Parents of pres schoolers - how much sleep do you get?

[Anonymous]

We have a 2 and 4 year old. I am usually in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10-10:30 and up around 6:30-7 depending on when the kids are up. They have been sleeping in (yay!) so this past weekend I got up at 7:30 naturally but before them which was glorious.

DH is up late working a lot (lawyer) and up early (working). He probably averages 5-6 hours a night. I need 8 otherwise I am cranky!

[Anonymous]

Short answer: usually about 8 hours.

Long answer: Our kids are 2 and 4, I work part time from home and am done by 4, and my spouse gets home from work around 5:10-5:15 as he has a very short (5 minute) commute. I make dinner while he plays with kids, we eat dinner at 6. I clean up (dishes, wiping table and countertops, vacuuming, mopping, etc) while he gives the kids a bath and gets them ready for bed. Then we each take a kid to read stories in their rooms and get them to both to sleep before 7:30. Then together we do more chores (sort and fold laundry, put toys away, etc) while watching tv or talking. Then we hang out awhile longer, try to go to bed around 9:30, read awhile in bed, go to sleep by 10. Kids wake up around 6-6:30. We sleep until they wake us up.

[Anonymous]

DS is 2. And he just this week started sleeping until 6 am. Previously, he was UP AND READY TO GO at 5 am most days. So, DH and I feel wonderfully refreshed and rested with this newfound hour of sleep. We trade off who has to get up with DS. We all leave the house at 7:30, so the 6 am wake up isn't so bad.

DH and I usually go to bed around 10. Sometimes one of us will be up later because we just can't sleep. I'll usually read in bed until 10:30 or 11.

We don't have a sparkling clean house. Our space is small, less than 850 square feet. We are fortunate enough to all be home between 5:30 and 6 in the evening. There are toys on the floor. Laundry is currently waiting on a chair for me to fold (maybe tonight. Maybe not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I go to bed around 11 and wake up at 6 (me) and 7 (him). I wish I needed less sleep because I/we can’t get everything done at night (dishes, clean kitchen , meal prep, laundry etc...). Do others just forgo sleep? How do you get it all done? We are drowning in daily house stuff (this doesn’t even take into account gardening and home projects). Help!

Yes, it’s a lot to manage. If one parent can start dishes/cleaning while the other does bath/bedtime, that usually helps a lot. The only reason we are somewhat afloat is because babysitter occasionally folds a load of laundry and usually loads the morning dishes. Also chops vegetables.

For dinner, it really helps to simplify. We do mains like baked salmon, Instapot soups, steamed or baked tofu, etc. I cook a little extra on the weekend.

DH runs laundry and I fold/ put away. It’s no more than 15 min a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I go to bed around 11 and wake up at 6 (me) and 7 (him). I wish I needed less sleep because I/we can’t get everything done at night (dishes, clean kitchen , meal prep, laundry etc...). Do others just forgo sleep? How do you get it all done? We are drowning in daily house stuff (this doesn’t even take into account gardening and home projects). Help!

Yes, it’s a lot to manage. If one parent can start dishes/cleaning while the other does bath/bedtime, that usually helps a lot. The only reason we are somewhat afloat is because babysitter occasionally folds a load of laundry and usually loads the morning dishes. Also chops vegetables.

For dinner, it really helps to simplify. We do mains like baked salmon, Instapot soups, steamed or baked tofu, etc. I cook a little extra on the weekend.

DH runs laundry and I fold/ put away. It’s no more than 15 min a day.

Forgot to say — we both have pretty flexible hours so we are home by 5 and eat by 5:30. Still, even with the kids in bed by 7:30, there is stuff to do until 9ish (household + admin stuff related to our two kids). It is tempting to stay up and work at that point when everything is quiet, so often we are up til 11. Kids awake around 7-8.

[Anonymous]

We have a 4 year old & a 3 months old, both are in daycares. Except baby, normally everyone finishes dinner by 7:30pm. I try my best to put the oldest to bed by 9pm, and the youngest to bed between 8:30- 9:30pm. I went to bed at latest 9:30pm. DH goes to bed whenever he wants, and sometimes he goes to bed early/sometimes he works from home a bit more or whatever.

Baby wakes me up around 5am or 5:30am. I feed her, and she goes back to sleep. I go to the kitchen to wash dishes (if DH did not clean the night before), pack lunch, may cook a bit (if I have time). I wake up the oldest at 7am, and everyone get out of the house by 7:45am. The oldest one is the most challenging one to get out of the house.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of night to do kitchen work, and then I can sleep a bit longer after early morning baby feeding.

[Anonymous]

I go to bed at 10 and get up between 6/6:30. DH goes to bed later and gets up around the same time.

What time does your child go to bed? I usually can get a few things done between 8:30 and 9:30 or so. I watch TV on my iPad while I chop vegetables, pack lunches, or fold laundry.

I get a few more things done in the morning before my kids get up.

My kids also play nicely together here and there, and help me with chores a bit. And I fully admit I let them watch some TV while I get dinner on the table or do something where I just need a few minutes to knock it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a 4 year old & a 3 months old, both are in daycares. Except baby, normally everyone finishes dinner by 7:30pm. I try my best to put the oldest to bed by 9pm, and the youngest to bed between 8:30- 9:30pm. I went to bed at latest 9:30pm. DH goes to bed whenever he wants, and sometimes he goes to bed early/sometimes he works from home a bit more or whatever.

Baby wakes me up around 5am or 5:30am. I feed her, and she goes back to sleep. I go to the kitchen to wash dishes (if DH did not clean the night before), pack lunch, may cook a bit (if I have time). I wake up the oldest at 7am, and everyone get out of the house by 7:45am. The oldest one is the most challenging one to get out of the house.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of night to do kitchen work, and then I can sleep a bit longer after early morning baby feeding.

Our house is messy with a bunch of toys scattering around. And, sometimes, when I burn out, we do carryouts, and makes it less stressful.

[Anonymous]

In bed around 10:00 and usually up at 5:30/6:00, which is when DS (age 4) wakes. I feel tired, but not usually in the lack of sleep way, just in the overwhelmed sort of way.

I need at least 7 hours of sleep, so try to prioritize the 10 pm bed time for myself. DS is usually asleep by 8pm so I do have some time to clean up and prepare for the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you wake up naturally at 6? Why are you up that early?

DD is 4, she's in bed by 8:30, I'm in bed by 10, hopefully asleep by 11. I get up at 7am when I have DD with me (divorced).

6:00 a.m. is not actually that early for an adult who goes to bed at 11:00...

[Anonymous]

Kids are 3 & 4 and we generally get between 6 - 7 hours (shoot for 10:30 - 5:30). Do dishes and pack lunches after dinner/before bath, and generally done with bedtime by 8:30pm. Then we have an hour to fold laundry, do paperwork, or whatever else needs to get done around the house, and then have 30min - 1 hour free before bed. It's a grind but I'm not sure how else to get everything done. I'd actually like to get more done on weekdays if possible so that we had more weekend free (yardwork, house laundry, groceries, etc. are all weekend activities).