What time does your 4 year old go to bed?

[fivi2]

If he/she does not nap... I am sure this has come up before, but I am curious. We start soccer practice soon and it seems pretty late to me, but i am wondering if we just go to bed early!

Thanks!

[AnnieW625]

She does nap (most days) and she is in bed most nights between 8:30 and 9:00 (which is the absolute latest). If she doesn't take a nap she usually goes to bed right around 8:00, but no later than 8:30.

[LarsMal]

I'm sure I do not represent the norm, but my kids go to bed late. DS (4.5) is usually in bed and asleep by 9:30. DD (3) doesn't usually fall asleep until 11- no matter what time I get her in bed- but she's always been that way. Neither of them nap, but DS goes to PM preschool so they sleep in until 9AM or later every morning.

Most of my friend's 4yo go to bed around 7:30.

[newnana]

7:30. We have a non-napper and 7:30 is pretty much the latest she'll stay up.

[kdeunc]

We go to bed early in our house. DH gets up before 5am each day. Baby in bed by 6:30, 5 and 7 year olds in bed by 7:30, DH and I are never up later than 9:45 during the week. The boys wake up around 6:30 regardless if they went to be at 7 or 11.

[BeachBum]

DS is 4.5, but we have had the same schedule since he was 3 and stopped napping. He goes to bed around 8. Sometimes it is as late as 8:30 if we have a hectic evening. He wakes up around 7.
Our t-ball/ soccer practice is 5:30-6:30 and it certainly puts a glitch in our schedule.

[megs4413]

DD does not nap. she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30.

[Roni]

I'm sure I do not represent the norm, but my kids go to bed late. DS (4.5) is usually in bed and asleep by 9:30. DD (3) doesn't usually fall asleep until 11- no matter what time I get her in bed- but she's always been that way. Neither of them nap, but DS goes to PM preschool so they sleep in until 9AM or later every morning.

Most of my friend's 4yo go to bed around 7:30.


Julie, you and I would get along. I don't have a four year old anymore, but my kids go to bed late, too. Now that they're in school they have to go to bed earlier (but that means I'm happy if they are asleep by 9:30), but when they were younger, we all slept in as late as we could.

[kerridean]

7:30 no nap

[khalloc]

DD is almost 4.5 and she goes to bed at 8pm each night. She also takes a nap usually for about 1 hour a day. Sometimes she will skip her nap and she might go to bed earlier like 7:30. She is up around 6am.

[hillview]

DS is 4.5 and goes to bed at 8 (eg is in bed asleep at this time) when I put him to bed. When DH puts him to bed it can spill to 8:30.

He does not nap.
/hillary

[BillK]

Ben, 2 years, 9 months old - 1 short nap a day - 7-7:15pm bedtime

Zach, 5 years - no naps - 7-7:15pm bedtime

Both are up like clockwork between 6:30 & 7am every day - regardless of how much we deviate from the bedtime schedule (+ or -).

[fivi2]

okay - so we do what a lot of you do...

the girls go down at 7:30, but with these practices, we won't be getting home until 7:00 or later... Oh well, just once a week!

Thanks!

[willow33]

DS2 is 4.5 (5 in April) and he goes to bed between 7 and 7:30pm.

[cono0507]

My son is almost 5 now. Hasn't taken a regular nap since age 3 or so. Beditme is 8pm. Sometimes he falls asleep right away and sometimes he plays in his room until 9 or even 930p. He wakes up around 8-830am (thank goodness for afternoon preschool!) :)

[pinkmomagain]

9-930p. I'd rather it be 830p.

[carolinamama]

Since DS2 is an early riser and DH leaves for work by 5am, we all now go to bed early. DS1, age 4.5, goes to bed by 8. Before DS2 came along, I let him stay up until 9-10 and he would sleep until 9. That was really nice on my days off work!

[ged]

around 9 pm, plus or minus half an hour...but sometimes she doesn't fall asleep until 10. I wish it were earlier, but she pretty much just needs 10 hours per night (even though I aim for 11 hours). We are usually late for 9 am preschool. Things will have to change in the Fall when she starts K.

[lmwbasye]

Between 7 and 7:30...still the same at 5 now.

[citymama]

I envy all of you with 8 pm sleepers. Mine is a super late sleeper. We try and start bedtime around 8.30 pm but she's almost never asleep before 10 pm. She sometimes naps - they do naptime at school but she usually plays during naptime. She rarely gets up before 8 am!

[Momof3Labs]

7:15 is bedtime, but 7:45 isn't unheard of.

[Indianamom2]

At that age, and now, 7:30 at the latest. If it's even 8:00, there is often a major meltdown. She may not sleep right away, but she's in bed by then about 99% of the time.

[Jen841]

7:30/8:00 for both kids (4 and 6) nap or no nap. 8:30 sometimes on the weekends.

[clc053103]

4.5 DS who no longer naps- or rarely- bed at 8 with no fuss and falls asleep quickly. Wakes at 7.

[hannah]

DD stopped napping a little after turning 4 at which point we started having 7 pm bedtime. She will be 5.5 at the end of March and still goes to bed at 7 and wakes/comes out of her room in the morning at 7. With her soccer practice (5:45-6:30) we definitely got into bed a little after 7 but not much since she was so tired.

[caleymama]

Between 7 and 7:30...still the same at 5 now.

Same here. Was the same for DD1 too.

[JTsMom]

We aim for 8, but in reality, it's often 8:30-9. On school nights, I really try to make 8 happen.

[doberbrat]

dd1 is 4 hasnt napped since age 2. bedtime is 8pm and has been for quite a while. most days, she's in bed closer to 8:30 but we shoot for 8. she usually falls asleep within 30min.

[alien_host]

My almost 5 year old usually is in bed by 8 or 8:30. She doesn't nap regularly but if I let her nap too long she'll be up past 9:30! Some school days or if she has swimming she is very tired in the afternoon but still won't really get to bed before 8. I need to be better on those days to feed an earlier dinner and move bed time up I think.

She usually gets up between 7 and 7:30.

[Twoboos]

My goal is 7:30ish. This never, ever happens, except if DH isn't home. When he's around, it's 8-8:15. He claims 7:30 is not possible.

[twindad]

Around 7:00pm... girls are 4.5... they don't nap, and wake up anywhere between 6 and 6:45am.

[ShanaMama]

Wow, we are really unusual. Both of my girls are up at 5:30 every morning, regardless if they go to bed at 4, 7 or 11. I finally accepted that & decided that they need to be rested, so I aim for 5:30-6:30 bedtime. DH often isn't home for bedtime, so I need to juggle both bedtimes with baths and nursing. DD2- 19 mo, really falls apart if she's not nursed and then put directly to bed at precisely 5:30. I am often serving DD1 supper after 5, but I really try to start supper by 4:30. If DD1 is in bed at 6 she gets another chapter in my serial fairy tale. The latest she ever goes to bed is 7:30. Even if my kids are up crazy late, like 11, they are still up before the crack of dawn.
I envy all those late morning sleepers. What I would give to be up and dressed before the party starts!

[ShanaMama]

I just wanted to add the one thing I learned from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. If your child is acting exhausted or melting down you've already missed the optimal time to put them to bed. They are already overtired. This has really re-shaped my outlook towards bedtime. BTW my 4 yo does not nap, though I sometimes wish she did.
Sorry for a second post. It's a bit hard to edit from my iPod.

[mom2binsd]

Bed around 9pm, he loves to stay up till 10 though..no nap, gets up around 8am

I've never understood how folks get kids in bed by 7pm...DH usually has a job where he doesn't get home till 6:30 and we try to eat together, but if we eat earlier the kids like to hang out with daddy too.

My kids are nighhawks too, when we go to hockey games etc they never get cranky and tired, the love to go to the restaurant/bar at the games and hang out after games too (I think DS likes to flirt with all the pretty girlfriends of the hockey players!)

[citymama]

Bed around 9pm, he loves to stay up till 10 though..no nap, gets up around 8am

I've never understood how folks get kids in bed by 7pm...DH usually has a job where he doesn't get home till 6:30 and we try to eat together, but if we eat earlier the kids like to hang out with daddy too.



This is exactly us too. We rarely eat dinner before 6.30 or 7 pm. Probably our most fun family time is between 7 and 8.30 pm. Now I wish she'd be asleep by 9 instead of 10, but I still can't fathom how we'd make 7.30 or 8 happen given our lifestyle/schedule.

[pb&j]

He naps most days. But regardless, he goes to bed around 8pm, and is up by 7am.

[SnuggleBuggles]

At 4, I think it was 9-9:30. He didn't really nap at all at 4. He slept 11 hours at night.

Beth

[Melanie]

7:30 w/ nap or sometimes 'rest time' if she doesn't fall asleep. Dinner is ideally 5:30 but that doesn't always happen. Up anytime between 6 & 7 am.

[kayte]

DD still naps, so in bed by 7:30 and up at 6:45 (also independent of when she goes to sleep).

If she doesn't nap (like today) she is already asleep (it's 6:50). I put her down at 6:20 today though usually shoot for 6 when she doesn't nap. She had a huge meltdown at 5:30 and could have gone to sleep then, but we had not eaten dinner.

[KrisM]

Bed around 9pm, he loves to stay up till 10 though..no nap, gets up around 8am

I've never understood how folks get kids in bed by 7pm...DH usually has a job where he doesn't get home till 6:30 and we try to eat together, but if we eat earlier the kids like to hang out with daddy too.

My kids are nighhawks too, when we go to hockey games etc they never get cranky and tired, the love to go to the restaurant/bar at the games and hang out after games too (I think DS likes to flirt with all the pretty girlfriends of the hockey players!)

Ha! I never understand kids up until 10pm!

But, DH gets home shortly past 5, so that's a big difference.

We leave for the bus stop at 8:15, so sleeping until 8am doesn't work either.

My almost 4 year old goes to bed about 8pm and is up around 7am. DS1 was in bed closer to 7pm, but he's always been a 6am kid.

[melissaflorida]

My dd is almost 6 yo and is in bed at 6:30 and wakes at 7am. No naps from 3 yo.

[DrSally]

Both 4yo DS and 19 month old DD go to bed at 7pm. When DH is home, sometimes it gets drawn out to 7:30pm b/c dinner takes longer when we all eat as a family (when it's just me and the kids, I don't make a full, big meal).

DD takes about a 2 hour nap and wakes up around 6:30am.
DS takes no nap and wakes up at 7am. Lately, I've been laying down during DD's nap, and DS will come and lay with me. He's fallen asleep the last couple of days for about 1/2 hour. He'll still go to bed at the same time.

I think it's fine if you have an evening activity to deviate for one night. It's hard to squeeze those activities in otherwise.

[elephantmeg]

8 pm. He sleeps until sometime between 7 and 8. DD is on the same schedule but naps during the day. He doesn't.

[LexyLou]

My 4 year old (almost 4 1/2) usually doesn't nap and is in bed between 7:30-8:30pm. It should really be closer to 7:30 but some nights it's hard because I have two to put to bed by myself and my 2 1/2 year old sometimes naps until 4pm (she doesn't get down until late since we have preschool pick up) and my 4 year old gets mad that she's going to bed before her little sister, so I push it to 8 a lot and try to get them down at the same time.

[ErinMC]

7:30 no nap

NAK but this

[melissaflorida]

My dd is almost 6 yo and is in bed at 6:30 and wakes at 7am. No naps from 3 yo.

[awoodm]

DS1 is 4.5 and goes to bed btwn 7 and 7:30 most nights. I imagine in the summertime we will push it back to 8-8:30.

[2Carol]

4yo & 5yo twins bedtime for all is 6pm sharp. I really notice the next morning if they are even a wee bit late for bed that they are tired and cranky in the morning.

4 yo sometimes has a nap of 1/2 an hour to 1 hour in the early afternoon (more because mommy is tired!)

Wake up time is 6:30.