This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
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.
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…
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.”
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!♥
I’d like to know how you get a child to sleep that doesn’t want to go to sleep? My daughter refuses naps most days & she usually doesn’t go to sleep until 8:30 at least, & even then she fights it. I work as does my husband. She also wakes up at night, so her & I sleep on the couch a lot as she wants me.
I don’t give our 4 year old naps and I just put him to bed. I don’t give him a choice and he honestly don’t know that he even has a choice. He just goes to bed at bedtime. The same thing with coming into our room. He tried that but it wasn’t an option, so we walked him back to bed and told him that he had to stay in his bed unless he was sick or scared.
I wish that I had better advice, but just be consistent. Don’t let her decide its not time for bed. Tell her that you are the Mommy and you know what her body needs and right now it needs sleep, so you are going to do what is good for her, not what she wants.
Good luck, Mandy!!!
I agree with the need for sleep and such. I used to be one of those schedule moms. Then I gave birth to a child with Aspergers. That same year, my son developed ADHD. All of my kids have bipolar (some didn’t have an onset until adult hood, but one was born with it.) Guess what? They don’t sleep at night. That’s right bipolar people (no matter the age) sleep in the day.
Schedule? Ha. I’m lucky if they don’t stay up 3 days in a row (also a bipolar thing).
Before I had kids I thought it was crazy to do what you do but after having kids and working all day I find 8 PM to be a good bed time since I still want to spend some time with them and in this 2 income rat race world we live in both parents are worn out and in need of a mental break or private time if they could be so lucky. Son crashes at 8 without issue, younger daughter goes down around 8:30 when I’m handling things….10 when her mother handles things.
Some things just make sense and people should be able to reasonably do the right thing.
When our kids were younger, they had a 7-7:30 bedtime. It worked beautifully for us. It began getting extended when my youngest was about 6 (she’s 9 now). Summer can be brutally hot here, so their outside time would often come after 7pm, so a later bedtime gradually evolved. Now, they’re 14, 13, 11, and 9 and we aim for 10pm. The older two share a room and the younger two share a room. They don’t always go to sleep right away. However, since we homeschool (or online charter school this year), it’s not a factor for us. The oldest is usually awake by 8-8:30, even as a baby he slept less, 7pm- 6 or 6:30am. The other three usually sleep later. My 11 y/o usually sleeps the latest and it depends on if he was up reading. A few times last week he didn’t wake until almost noon because he was up till midnight reading. I feel fortunate that we’re able to have a schedule that works for us.
🙂 Noon? Oh I can’t imagine… one day. 😉
6 is WAY to early.
For some kids, but honestly four 4 year old is so tired that he goes to bed at 6:00 and sleeps until 7:30 the next morning. He does this about twice a week. The other nights he goes to bed at 7 & sleeps until 7:30. Sometimes he just needs 13 hours of sleep instead of 12. 🙂
Who cares what anyone else thinks. Don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to anyone. Do what you feel is right…I’m sure it will be!
🙂
I think it’s great that you are doing what is best for YOUR family! We homeschool, therefore we don’t have school events in the evening, or have to get up at the crack of dawn. Two things that give us a little more freedom in our schedule. So, our kids go to bed a little later, see Daddy a little more, and are able to sleep in to make up for it. It works wonderfully for OUR family. Doing what works best for your individual family, in your stage of life is what matters most. Thank you!!
Yes!
I want to click on the “Potty Train in a Weekend” article but there is nothing to click. All I could do is Pin it on Pinterest. I pinned it, then went to Pinterest to click and read. All that did is take me back here to this article. I am now headed over to Pinterest to delete the pin. 🙁
fixed 🙂
I totally agree. Most kids don’t get enough sleep. I love that you pointed out the benefits on the immune system and how much sleep kids actually need. When mine were small their bedtime was 8pm. No later. They played hard and often outside. They still woke up early no matter how late or early they went to bed so it’s good to just understand that they will rise early and putting them to bed late to curb that cuts down on the benefits they receive from 10-12 hours of solid sleep. Warm baths nightly are essential too. Thanks for sharing.
Yes- even I love a warm bath before bed!! 🙂
I am with you! We have caught a lot of negativity too- from our family especially. For some genius reason, our Elementary schools start class at 7:45 in the morning. This means my Kindergartner, 2nd grader and 5th grader all need to be ready to leave the house by 7:15 am. Waking those 3 boys up at 6:30 am is not fun sometimes! we have them in bed between 7 and 7:30 on school nights with the exception of Wednesday nights because our church services start at 7 pm that night. On Wednesdays my boys nap when they get home from school so that getting home at 9 pm isn’t TOO terrible. If they seem especially drained or have more homework than usual, one of us will just stay home with them (I work at the church and my husband teaches 4th-6th grade boys that night so both of us staying home isn’t an option). I should also mention that we have a 15 year old daughter. If she is not working on some project for school- she is also to be in bed fairly “early”- by 8:30 or 9 pm. She too leaves home early because she takes a “Zero Hour” which is an extra class she takes before school starts just so she can get ahead. Her and her Dad leave the house at 7 am, which means she is up at 6:15. So many of the people around us just don’t seem to get it. They say we are too strict, too this or too that. We know our kids, we know what’s best for them. End of story. Love this article- you definitely did not have to explain yourself, but I hope it encourages those who are having a hard time dealing with other people’s negativity as well as educates the ones speaking it!
🙂 thanks, Nicole!
We started my kids bedtimes the day we Got home from the hospital. Their entire schedule was based on what time we wanted them to get up everyday because of our work schedules. We worked really hard to keep that schedule and they were both sleeping 12 hours a night between 2.5 and 3 months old. Our youngest is now almost 2 and her bedtime is 7 and she will sleep until at least 7, sometimes later. She also still takes about a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She loves her sleep!! We did move our oldest daughters bedtime to 8 when she was about 3 1/2 because it worked for her and she still took a 1-2 hour nap a day but when she started kindergarten and there were no more naps we have slowly moved her bedtime back closer to 7. She is just so exhausted after school that sometimes she asks us to read her a book early just so she can go to bed!! I firmly believe in set bedtimes. Thank you for posting this because sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who thinks this way!?
Me, too!
My children still go to sleep early, they are 14 and 10. I think the resistance from others is mostly due to the lifestyle changes the parents have to make to achieve this. My husband and I were often teased by friend when we were out and would head home early to put the girls to bed…. Even on weekends. It is more difficult now with late school activities, but we do still try for 8.
I loved the article! I agree, children need sleep. My gorls are up eary and sleep early, it works for *my family. I am also a at homemom. We are active, do crafts, learning, baking, always going. Plus, my 1st grader has soo much homewirk & commoncore standard testing, she needs her sleep to rest her body. IMy little one takes a nap and will sleep when her older siser sleeps at night. If my 1st grader is up past 8p.m. she doesn’t have a happy morning. I lovemy GIRLS, to me sleep is a ppriority.I enjoyed reading your article! ***Having early dinner, bathtime, stiries , singing, helps the entire famiky have happy nights & sleepy bedtimes!
Same here!
My children go up for their bath at 6.30. They are settled, having had three stories and three songs each by 7.10 at the latest. We set up the routine when my daughter stopped breast feeding at about one year. It works a treat. My two year old still has 2-3 hours sleep in the afternoon. We all get up at 6.30am. If I didn’t get my evening ‘grown-up’ time I’d be cranky and dissatisfied. They’re happy and healthy. It works all around.
Same here 🙂 It works well for our family.
I have been putting my 4 yr old in at 7-7:30pm since she was born (well, maybe the first year was 6pm) and she has never had a problem with it. She still naps in school, and at home an hour to two a day, because she needs it, otherwise she’d fall asleep in the car (or be crazy cranky) She goes in an hour later on the weekend, but that’s it. She’s up around 7am. She gives me a bit of a hard time in the summer, when it’s daylight at 7…haha, but I explained things to her and she got over it. She HAS been in a bit of an insomnia phase for the last couple months, staying up until almost midnight or later, so we might try to cut out the nap on wkends, and see if it helps. But I’m not budging on the bedtime. I think it’s done nothing but good things for her. She’s almost never cranky, or has tantrums, and I think it’s all because she’s getting the sleep she needs.
Exactly! 🙂