How early do you put your 5 yr old to bed at nite for all day kindergarten the next day?

Question

My brother's little girl started kindergarten this week and already its becoming a stuggle for him to get her up in the morning. She cries and whines and doesnt want to get out of bed. He says he literally has to dress her in the bed.

He says she stays up late until 10 or 11 pm.

I keep telling him that she needs to be in bed at the very latest 9 PM and if he still cannot get her up in the morning, then he needs to put her to bed by 8 PM.

Me and my sister believe he thinks this kid is going to raise herself because they dont seem to pay attention to her and let her do as she pleases. They arent illiterate, but late in life parents who just basically let this kid do her own thing.

We arent trying to pry, but I think he needs to get a grip here and be responsible for how well this little kid does in school.

What time do you put your 5 yr old to bed at nite? I plan to tell him what answers I get here.

Answer 1

8:30 at the latest

Answer 2

My daughters bedtime was 8.30 for years, now it is 9 but she gets to sleep later.

Answer 3

All of my kids were in bed by 8 PM for kindergarten and my newborn twins will as will my 1 1/2 year old once they get to kindergarten will do the same. That's a pretty good time for that daughter too.

You need to tell your brother that they need to start raising this child and set down some rules, one of them being bedtime. Perhaps you can suggest she sleeps over you or your sister's house for a few nights and every night put her to bed at 8-8:30. Then when she goes back to your brother, she'll want to go to bed at that time.

But if your brother isn't raising your niece, perhaps you should talk to a social worker. Parents are supposed to raise children, not let them raise themselves.

Good luck!

Answer 4

My 5 year old is in bed between 8 and 8:30 She has to be up at 6am every weekday morning.  I do not get any of my kids up and out of bed that is THEIR responsibility and going to bed when she does is mostly voluntary.  She just has to be in bed at a time so that she can get up in the  morning to get herself ready for school.  I do not do battle about getting ready in the mornings because I don't have time.  I have to leave for work by 7:00am and if they aren't ready they go to school as is.  My two oldest have actually gone to school in their PJs because they couldn't get ready on time.  They now all go to bed at times that are conducive to them getting up in time to be fully ready to get on the bus in the mornings.  

Answer 5

My daughter was put to bed at 7 for the first two months then moved to seven thirty after that. I still had to wake her up almost every morning and had almost no trouble at bed time. I feel that they really need all that sleep

Answer 6

Mine goes to bed at 8:30 and if she does well, I will let her continue to do so but if she starts to get tired and cranky I will put her to bed at 8pm.  It's very rare that she even makes it until 9pm cuz she has been on that strict schedule for so long!

Answer 7

8pm is probably the best time for this child to lay down at night, 10 and 11pm is waaaay too late.  School age children still need  between 9 and 12 hours of sleep per night.  

Answer 8

8:30 (even my 9-year-old goes to bed by then during the school year).

edit -- I'm not sure where the poster worried about putting kids to sleep before sunset lives, but where I live sunset is already before 7:30 even at the beginning of September, and by December or so it's in the late afternoon.  I do agree with her that kids differ on how much sleep they need, but since it sounds like the kid you're wondering about is clearly not thriving on the sleep she's getting, it seems like a no-brainer to put her to bed earlier.

Answer 9

8pm for our 5-year-old

Bath time is at 7pm (he gets to play for 25 mins then 5 mins for wash up)

Brush teeth about 7:30 and then that still leaves time for a story so lights are out at 8:00

He gets up (usually voluntarily) at 7:30 but sometimes he says he's a bit tired...we can't do any earlier at bedtime because any earlier just won't work with our dinner schedule and stuff.

Answer 10

WOW 10 or 11pm?! don't they want any adult time for themselves then?.

Mine goes to bed at 7.30pm on a school night - up at 8am school in 10 min walk.  8pm on a weekend and maybe madly 10.30pm once or twice whilst on a weeks holiday (evening family entertainmnt) -which wipes him out!.

Encourage your brother to look at this site and ask some questions - he is not acting in his daughters best interests. Her schoolwork will suffer if he does not be realistic.  Good luck!

Answer 11

Quite honestly, this depends on the child. If I were to put either of my kids (aged 5 & 7~both in school all day) to bed at the times everyone else has said, they'd be awake around 4-5 am.

My girls have always gone to bed the same time for school, later on week-ends and vacations. During the school week, they start to get ready for bed at 9:30. By then they already have clothes out for the next day. They brush & floss, brush their hair, wash their faces, get pj's on, and are in bed NO LATER than 10:30 usually asleep by then. I know that's late to some parents, but my kids do not sleep as long as other kids apparently, nor do they have the desire to nap in the after-noon either. They can get up at 7 am bright eyed, go to school, play non-stop when they're home and homework is done, and still not want to go to sleep because they're not yet tired. I also can't see making my child go to bed when the sun's still up. How can any kid sleep when the sun's still up and they know they should still be playing?! My kids are also in sports so that means they're not done with activities some nights until 7:30, another half hour to home, have a snack, do home-work if it's not already done, unwind for a bit, THEN get ready for bed.

Every kid is different. If this little girl is that tired in the morning, she should go to bed around 9:30 at the latest. If she's still sleepy, try a bit earlier the next time.

Good luck discussing this with your brother!

Answer 12

get her ready for bed at 6:00 and have her in the bed by 7:00  

Answer 13

we start getting ready for bed at 6:30pm and in bed by 7:30pm and hes asleep by 8:30pm often by 8pm

hes in all day kindergarten

im surprised she isnt  crashing around 9 at the latest.

he needs  to stop all after school napping if hes allowing that

Answer 14

i put my children to bed by 8 we do bath and brush teeth at 730.