Anonymous wrote:I also think there has been a lot more research about the need for sleep in young kids and the benefits to developing brains. We live in a different country where kids stay up a lot later, but our kids' school still starts at 8:00. I honestly don't know how they do it.

That was us. I think the earliest I may have gone to bed, was 10:00. I remember staying up WAY later to listen to sports commentary happening in a different time zone, when I was 10 or 11. Still went to school on time, no problem. We just slept in on weekends and holidays (still do).

She's 9. She's a grump when she wakes up, but a good student, and has no behavior problems. Never has. Same with me. I didn't particularly enjoy the 'wake up and go to school' part, but never had issues with homework and studying, because my natural cycle made it super easy for me to be up all night getting my work done. I loved college, because I got to set my own schedule. Which, I still did classes that made me wake up early, but it was either 2 or 3 days a week, not 5. - OP

I also think there has been a lot more research about the need for sleep in young kids and the benefits to developing brains. We live in a different country where kids stay up a lot later, but our kids' school still starts at 8:00. I honestly don't know how they do it.

I always feel that families should do what works best for them, but the problem becomes when the rest of the world's schedule isn't the same. I'm not sure how old your DD is, but when it's time for her to start school, she'll have to be up for that and relatively well-rested in order to learn. And not be exhausted to the point where behavior issues could arise.

I didn't grow up in a culture where there was emphasis on kids going to bed early, and kids basically slept when they wanted to, or when the parents also went to bed. I have ALWAYS been a night owl. My mom has stories of her having to stay up with me when I was a baby, because I would be up until 1:00 AM. Nothing changed as a child, and I have lots of memories of sneaking a flashlight under the covers, and staying up until really late, reading, even during school days. Still the same way. If I could set my own schedule, I'll sleep at 2:00 AM, wake up at 10:00 AM. I am seeing similar trends in DD. I feel like I have spent half her childhood getting her to sleep early. Like me, she seems to get more and more energetic as the day progresses. Mornings are a struggle. We both love sleeping in.

So, I guess what I'm wondering is, if you had an upbringing where you did have set bedtimes that were early, do you feel it was a good thing? Bad thing? Didn't much matter? At what point did you start setting your own bedtimes? And is that any different with your own children? For those of you that are night owls, have you always been that way? Is it something you developed over time, or did you give your parents a hard time, like I did mine?