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Bedtime routine for 8yr old?

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    #32
    BengaLover
    Registered Users Posts: 2,090 ✭✭✭BengaLover


    I would say 9 is far too late for an 8yr old..
    A recent study tested kids in several age brackets that had had 8 hrs sleep a night.
    The same kids did the test a month later after been given 11 hrs sleep a night and scored significantly higher..
    Its a personal thing of course but my daughter is almost 8 and on a school night is in bed for 7.
    She is really into reading so we find that half an hours reading in bed really calms and relaxes her..
    Of course i guess this would be hard for parents who work all day and have lots to do when they get home..And I dread the summer hols...:D


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    #33
    Fittle
    Registered Users Posts: 2,775 ✭✭✭Fittle


    BengaLover wrote: »
    I would say 9 is far too late for an 8yr old..
    A recent study tested kids in several age brackets that had had 8 hrs sleep a night.
    The same kids did the test a month later after been given 11 hrs sleep a night and scored significantly higher..
    Its a personal thing of course but my daughter is almost 8 and on a school night is in bed for 7.
    She is really into reading so we find that half an hours reading in bed really calms and relaxes her..
    Of course i guess this would be hard for parents who work all day and have lots to do when they get home..And I dread the summer hols...:D

    Thanks.

    But as I said, I'm only home at 6.15, and he has soccer training two nights per week until 7.


    And if I'm honest, I'd rather my lad had memories of a childhood of evenings spent with his mam doing homework, having a bit of playtime and chatting until 8.30 rather than memories of a rushed 45 minutes. I'm not judging anyone who sends their kids to bed at 7, and perhaps if I spent the full day with him, I'd do the same..but unless I win the lotto, I won't be home until 6.15 for the forseeable;)


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    #34
    metrovelvet
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,376 ✭✭✭metrovelvet


    Look if you have a child with sleep anxiety it doesn't matter what time you stick them in the bed at, they will lie there awake for hours because their minds and bodies wont let them sleep. I know this because I was like that, and was awake well past when everyone else went to bed and the lights were out.

    It was like a sleep phobia. YEs you can get them to stay in their room and not yell down the stairs but nothing is going to make them sleep until you get to the bottom of it


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    #35
    BengaLover
    Registered Users Posts: 2,090 ✭✭✭BengaLover


    Hopefully he will grow out of it..kids get very strange little phobias and anxieties and sometimes you will never know what causes them.
    I appreciate how hard you work, and yes I am lucky enough to be able to be an at home mum, but no matter what the bedtime you decide, try to make it relaxing. Most 8 yr olds have a DS, maybe dvd's/electronic games arent such a great idea at bedtime, we decided to get rid of our youngests ds and replaced it with books.
    sounds old school I know, but she was spending too long stimulating her brain before sleep, the books thing took a while to catch on, but after a few days deprived of electronic gaming, the desire to read took over.
    However, Im an advocate of those story cd's, maybe he would relax and settle with a few of those, your local library will have a great selection.


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    #36
    Penny Dreadful
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭Penny Dreadful


    BengaLover wrote: »
    Hopefully he will grow out of it..kids get very strange little phobias and anxieties and sometimes you will never know what causes them.
    I appreciate how hard you work, and yes I am lucky enough to be able to be an at home mum, but no matter what the bedtime you decide, try to make it relaxing. Most 8 yr olds have a DS, maybe dvd's/electronic games arent such a great idea at bedtime, we decided to get rid of our youngests ds and replaced it with books.
    sounds old school I know, but she was spending too long stimulating her brain before sleep, the books thing took a while to catch on, but after a few days deprived of electronic gaming, the desire to read took over.
    However, Im an advocate of those story cd's, maybe he would relax and settle with a few of those, your local library will have a great selection.

    Actually this is very true for anyone trying to get to sleep whether they are a child or an adult. Having a down time for your brain before sleep is very important.


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    #37
    Lahm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 534 ✭✭✭Lahm


    Penny Dreadful wrote: »
    Actually this is very true for anyone trying to get to sleep whether they are a child or an adult. Having a down time for your brain before sleep is very important.

    How so?

    It's 4.27 and I'll soon be in bed. It won't stop me drooling like a child on the pillow. I suppose it depends how tired you are.


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    #38
    Penny Dreadful
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭Penny Dreadful


    Lahm wrote: »
    How so?

    It's 4.27 and I'll soon be in bed. It won't stop me drooling like a child on the pillow. I suppose it depends how tired you are.

    I meant for adults with difficulty getting to sleep. One of the pieces of advice given for helping with this is to have a bedroom that is neither too hot nor too cold, that you don't drink alcohol, coffee or any other stimulant too close to bedtime, etc etc.
    Sometimes no matter how tired you are if the sleep won't come it won't come.


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    #39
    Fittle
    Registered Users Posts: 2,775 ✭✭✭Fittle


    Night 4 last night and it seems to be a success....I have been off work and my mood has been much improved - I don't have that awful stress of getting home and trying to cram a full day into 2hours - and I imagine I'm calmer with him.

    The bedtime routine is going so well...even last night I read his book, let him finish the last chapter himself - then told him to turn off the light when he was finished. And he did!!

    I'm definitely conscious that I've tried (since I started this post) to give him more responsibility for his own sleep - as opposed to it being a battle - following the advice of someone here, we had a great 'grown-up' chat all about how much sleep helps you - I even found some stuff on the net that he read himself, about what happens to your body when you sleep, how it grows, how you can become a great footballer with enough sleep;) etc.

    So I won't even say fingers crossed...night 5 tonight and I am still in a very calm frame of mind so it will go well. I haven't quite gotten used to these new, calm, peaceful evenings - my shoulders are tense just waiting to hear him roar down the stairs... but I am planning a nice long, uniterrupted bath with my new book tonight - hey, I might even light a candle:D


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