How much sleep do your 6-year-olds get?

We've NEVER had a set bedtime (well, past the infant stage) so I'm not really sure how much sleep they "need."

We just started our school sleep routine this week: get up by 7:00 and go to bed by 8:30/9 & asleep by 10. So about 9 hours.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/sleep.html#

The above article recommends 5-year-olds (technically my girls are 5-1/2) get 10-12 hours of sleep, and 6-year-olds need 10.

I've noticed the last two days that they've come home and been completely wound up... I didn't know if it was from the excitement and being "good" all day, or if it was a sleep issue.

Any thoughts?

Loren
GGG Jan.2005 @ 28wks

Sweetened Taters - http://sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com

Mine, on their own are still sleeping 10 - 11 (closer to 11) every night. Because of the crazy hour they have to get up to get ready for school, it will be about 10. I really think you just need to watch them. Once the excitement wears off...how hard is it to get them up in the AM Are they really tired with no energy in the afternoon? My gage I guess is the morning. If I can't get them up easily, then they need more sleep.

Dawn

Mom to Samantha, Jeremy, Paige and Christian

Born 12/12/03 @ 31w 2d



http://lovinglifewithquads.blogspot.com

10 to 11 hours.

10 hours for a 6 year old sounds right.

My kids, however have been the opposite of your kids!

Granted, yesterday was the first day of school, but when they came home, they were tired! One kid took a nap so she had a hard time getting to sleep at night.

This morning schedule is new for us though. We're not used to getting going at 7:00 in the morning, so I think it's kinda kicking some butts. I'm happy about seizing our day. Let's get up and get going!

Lisa

My kids are all over the board, but they seem to function best like this:

A: Needs 11 hours of sleep. Can function on 9 or 9.5 and never would take a nap, but gets very emotional and wound up after too many days with too little sleep. Can't handle ANYTHING then. When he is left to sleep/wake on his own, he almost always will sleep 11 hours uninterrupted.

B: Total OPPOSITE. Sleeps around 9.5 hours on his own and wakes up raring to go. He functions very well on this much sleep and trying to sneak in more is almost impossible. He just wakes up on his own in between 9-9.5 hours. Even in a completely dark room with white noise, he still can't sleep longer than this. He says he "just sleeps faster than my brothers."

C: All over the board, but generally sleeps between 10-10.5 hours if left on his own. He can very easily function on less, but will wake up "on his own" after about 10.25 hours.

BBB born 7/26/04 at 35 weeks

Mine are just a few months younger than yours.

They go to bed around 8 every night, and wake up around 7, so 11 hours at night.

We have "quiet time" in the afternoons for 1 1/2 hours - they have 1 stuffed animal, 1 puzzle, and a few books, and are required to be in their beds.

Meredith sleeps hard about once a week, and the rest of the time plays or reads quietly during that time. But she HAS to have that downtime away from the everyone or she is a bear. (I tried dropping it altogether for her and it was a complete disaster.)

Camille sleeps hard maybe 4-5 times a week, and the other 2-3 times is in and out, in and out, in and out of her bed driving me batty. And the times she doesn't sleep she is picking at everyone else for the next 2 days.

James sleeps hard every day for a week, then takes a few days off, then sleeps hard every day for a week again.

So I guess my kids are getting an average of maybe 11.5 to 12.5 hours a day.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

Mine are all over the board too. I can tell pretty easily when they need more sleep though. DS seems to need the least sleep and will sometimes wake his sisters up before they want to get up. I know they need more sleep because they complain about his waking them up.
I try to get them to bed by 8-8:30 but it's not always easy. If it seems like they are more crabby or tired I try to get them to sleep earlier. Of course, putting them to bed and getting them to sleep are very different tasks. One of my DD's is having a lot of trouble staying asleep now. (maybe anxiety about school)

Andi
g/b/g
triplets
turn 7 this week!!!

Mine had 8:30 bedtime. They get up at 6:30.

Last year - second grade - we allowed them to read or talk in their beds for 30 min. This year we extended bedtime to 9:00, although if they stay up too late talking, are cranky/sleepy during the day or have trouble getting up we said we would move it back. So far so good!

Kari S.

Mom to BBB 21, 18, 14
BBG 9/25/01

Our children are exactly the same age as yours (may 2005) and they go to sleep between 7.30 and 8.30pm and wake at 6.30 or 7am (about 11 hours sleep). they can stay awake till 9pm on fridays and saturdays but they will also sleep till about 8am. so they need 11 hours. I am expecting they will always sleep at 7pm or 7.30pm when they start school next year but now they go to preschool on monday and friday and are pretty busy throughout the week.

regards,
Oz
ggb May 05

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