What time should an 11 year old boy go to bed?

Question

My son has to be at school at 9:30 and gets home about 5:15. I was puting him to bed at 9pm but he says he has a hard time falling asleep....also, he wakes up at 6:00am. Do you think I should let him stay up later? He is in middle school.

Answer 1

No later than 9:30. Put heavier curtains/ blind on his window to keep it darker, and tell him if he wakes up before the alarm, go back to sleep!

Answer 2

i am starting my last year at high school in 2 weeks and try get to bed at 10ish soo im not to sleepy at school and i also wake at 5:30 6:00ish so you should probably let him stay up till about 9:30-9:45 soo he's not tired at school but can still fall asleep at nite

hope i help :)

Answer 3

Stick to your guns. Children this age need at *least* 8 hours sleep. If he's going to bed at 9pm and getting up at 6am, that's 8 1/2 hours...IF he goes to sleep immediately. If he's not having a problem getting up in the morning, you may want to try a compromise, although I'm not keen on the idea of compromising with an 11 year old. Tell him that he can stay up til 9:30, but he must be in his room at 9pm. Then at 9:30 go into his room and tell him it's time for lights out and bedtime.I firmly believe in a bedtime for children/teens. Stand firm, Explain to your child the importance of sleep, and that most growth takes place during their sleeping hours. If you don't set limits now, you'll regret it later on. I know too many working parents whos teens roam the house all hours of the night while their parents are sleeping.

Answer 4

Try allowing him to stay up 15 minutes longer. If that does not cause problems make it 30 minutes, working up to an hour.  I think 10 pm is the latest during the week.

Or you can try it out on fridays, letting him decide when he is ready.

Answer 5

You could try letting him stay up later on the condition that he gets up for school ok without being crammed.

Answer 6

Why does he need to get up at 6AM if school isn't until 9:30?

My daughter is 10, goes to bed at 9:30PM and gets up at 7AM to be at the bus stop at 7:45

Answer 7

By middle school and high school bedtimes aren't as big a deal. As long as you make sure he is getting up on time and his grades are not suffering,  it should be fine to let him stay up later.

Just make it clear to him that it's on a trial basis and if his schoolwork suffers or he starts struggling to get up in the morning, it's going back to 9pm. It's a good way to teach him a bit of responsibility for his choices as he'll have to pay the price in the morning for how late he stayed up the night before.

Answer 8

I would try 9:30 or ten

If he can not handle it move it back to nine

Tell him you are trying a later time

Answer 9

My 11 year old daughter goes to bed between 9:30 and 10:00pm  She has to be up at 6:00am.