Neither of my sons have been great sleepers. I’ve been told it’s because I never Ferber trained them and that I coddle them. I say it is what it is.
At ages 8.5 years old and 4.5 years old, we still have some bedtime struggles. I still go to bed, not sure if and how many times I will be awakened throughout the night. At this point, I’ve gotten used to the uncertainty and manage the wake-ups. The only thing I do know for sure is my family does best when our boys go to bed by 7:15 p.m.
Yes, you read correctly, 7:15 p.m. is our sweet spot. Whenever I tell people this, the first question they ask is, “What time do they wake up?”
“Anytime after 5:30 a.m. is fair game,” is my reply. The look of complete horror and shock is actually amusing. The truth of the matter is, I’ve always been an early riser. You can ask any of my college roommates or apartment-mates from my early 20s.
I’d be lying if I said I would like my boys to sleep until 6:30 a.m., but I’d also be lying if I said I want them to go to bed later. At this rate, I know by 8 p.m. I have the night to myself. I can choose to go to bed by 9 p.m. or stay up until midnight. I can take phone calls, read books, and watch shows at that time.
We’ve tried putting them to bed later and guess what happens. Exactly the same thing that happens to babies when you do that. They wake up earlier and crazier. We went to Disney last spring and thought, maybe this will be it, the turning point. Nope, they still were up by 6 a.m., and we never saw any fireworks. (But we do have the cutest picture of our youngest sleeping in the stroller at 6:45 p.m. on our last night).
Our favorite day of the year is switching to daylight savings. While everyone else is complaining about losing the hour, we actually celebrate the fake extra hour we (may) get due to the clocks springing ahead.
At this point, we’ve made peace with the early to bed, early to rise….but it doesn’t mean we aren’t still late to school…or that I wouldn’t mind a little extra sleep.
Is your family early to bed or night owls?