Time to go to bed and wake up

[Anonymous]

I have been trying to make my kids to go to bed earlier, so that they can wake up earlier to go to daycare/camp.

They go to bed at 9:30pm, and they wake up between 7:30-8:30am. I have tried to made them to go to bed earlier, and it take them longer time to fall asleep at night, and also they sometimes wake up at the middle of night and take longer time to fall back to sleep again , and thus they wake up more later than 8:30am.

I want them to wake up at 6:30am because I am late to work every single day for months. what time should I put them to bed?

[Anonymous]

How old? That seems like a reasonable amount of sleep, so if you want to move bedtime earlier, you need to do it SLOWLY. 15 minutes every few weeks. And try melatonin.

[Anonymous]

I have the opposite problem- my kids are prone to waking early. We aim for wakeup between 630-7 am and they're in bed 730-8 pm. 5 year old doesn't nap and the almost 2 year old usually naps 2-2.5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Move everything up - dinner, bath, reading. Make sure the shades are drawn to dim the summer sun a couple hours before bed. Wake the kids up earlier than you need to get used to new schedule

[Anonymous]

Then start their day at 6:30 and shift evening and bedtime routines up. It’ll be painful for a week or two but they’ll adjust. Ages are really helpful to know though. I might not recommend quite as cold turkey an approach for younger ones.

[Anonymous]

You have to focus on the wakeup time, not the bed time. You can't make a kid who isn't tired sleep.

If your kids are regularly up at 6:30, they'll be tired earlier.

[Anonymous]

How old are they? If you get them up at 630 every day they should start falling asleep earlier, the time will vary depending on age. If I wanted my 9yo up at 630 every day she would need to be asleep by 830 so lights would be out at 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to focus on the wakeup time, not the bed time. You can't make a kid who isn't tired sleep.

If your kids are regularly up at 6:30, they'll be tired earlier.

This. And tire them out.

[Anonymous]

Mine sleep 8:30-8 or so but they're not yet in school. I'm guessing well br moving to 7:30-7 by September.

[Anonymous]

Try a little melatonin for a few nights to help reset bedtimes, and consistently enforce bedtimes and wakeup times.

No staying up late or sleeping in on weekends, because you'll just undo everything and have to start all over.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 7 and 9. They’re in bed between 8 and 8:30 and wake up between 6 and 6:30. 7 year old typically falls asleep right away, 9yo reads for a bit.

If I let them stay up later, they still get up at 6, but they are cranky by the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 7 and 4. 4 year old goes to bed around 7:30, sleeps 12 hrs. 7 year old is in bed between 8 or 8:30 and sleeps until 7, 7:30. It’s not the most convenient for camp/school but I prefer them not to be up at 6 something on weekends.