How many hours of sleep do kids need?

[cdc3217]

Yeah, I don't think there's a magic bullet for your situation.
I agree with your assessment that he needs that much sleep. Is there a way to allow him some flexible "quiet" time between bedtime and sleep time, or would he just stay up?
Is he a night owl by nature?
If he is, maybe he could stay up later on the weekends and sleep in - if you're willing to compromise.

[irishmom]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

I wish that I had advice to make your life easier, but I don't! My brother was upset the whole time but he's 30 and he lived It wasn't until college when he finally agreed with my mom!!!! Does he have a later bedtime on the weekends?

Good to know your brother finally saw your mother's wisdom here. I will look forward to that one day, I hope.

Originally Posted by cynwldkat

Kids are just like adults--each of us requires a different amount of sleep. You can see your sons need for sleep. Both my sisters and I were in bed at 9:00pm..no questions asked. You make the rules as his mother so you just have to stick by them. Perhaps on one of his "grumpy" days, after a late night, you could point out his not-so-great attitude!!

I have pointed it out, doesn't matter he is the master of excuses and will never admit that his crankies are from lack of sleep.

Originally Posted by cdc3217

Yeah, I don't think there's a magic bullet for your situation.
I agree with your assessment that he needs that much sleep. Is there a way to allow him some flexible "quiet" time between bedtime and sleep time, or would he just stay up?
Is he a night owl by nature?
If he is, maybe he could stay up later on the weekends and sleep in - if you're willing to compromise.

I did try the quiet time thing and he will stay up, even if it's reading. He is a night owl by nature. I do let him stay up until 11 on Friday and 10 on Saturday because he does sleep in until 9 or 10 on the weekends. That's not enough for him though he wants it all, of course.

Thanks everyone I will just continue to force him. His little brother goes down at 8pm with no problem (of course on weekends he also asks to go to bed when he's tired so he's a different kid) so it's a bit annoying that the older one is so stubborn. I blame his father...definitely that gene came from him.

[aomething]

I was always the kid to put myself to bed when I got tired. My sister who is 4 years older would fight tooth and nail about going to bed at 9pm. We were allowed to stay up until 10 on Weekends, but my sister always needed and still does need more sleep than me. I go to bed at 9am and I wake at 7am. our 5 year old is in bed at 8pm and usually wakes around 6:30am-7am. Not bad. But, this is a child that still needs the naps in the middle of the day because by 6:30 pm he is a bear to deal with! That is why he eats supper, gets 45 for play (no tv between 6-8pm) and then we get ready for bed around 7:45 or 8pm depending on if its shower night or not.

[chatter crac]

Originally Posted by irishmom

My 11 year old seems to need more sleep than some of his friends, but that doesn't stop him from arguing with me each night about going to bed by 9pm (he gets up at 7am for school). His friends do go to bed later between 10 and 11pm...but on the rare occaision that he is up later he's a complete bear in the morning and a wreck by the end of the school day...and he knows it.

How do I get him to understand that he needs more sleep and I'm not just being "mean", as of course, he thinks I am?

As a 15 year-old I always go to bed by at least 11 p.m. on the weekdays and get up at 6:50. On weekends i go to sleep at 2 a.m. and wake up at 9 p.m. As i do a self check...i believe im normal...however newsweek did have an article about how many hours of sleep people need in various age groups and how much they actually get on average. It was a recent article so you should be able to look it up on the web and find it....good luck

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by irishmom

Well he does need the sleep and I do hold my ground and send him. I've explained over and over again why, but the arguments still happen nightly and I can't stand to send him to bed like that. I just think it's much nicer to have a peaceful transition to bed...but it doesn't seem possible at this point. He doesn't do the computer thing with his friends none of them do. As for other stuff like TV and video games he only gets an hour a day during the week after his homework is done...so that's long over before bedtime, he's just stubborn and doesn't get why he needs more sleep. No magic to make the fussing stop I guess that is what I wanted.

I would talk to him beforehand about it and set some boundaries. By that I mean, tell him his bedtime is 9 o'clock, and there will be no discussion about it at bedtime.

Decide in advance (you and your husband, not the boy), what some appropriate consequences should be if he does argue.

When you're having your talk with him, tell him these are the rules, and if they are broken, the consequences will be: taking away privileges, taking away a favorite item for a week, etc. - whatever you and your husband decide. And above all, follow through with the consequences.

In a short time, you should see some positive results.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by irishmom

My 11 year old seems to need more sleep than some of his friends, but that doesn't stop him from arguing with me each night about going to bed by 9pm (he gets up at 7am for school). His friends do go to bed later between 10 and 11pm...but on the rare occaision that he is up later he's a complete bear in the morning and a wreck by the end of the school day...and he knows it.

How do I get him to understand that he needs more sleep and I'm not just being "mean", as of course, he thinks I am?

I'm a big believer in bed time.. my daughter just started staying up until 10pm.. I finally broke down and let her stay up that late.

As you said, a lot of kids these days either don't have bedtime or stay up later. Around here, what it is is the parents just don't care or are asleep early themselves so no one is watching the kids at night, they do what ever they want.

So far it's been working out. She's able to get up at 4:30 am, shower, then she naps a little and gets up for the bus. There are nights when she'll shower, then set her alarm clock later. If shes tired she will lay down.

He's 11. If he feels like there is peer pressure, tell him he can tell his friends he goes to bed later, you won't tell lol

[Tzaphkiel]

It varies wildly from kid to kid, and depending on age. What I was told, and it worked with my 3 kids, is i can't make them go to sleep, but I can set a time to be in their room (8 or 9 pm depending on their age) and then they can stay up as late as they want with one of two activities: either reading or listening to music.

It made sense to me because there was no argument about "going to sleep" and both those activities even for me as an adult, are conducive to relaxation and then falling asleep. And they are good lifetime habits to cultivate I felt as a parent, that I would be happy having my kids continue.

[findingmesomeday]

This is a huge issue in our house. My oldest (16) doesn't require as much sleep as the other two. My 13 year old really needs 10+ hours but sometimes hockey practice is late. Then with either of them, they come home and if homework isn't done, they finish up or they start talking with my husband and then I feel like the sleep Nazi, bugging them to go to bed. They're up watching football or talking sports and my husband, who has no problems telling them to go to bed at 10PM on some weekend nights, simply because HE is tired and wants to go to bed, will tell me to back off--he's having "family time" with the kids.

I finally decided it's their problem and well, if they don't get enough sleep then it sucks to be them in the AM, right? They'll make it a priority when they feel like crap in the morning.

My 8 year old is the one giving me gray hairs right now. She's also a night owl by nature. Luckily she doesn't have to get up until about 8:15 since her school starts later. But I'll get her in bed by 8:30/9PM and she's still awake at 11-11:30PM. She stays in her room but there's no way I can FORCE her to sleep.