Post by misty on Jan 7, 2007 15:18:25 GMT -5
jill,,,,,,,,,,,,Thread Started on Sept 8, 2006, 12:43pm
How much sleep does a child need? I am curious for I can have my girl in bed by 9 pm and she will still be up playing in her bedroom to 10:30-11pm at night then I have to drag her out of bed 7:30 am. For the most part she is a good girl and stays in her room and in bed so I do not worry overly. We do have times where she will be a devil at bedtime and will keep coming out of her room for everything and get mouthy and nothing is ever good enough moments. Those moments run in stages like 3-4 days in a row then get better.
unicorn-tiff'smom
A lot of people know about Tiff's sleep issues. I try to get her in bed between 8:30-9. She takes Melatonin to get calmed down enough to go to sleep. We go for a long time where she doesn't wake up at night. Then we go through times where she is up between 1-4 times a night. When she gets up in the night, she is very hard to get up the next morning. Jill we do have times where Tiff does come out a few times too, when she isn't as tired as I'd like her to be lol. I am not answering you question, I know, but Tiff doesn't get the 10 hours that books say she needs. But she isn't falling asleep in class or exhausted. I suppose it is just like us, some days we need more sleep then others.
misty
I think everyone's different on the amount of sleep they need.
My daughter is 12. I just upped her bedtime this year. She has to be in bed by 9:30 but shes allowed to read or listen to music for a half an hour in bed, lights out at 10. She gets herself up at 6 am, by choice! She wants time in the morning for TV, computer, reading, etc.
So thats only 8 hrs (or less depending on how long it takes her to actually fall asleep). She also takes melatonin, but not every night. She lets me know when she needs it. By this age, she knows when her mind is racing & she won't be able to get to sleep easily.
BUT, it wasn't always this way. For YEARS she refused to sleep in her own bed & slept on the sofa instead. She used to get up several times at night & fight me tooth and nail at bedtime. So take heart, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
jill
I cannot even try anything to help her sleep now due to the study she is in at the university. What was nice is I started parenting classes there and sat in a room full of other parents who know exactly what i am talking about besides the support boards. I am not used to talking to someone and seeing them going through the same stuff. I did not share what went on in the group only because we went over stuff we already know and was mostly the introduction.
jj
I'm not sure that is enough sleep for a 7 yr. old. I know Gary & Joey slept within the norm growing up. Nikki NEEDED more sleep than she got which was why she was such a bear in the mornings. I did find if I let her stay up later on the weekends it just ended up making the weekdays more difficult. And it seemed like it just snowballed. The less sleep she got the crabbier and more she'd fight going to bed.
I agree it does depend on the child but still, 8 1/2 hrs doesn't seem enough in my opinion.
Do you think having her go to bed an hour earlier would help...maybe she needs that hour or two to wind down?
I'm sure you have all looked up the recommended times but for those who may not have thought I'd post this taken from this website and the amounts do vary per website:
www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl17.asp
Average times:
1 week 16.5 hrs
1 month 15.5 hrs
3 months 15 hrs
6 months 14.25 hrs
12 months 13.75 hrs
2 years 13 hrs
4 years 11-12 hrs
5 years 11 hrs
10 years 9.75 hrs
Adolescent 7.5 hrs (school night)
Adolescent 8.75 hrs (weekend
Here are some suggestions for helping your kid get to sleep. I think something similar was posted elsewhere but I'll post it anyway.
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/sleep/starslp/parents/hlthsleep.htm
katiekat
Sean used to be horrible to get into bed but starting in January I instilled some new rules and they have really paid off. First we have the same routine every night- bath, snack, 1/2 hour of laying down and watching TV then bed. Then if he gets out of bed(which he used to do at least 10 times a night) I take him directly back to bed with NO conversation. I learned this off of Super Nanny LOL. I never say anything at all to him except good night. No matter how much he tries to start a conversation I say nothing. It really works. He used to be up and down til 11 o clock now hes asleep by 8 30 pretty much every night. Its made a huge improvement.
How much sleep does a child need? I am curious for I can have my girl in bed by 9 pm and she will still be up playing in her bedroom to 10:30-11pm at night then I have to drag her out of bed 7:30 am. For the most part she is a good girl and stays in her room and in bed so I do not worry overly. We do have times where she will be a devil at bedtime and will keep coming out of her room for everything and get mouthy and nothing is ever good enough moments. Those moments run in stages like 3-4 days in a row then get better.
unicorn-tiff'smom
A lot of people know about Tiff's sleep issues. I try to get her in bed between 8:30-9. She takes Melatonin to get calmed down enough to go to sleep. We go for a long time where she doesn't wake up at night. Then we go through times where she is up between 1-4 times a night. When she gets up in the night, she is very hard to get up the next morning. Jill we do have times where Tiff does come out a few times too, when she isn't as tired as I'd like her to be lol. I am not answering you question, I know, but Tiff doesn't get the 10 hours that books say she needs. But she isn't falling asleep in class or exhausted. I suppose it is just like us, some days we need more sleep then others.
misty
I think everyone's different on the amount of sleep they need.
My daughter is 12. I just upped her bedtime this year. She has to be in bed by 9:30 but shes allowed to read or listen to music for a half an hour in bed, lights out at 10. She gets herself up at 6 am, by choice! She wants time in the morning for TV, computer, reading, etc.
So thats only 8 hrs (or less depending on how long it takes her to actually fall asleep). She also takes melatonin, but not every night. She lets me know when she needs it. By this age, she knows when her mind is racing & she won't be able to get to sleep easily.
BUT, it wasn't always this way. For YEARS she refused to sleep in her own bed & slept on the sofa instead. She used to get up several times at night & fight me tooth and nail at bedtime. So take heart, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
jill
I cannot even try anything to help her sleep now due to the study she is in at the university. What was nice is I started parenting classes there and sat in a room full of other parents who know exactly what i am talking about besides the support boards. I am not used to talking to someone and seeing them going through the same stuff. I did not share what went on in the group only because we went over stuff we already know and was mostly the introduction.
jj
I'm not sure that is enough sleep for a 7 yr. old. I know Gary & Joey slept within the norm growing up. Nikki NEEDED more sleep than she got which was why she was such a bear in the mornings. I did find if I let her stay up later on the weekends it just ended up making the weekdays more difficult. And it seemed like it just snowballed. The less sleep she got the crabbier and more she'd fight going to bed.
I agree it does depend on the child but still, 8 1/2 hrs doesn't seem enough in my opinion.
Do you think having her go to bed an hour earlier would help...maybe she needs that hour or two to wind down?
I'm sure you have all looked up the recommended times but for those who may not have thought I'd post this taken from this website and the amounts do vary per website:
www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl17.asp
Average times:
1 week 16.5 hrs
1 month 15.5 hrs
3 months 15 hrs
6 months 14.25 hrs
12 months 13.75 hrs
2 years 13 hrs
4 years 11-12 hrs
5 years 11 hrs
10 years 9.75 hrs
Adolescent 7.5 hrs (school night)
Adolescent 8.75 hrs (weekend
Here are some suggestions for helping your kid get to sleep. I think something similar was posted elsewhere but I'll post it anyway.
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/sleep/starslp/parents/hlthsleep.htm
katiekat
Sean used to be horrible to get into bed but starting in January I instilled some new rules and they have really paid off. First we have the same routine every night- bath, snack, 1/2 hour of laying down and watching TV then bed. Then if he gets out of bed(which he used to do at least 10 times a night) I take him directly back to bed with NO conversation. I learned this off of Super Nanny LOL. I never say anything at all to him except good night. No matter how much he tries to start a conversation I say nothing. It really works. He used to be up and down til 11 o clock now hes asleep by 8 30 pretty much every night. Its made a huge improvement.
