Did you have a set bedtime when you were growing up? Do your kids?

I did, but I don’t remember what it was. That went away at some point in Jr. High though… not so much because I was responsible enough, but because my dad was a pretty firm believer in suffering the consequences if you weren’t responsible, no matter how many times that had to happen before I decided to do the right thing.

I’m sure I had a bedtime when I was young. In high school I had a curfew but not so much a bedtime. My kids have a bedtime- my 10 year old is 9:30, my 14 year old is a little different. He has to be off the computer, xbox, phone, etc by 10:00 but he doesn’t have an actual bedtime. He usually goes to bed by 11 because there isn’t much else for him to do. On the weekends it depends on what’s going on the next day or if they have friends sleeping over.

I did and they will. My bedtime changed as I got older, but didn’t cease to exist until I left home. It was an hour later on the weekends once I hit middle school. My kids are totally going to have a bedtime and probably a “get off the damn machine” time. GOTDM time will be an hour before bedtime, but they’ll have both. Because I’m totally going to be a grumpy (or at least strict) parent.

I never had a bedtime, even in elementary school. I grew up with very few rules, and am the complete opposite of my mother. My kids have always had a bedtime, and probably always will. My 11 year old’s is 9:30, the 13 year old’s is 10:00, and the 14 year old’s is 10:30. The older two don’t go to sleep for hours, but they must go to bed.

I had a prescribed bedtime until I was in high school, but it was unnecessary because I never wanted to stay up or go out until late. (Now I do!)

My kids did when they were quite young, preschool and in the early grades, and we enforced it by preceding it every night with a half hour of “storytime,” then lights out. By the time they were 10 or 11, my rule was simply this: You can stay up as late as you want to, as long as you get up when you’re supposed to. They did and still do.

I did and my kids did. If for no other reasons than for “mommy/daddy time.”

Yes, I had a set time, as do my children. We have learned their patterns and based the time on their behavior – meaning how much sleep…signs of being tired – grumpiness, mainly.

It changes with age, if they can tolerate a later time. Now, my daughter is a 10p person, without being told. She’s done, that’s it. She is almost 15. My son, 5, between 7:45 and 8:15, he’s wearing down. 8:15 to 8:30, bedtime story…lights out, 8:30…8:35, he’s out. :)

Ah, “mommy/daddy time.” We dealt with that by reserving a time slot for ourselves every week (once they were old enough not to need a parent constantly on duty) that was uninterruptable by other events unless there was an emergency. We wanted them to be aware of the idea of having time for ourselves so they saw that as a normal part of a relationship. Similarly, we made it a point to spend some of our personal reading time while they were awake so they could see us choosing reading as a pleasurable activity instead of having it take place only after they’d gone to sleep.

I had a set bedtime until high school, I think. It didn’t matter much because I was and still am a sleep person, I can’t function without it. My daughter has a bedtime somewhere between 7 and 8, almost always closer to 7.

Not strictly. I had to always be at home by 8pm no matter what, so that we could all have dinner together. We were always punctual about that, even though the food was not always good and I personally often left the table at 8.01 on an empty stomach.

After that I was expected to sleep around 10 on a weekday, but it was usually a case of my dad knocking on my door around midnight and saying “hey, shouldn’t you be sleeping by now?”. My usual bedtime as a child was 10.30 though.

My daughter sleeps at 10 sharp, no matter what. She’ll sleep in mid-sentence even, or while brushing her teeth or something. She has this on/off switch and I cannot change the timer no matter what I do.

I did, and so did my daughter, but I was less strict about it with her.

I always had a bedtime as a kid. Even up until i was 18 and left home, my bedtime was 10pm. (It was occasionally 10:30 on a special occasion.) If I wasn’t in bed by 10, I got a spankin’. And if I was out on a date or something, I still had to be home in time to be in bed by ten. It was kind of embarrassing.

I don’t have kids, but I think that I would still bedtime them, at least until they had sense enough to get to bed themselves, with enough sleep to get to school in the morning. Lawlessness is bad for kids, but I think that my mom’s fascist policies weren’t the best either. There must be some middle ground somewhere.

My kids’ (5 y.o) bedtime is 7:00, though due to travel, holidays, visits it can be later. When we’re at home and it’s during the week, it’s definitely 7:00, and they’re usually asleep within 15 minutes.

I must have had a bedtime growing up, but I don’t remember exactly what it was.

9 pm sharp, except on weekends.

I did when I was a kid. It was 8:00 pm til I was 13 and then 9:00 pm til i was 16 and then i went to work and had to go to bed at 11:30pm,. and now as a parent i have set the rules that my son who is 16 has to go to bed by 11:00 pm. and asleep by 11:30pm. which don’t always happen. but is asleep by 12:00am at the latest. if he gets too much sleep it just makes him more tired. lol must be nice hua?

I went to bed voluntarily at 8:30 until I was around 13, then I moved it until 9pm. I never had to be told to go to bed, I was always more than willing to crawl in bed and read for awhile. Once I could drive and was out a bit more, I rarely ever was up past 10pm except on weekends. My kids were both 8:30 all the way through 6th grade and now the 12 goes to bed at 9:30 and the 14 at 10pm. Luckily, it’s never been a struggle in our house.

I did, and both of my kids do. Routine is very important for children.

We had set bedtimes that changed as we got older (but that also were more lenient the younger you were in the pecking order). I know that when I was in 5th grade I had to have special dispensation to stay up and watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan – my bedtime was 8 pm and they came on at 8:30. By the time I was in high school it was lights out at 10 pm.

My kids have set bedtimes. My son (age 14) has a time of 9 pm, because he argues and fools around so much before actually falling asleep. My daughter goes to bed at 10 pm because she is into sports and has to be at school early everyday.

The only time this is altered is for special events (a big tournament or a church activity or a school dance or a sleep over) or when the kids go visit their cousins, who have no set bedtime. Their parents are both night people and tend to really come awake about 9 pm.

As far as dinner goes, when I was growing up dinner was at a set time (at first at 5 pm when we were small, but gradually later, especially after we lived in South America for a while) and you HAD to be home for dinner. With my kids we are a bit more flexible in that they have busy schedules (especially my daughter). However, they know that if they miss dinner they have to scavenge for themselves in the kitchen. I don’t cook twice in one night.

Regular sleep times and patterns are a must to get the most out of your sleep time. Our whole family, teenager included, turns off all “screens” (includes texting!) at 10PM on school/work night and start prepping for bed. We don’t have a lights out time, but we all respect that the first step toward getting to sleep at night is getting into bed.

for awhile my mum attempted to get me to go to bed at like 11:30, but it never worked. i’ve always been a night person. even when i was in elementary school, i’d stay up with her and watch classic tv land/nick @ nite shows. she still tells me “don’t go to bed too late” every night, but i rarely get to bed before 3am. /=

I used to have to go to bed at 10 at night, then as I got older it was 11, and now there is no time limit :P

Nope. I had chores and an early alarm. I went to bed of my own accord. My kids however had set bedtimes as ONE of them would stay up all night if left to her devices.

I had a set bedtime when I was a kid. I can’t remember the specific time. It was an hour or so later at the weekends. I don’t have kids, but I’m pretty sure if I did, they’d have a set bedtime. Routine is important. It shouldn’t rule, but it’s important for kids nonetheless.

It was 9:00 PM up until I was 13, then it was midnight. Now it’s whenever I fall asleep. (I don’t have kids.)