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Why I put my kids to bed at 7:00 … it is a hot topic, that’s for sure!   When our  children were younger, we had all of our kids  in bed around 7:00 every night.  They were asleep around 7:30 every night.

UPDATE:   This post was written several years ago in 2014, when our kids were much younger, but I believe that it is important.  We still maintain a regular bedtime, but they no longer go to bed as early as they once did.  

 

I owe so many well-rested nights and happy children during the day to the fact that we have a regular and early bedtime for our children.  In fact, many Dutch parents put their kids to bed between 6:00 & 7:00 for very similar reasons that we have an early bedtime.    

in bed by 7:00

Before I begin- remember that although this works for us, it is not for everyone.   As with all of my advice, do what works best for your family. ♥

Our kids (ages 2-9) are in bed by 7:00

Yes, our young children are in bed at 7:00.    It is 2014, and my children range from 2 years old to 9 years old.    Our 9 year old now goes to bed at 8:00, because he is older and needs less sleep.   Until they are 9 years old, 7:00 remains their bedtime.  

Last week, a fellow blogger shared my post about what to do when your 2 year old is still waking at night.  In the post I talked about our early bedtime and gave some life-changing advice for our toddler that was waking up.  That post led someone to leave the comment “Who puts their kid to bed at  7:00 pm?”

WE DO.

Yes, We have received mixed feedback about this, but it works for us.  I know that 7:00 is early. I know that it cuts into their day, but I can tell you that I would rather have happy kids for 12 hours a day than tired or grumpy kids for 13 hours a day.    (Our older kids wake up at 7:00 no matter what time they go to sleep.  Really!)

Playing hard in the day makes kids tired by bedtime!

Our four YOUNG kids  play hard during the day.  They run around a lot and they spend a lot of time outside with us.


They are busy in the day, so they are tired when 7:00 rolls around.

 They DO NOT nap anymore and they are just plain worn out by the evening, even if they don’t want to admit it (and they never do! haha!)

We have tried to push this back when we are on vacation, but they just aren’t as relaxed and easy-going the next day.  They are a little more on edge, just like we are  (as adults) when we don’t get the rest that we need.  I put them to bed early because I want them to be smiling & ready to take on the day. 🙂 

Plus- the are usually asleep in 5-15 minutes, so I know they are tired.

A group of people standing on a covered bridge.

Do they ever stay up late?

YES!  Once a month they each stay up late for Their Special Night.   Plus, every night, our oldest son gets to have Read-Alone time in his room before bed, too.    Or they can read their spelling words while they fall asleep with this little hack.

If that have football or wrestling, they are up even later, but we AIM for an early bedtime!  Our younger children have a really hard time waking up for school at 7:00 am when he doesn’t get his full 12 hours of sleep, so I do try to get him to bed as early as possible.  
I want him to be able to focus at school, be energetic in play and at his sports and be happy at home!   This little chart can help you to know how much sleep they truly need…
Sheet on how many hours of sleep children need.

Kidshealth.org says:
“Most kids between 5 and 12 get about 9.5 hours a night, but experts agree that most need more.  When your body doesn’t have enough hours to rest, you may feel tired or cranky, or you may be unable to think clearly. You might have a hard time following directions, or you might have an argument with a friend over something really silly. A school assignment that’s normally easy may feel impossible, or you may feel clumsy playing your favorite sport or instrument.

Sleep Impacts Growth & Health

One more reason to get enough sleep: If you don’t, you may not grow as well. That’s right, researchers believe too little sleep can affect growth and your immune system — which keeps you from getting sick.”  All in all- sleep is important!  Your kids need it, even if they don’t WANT it.”

7:00 bedtime is the rule in our house

Do you have time with them in the evening?

I am not saying that this is right for everyone, so please hear me out.  My husband and I both work from home, so this works for us.   Two of our kids stay home with us during the day, and our older children go to school until 3:30.  We have plenty of family time daily from 3:30 until bedtime.   

Before my husband worked from home, I used to have the kids showered and in their pajamas before he got home, to give us more time together.  Remember that it is quality over quantity.

Does it happen every night?

7:00 bedtime does not happen every single night, but it’s our goal every night.   Most nights, one of our kids will be at practice until 8:00, so of course bedtime is later on that night.  
Sometimes, it’s even earlier than 7:00.  A few years ago, when my youngest kids were 3 & 5, they would  fall asleep in the car at 6:00 on our way to drop the older kids off at practice… and I just take them up to bed and they slept ALL NIGHT LONG.  They never woke up during the transition to bed.  I know it’s crazy, but when I try to wake them, they are NOT happy, so on those nights, I just let it go. 

 

It’s good for your marriage: 

My husband and I see each other all day long while we work from home or while we are spending time with the kids, but at night we have time to watch a show, play a board game, etc…  

Now, I am not saying that this is why we put them to bed early or that it is why we started, because it’s not, but we do enjoy that time together.   Did you know that the #1 fear of preteens and teenagers is divorce among their parents?  Quality time together, with your spouse, reduces this risk greatly.Make it a point to tell your children that you are going to spend time with your spouse. 

Children Need Sleep

Remember- our bedtime certainly isn’t for everyone, but it works for us.  It is healthy for our kids to get that amount of sleep and it helps them overall.   Quality sleep + healthy foods make a huge difference for children (and adults).

On the other hand…

I wanted to share a story, for those of you that have a late bedtime.  My very dear, long-time friend, Julia, has always had a late bedtime and her children follow her lead.  They stay up well past 10:00 and it works for them.  They sleep in every morning and they are happy, healthy, smart children.   Her children are the same ages as mine.   I know that I need to wait until 11:00 or later to talk to her on the phone.  🙂   

All of that to say that this is what works for us, but it is up to you to find out what works best for your family.  

I hope this helped to shed a little light on families with early bedtimes.  Sleep well… no matter the time!♥


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Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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587 Comments

  1. I appreciate that you added “Do what works for you” at the end of this post. My husband gets home from work at 7pm each night, which is when we have dinner as a family. Needless to say, our daughter goes to bed later than 7pm each night. Unfortunately, not every one is able to take the context of the situation into consideration, and all they hear is “she goes to bed later than 7pm” so I’ve faced LOTS of criticism from other parents for our decision. Truly whatever works for you and your family.

    The other facet here which may come into play for a lot of families is that, plain and simple, some babies and kids are really good at sleeping and some are not! My friends often talk about their children falling asleep during shopping trips or in the car — my daughter is nearly four years old and after the age of about 3 months has never ever fallen asleep in a shopping cart or while visiting friends. I just can’t relate. So, anyway, I send grace and encouragement to those mamas whose schedule may not allow for vast periods of interrupted sleep, whose living situations may not offer quiet times, or whose children aren’t the kind of kids who can just plop down anywhere and snooze! You’re going a great job!

    1. Yes, if my husband worked until 7, it would be a different story. 🙂

    2. My husband and I both work full time and our children (12 and 14) play BB. We also have an 8 year old. He goes to bed at 9. My 12 year old at 10 and my 14 year old is often still up at 11. They are still hyped up when they get home and often have homework to do as well…many nights at 8:00. We are starting to eat dinner at 8:00 some nights as that is when everyone is finally all home. it is a crazy season of our lives but we still find time to be together. Luckily they can sleep til 7:00 on school days as wed o not leave the house til 7:35.

      Everyone had to do what is right for their family and not compare ourselves to others. No two moms or families are living in the exact same situation.

      As a teacher, I know how important sleep is, but I also think my children need time to be in school, do homework, play sports, practice their faith, spend time with family and relax so we are making it work.

      1. We have a newly adopted 14 year old daughter whom we have had for three months now and her bedtime is 8pm.We have supper between 530 and 6 and then she does her homework.Around 7:30,she goes in a takes a quick shower,then after the shower she comes into her room and since she is a bedwetter,i put her cloth diapers and rubberpants on her,then she puts her nightie on and it into bed by 8 pm.

  2. 7:00pm would never work at my house considering my husband doesnt get home until 7 and he likes to see his kids for awhile and spend some time with them. However my kids go to bed at 9 and wake up at 9 so they still get their 12 hours 🙂

    1. Yes, if my kids could sleep in and if my husband worked late, I would have to move it back. 🙂

  3. We have put our kids to sleep at 7:00 for as long as I can remember. It works great for us!

  4. Wow, well at first I did question the bedtime and clucked on the link to see why? So helpful that you explained, and it titaly makes sense. My seven year old wakes up at 6:30am and I find it so hard to wake him up in the mornings. I will definitely be trying bedtime earlier thank you!

    1. Oh- thank you for having an open mind to it!!! 🙂 & for the sweet comment!

  5. I totally understand how this schedule works for a lot of families and kids. It totally doesn’t for our two working parents get home at 6:00-6:30pm family.

    Since our daughter was a baby she has had an 8:30-10pm bedtime. At 2.5 her schedule is up at 6:30am, nap from 2:30-4:30, to bed at 8:30-9:00. On weekends she sleeps in until 8:30am, but then having gotten 11-12hrs overnight will generally not nap in the afternoon.

    The only downside I really see with very early bedtimes is being able to attend family functions, evening school events etc. Obviously there are times as parents we break our own rules, but we are out with our daughter ALL the time after 6:30-7:000pm and she isn’t cranny or cranky because it isn’t a change to her schedule.

  6. When is family dinner when bedtime is between 6 and 7? My hubby is not home from work at 4.30 or 5. Also, my kids get energized by their dinner. We aim for 6 pm dinner, hopefully with Daddy and 7.30 bath & bedtime. Usually its 8 pm when actually in bed.

    1. I have it ready when my husband comes home at 6:00. We eat from about 6-6:20. (I usually give them a bath before dinner… if not, my husband will help, but normally its around 5:45). So from 6:20-7:00 its just reading together, doing a family devotional, laying with the kids, etc… 🙂

      1. Does that mean you have to do all the cooking for this to work? Seems like kind of an uneven division of work, and I would think that causes stresses of its own.

        1. Yes- I do all of the cooking. My husband enjoys cooking, but I do it while he works. I sort of think of it like taking care of the house/kids/meals while he is at his job is sort of my job. When he gets home, he helps with things like laundry, etc…
          I like to have dinner on the table when he gets home (he actually would rather wait an hour or so after he gets home to eat, but I like all of us to eat together because the kids are hungry by then.) 🙂

          PS- Its really no extra stress… thank you crock pot! 😉 haha!

  7. Our current bedtime is 730 for our three month old and 8 for our two year old. I’d love it to be earlier but our two year old already wakes before 6 many days! Since our two year old was born her bedtime has been between 7 and 8 – adjusted to try and get her to sleep in – but we’ve been stuck at 6AM or earlier for a while. What time do they get up when they go to bed at 7?

    1. They all wake up at different times:
      Our 8 year old- 7:00
      Our 6 year old- I wake him at 7:30 for school
      Our 4 year old- I wake him up around 7:45 on preschool days
      Our 2 year old- she wakes up about 8:00 or 8:30 most days

      1. Wow.. I may need to try my 2 year old at 7 or 730 again. My husband works out of town so is gone Sunday through Friday and I could use even an extra half hour to clean and decompress at night! Thank you!

  8. I respect your choices and I get the need for time with the husband. What don’t understand is how the kids get time with Daddy daily. I have a seasonal job but mostly I’m a SAHM and I have 2 adult kids and a 9 year old. My husband works long days and an early evening is 6:30. Bedtime is between 8:30 and 9 …any earlier she misses Daddy. I always wondered about folks that put there little babies to bed at 6:00pm. No judging here, just very curious.

    1. My husband is home by 6, so he gets the good time with them… we eat together, he helps with bath time and reading time. He puts them to bed and lays with them. On nights where he is at practice, he is with our older boys for three hours straight, so he doesn’t get to see our little ones on those nights, but I can’t keep them up until 9. They FaceTime w/ him in the day & talk to him about 5 times a day on the phone. haha!!
      He is home on weekends, so he really uses that time to its full advantage. We do a lot of family-activities on Sat & Sun.
      Ps- I appreciate how kindly you asked that question! You wouldn’t believe the way that some people react to our bedtime. 🙂

  9. I totally agree, I try to get my kids to bed at 7:30 we wake up at 5 so I can go to work, and honestly you do need your own time especially with your spouse, to keep the relationship happy and healthy, and kids need a lot of sleep, even at 7:30 I dont feel they get enough sleep, they’re always so cranky but we dont get home till 6, I make dinner in the crock pot every day on my break so I dont have to cook but then we still have homework and bath time! Love this post and thanks for all the wonderful tips!! Im a single mother to three so this helps lol

  10. I am so behind you on this. All of my kids- age 7, 11 and 13– have a 7:30 bedtime. We have a 25 acre farm and the day starts at 5am around here. Chores are done and animals fed before breakfast and school. School is a 20 minute drive and school starts at 7:50am. After school is homework, farm chores, youth group on Wednesdays, dinner, baths and bed. Weekends are family and church family time, and projects/seasonal cleanup around the farm. Still the early bedtime. The 13 yr old doesnt even complain about the early bedtime…she is pooped!

    1. I bet!! That’s so awesome that guys all work on the farm together.

  11. I have a three year old I’m a single mother I work a ten hour shift. Is very hard to pit him asleep at eight if he doesn’t see my family or if he hears sounds light on he won’t sleep and he won’t listen to me he would start crying. Any tips to help me

  12. My children, twin boys age 5, have always gone to sleep about 8-8:30 pm but they sleep until 9-9:30 am. I don’t complain. I let them sleep. We had a nanny who came in while I worked but now I retired and keep their schedule the same. I let their boys sleep….as long as they need to. They have always slept long hours and we have late starts to our days…..again, no complaints. It is okay since I don’t have to send them to school or daycare. I plan to home school so I don’t anticipate any problems with this. What ever works for your children and your family….DO IT!! ( I love quiet time in the morning by myself….and my husband and I stay up late.)

    1. That’s awesome. Our kids have to be up early, so I can’t let them sleep until 9:30… but enjoy it!!!! 🙂 yay!

  13. I totally agree. We have 3 kids 8,6 and 4. Up until last year, their bedtime was 6:30 pm. Now it is 7:30 pm. With the 2 older ones in school and my little guy being very active throughout the day, It is important to us that they get enough sleep. For little guys to have to get up at 6:30 am to get ready for school and then go to school all day, come home to do homework, and then play outside for a couple hours, sleep is essential. They have no problem going to bed that early because that is all they know. And as a couple, I think it is very important to have time to ourselves and just reflect on the day and sometimes just get some peace and quiet. I personally feel bad for those who dont put their kids down til later in the evening…….they are missing out on sanity lol.

  14. When our girls were little they had to be in bed by 8pm. I would have preferred a little earlier but had a hard time getting them to bed that early. They had to get up around 7 to get ready for school and if they went to bed later they were tired. Now that we homeschool bedtime is much more flexible and I like it better. My 8 year old gets much more time with his dad by being up later and then sleeps in a bit so I can get things done before schooling him. The girls are teens so they are free to make their own schedule now. Sleep is very important though so I encourage everyone to be in bed my 9-10 so they can get enough rest.

  15. I agree with this article and as much as I would like to follow I can’t seem to manage my schedule with my children’s schedule if someone can give me some tips I would appreciate it.. I work 8:30am until 5:30pm by the time I pick kids up in day care at 6pm and get home at 6:30pm and then have to do dinner. Our Dinner is usually until 7:15 pm. after dinner it’s homework time and then shower and read a book by the time they go to bed it’s 9pm… she wakes up at 6:50 am so I know she isn’t getting the sleep she needs. How can I help her get the sleep she needs??

    1. OH- yes… that’s really hard. I would just try doing crock pot meals for a few weeks, so dinner will be ready at 6:30. That will move things up a bit so you can have bedtime around 8:15. Worth a try. 🙂