Calling All Mothers - Question About Bed Time

[caseysmom]

I liked my kids to go to bed early so I could have some down time I guess it depends what time you and them get up in the morning. I had one that was a great sleeper and one that wasn't they are still are like that, guess who achieves more?

[Daisy and Delilah]

I think it should be 8:00 for a two year old.

[critter crazy]

at that age between 7-8 pm.

[AllAmericanPUP]

I've actually got my 2(almost 3) yr old nephew and 1 yr old neice tonight and they don't go to bed til about 10 or so.
but they also sleep in til about 9 or 10 so they get plenty of sleep plus they nap during the day

but i agree kids should definately go to be earlier.

I imagine if I had kids they would be in bed around 8:30.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I'm going to be the odd one here and say that I don't think 10 pm is too late for a 2 year old. If he has to get up early to go to daycare then 10 pm is probably too late, but if he can sleep in as late as he needs then I don't see the harm in him going to bed at 10. Once he gets older and is going to school then an earlier bedtime will be more important.

Also he may not go to bed that late every night, but he had a special babysitter so he may have been too excited to go to bed any earlier.

My 16 month old goes to bed most nights between 8:30-9:00, but if he had a long nap that day he sometimes has too much energy at 8:30 and he'll go to bed a little later. He goes to bed easily without any crying or fussing though.

On the flip side my friend started giving her baby a 7 pm bedtime when she was 6 months old (I think). She was very strict about her baby being in bed every night at that time. She would put her in her bed and let her cry until she fell asleep. Her little girl cried and pitched a fit every night until she was over 3. I just never saw the point in making bedtime a negative thing. She didn't have to get up in the morning for daycare so I just couldn't see the reasoning behind forcing her to go to bed before she was ready.

Bottom line, I think it depends on the individual family and the individual child.

[elizabethann]

Thanks for the replies. My great nephew gets up at 6/6:30am. My niece says it's normal for him to go to bed around 10pm and wake up that early. She is a school teacher so I am hoping that starting next week, she will make him go to bed early. I would think she would have made him go to bed early before she started back to work. But my niece has a very hard time saying no to her boy, so we'll see what happens.

Thanks again.