal night, my 8 year old starts bedtime routine at 7 and then can read until 7:45. Alarm goes off at 6:45. He needs all 11 hours of sleep.

[Anonymous]

My 8yo is asleep by 9 and up around 8. If you child uses an alarm to wake up it you wake them they’re not getting enough sleep. Move bedtime an hour early until she’s waking up on her own,

[Anonymous]

I was like that. The issue was that I was simply NOT a morning person. Music helped.

[Anonymous]

I think anywhere from 9-11 hours is normal. Mine is asleep by 10 and up a little after 7. she does NOT have to be up that early, in fact she isn't allowed to come downstairs until 730 so that she doesn't wake up the rest of the house. She just reads in her room. She's always been on the low end of the normal spectrum for sleep needs though.

[Anonymous]

Try moving her bedtime earlier by 15 minutes and see if that helps. I’ve had to do that for my kids at various times over the years when needed. She may be going through a growth spurt or dealing with something new and stressful that is causing her to need a little more sleep.

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old we try to have lights off at 8 and she is usually actually asleep by 8:30. She wakes up on her own usually around 7:30ish so gets about 11 hrs of sleep typically.

It obviously varies by kid but it seems like your DD isn’t getting enough sleep for her right now. Try having her go to bed earlier consistently and see if eventually shes able to fall asleep earlier. It might take awhile if it works at all but many ppl can in fact train their body to fall asleep earlier if they stick to a consistently earlier bedtime routine.

And no screens and no eating or drinking in the hour before bed.

[Anonymous]

One of my kids needed more than 11 a night at that age. My other two needed less, and current 8 year old has the same schedule as yours. It works for him, though he does very occasionally sleep late on the weekend.

Every kid is different, and some kids are hard to wake. If your kid doesn’t seem otherwise tired once she’s fully awake, I wouldn’t worry too much.

[Anonymous]

Mine gets 11 hours. Wakes up naturally every day.

Your kid clearly needs more sleep! Kids that age shouldn’t even need alarms, let alone sleep through them.

[Anonymous]

It’s kid dependent. My 8 year old sleeps 8-6:30 on school days and needs to be woken up every morning. Wakes up naturally around 7:30 on weekends. My other kid didn’t need as much at the same age and would wake up naturally around 6am.
Why don’t you try an earlier bed time? She may be over tired which makes it harder to fall asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine gets 11 hours. Wakes up naturally every day.

Your kid clearly needs more sleep! Kids that age shouldn’t even need alarms, let alone sleep through them.

Mine too. Almost 9

[Anonymous]

I dont think using alarms is normal at that age, so that is a sign that her sleep needs are unmet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think anywhere from 9-11 hours is normal. Mine is asleep by 10 and up a little after 7. she does NOT have to be up that early, in fact she isn't allowed to come downstairs until 730 so that she doesn't wake up the rest of the house. She just reads in her room. She's always been on the low end of the normal spectrum for sleep needs though.

Same, my 9 year old wakes up by himself around 7:15am. He's usually asleep by 9:45pm, sometimes 10, occasionally 10:30. Occasionally he also sleeps until 8.

[Anonymous]

Ours needs a full 12 hours. Peds say that's high end of the normal range