random bed time question

[Anonymous]

We've had a teeth, bath, books, bed routine for a long time in our household. Recently, DS (4) says he doesn't want books and just plays a little in his room instead. He still goes to bed on time. I miss reading books with him, but it seems silly to force him to. I should just let this go right?

[Anonymous]

My 4 year old says this too, he just doesn't like to slow down and stop playing. I say "ok I'll just read this out loud while you play then," and most of the time if he's not super keyed up he'll come sit next to me after a minute or two to see the pictures.

[Anonymous]

Bedtime always included reading to wind down, when my children didn’t want me to read to them we read independently but together for 15-20 minutes. We’ve kept it up over the years, and as they got older I made the rule that if they don’t want to read at all they go to bed a little earlier. So bedtime with no reading is 8:30, but if they read quietly they can stay up until 9. Now they’re 12 and 14 and still read right before bed.

[Anonymous]

We kept the books part for a long time - at least 3rd grade, maybe 4th grade - sometimes they read to us, sometimes us to them. At that point, they would pick the books and we'd do a chapter a night. We read the entire Harry Potter series that way.

[Anonymous]

Does he read/look at books/be read to at other times? My kids are 9 and 12 and we still read before bedtime -- sometimes together each of us reading our own book, sometimes me reading out loud (especially to the 9 year old), and sometimes them reading alone. I think it's important to have dedicated reading time and also to have quiet activity time before bed.