I am the only one who doesn't let my kids stay up late?

My kids need their sleep, and they never sleep late in the mornings, so as a result I never take them out past their bedtime. The few times I have tries they have actually done great that evening but the next day is a DISASTER as they r whinny, fussy and totally cranky all day. iMHo the day after is not worth letting them stay up late. But I find as a result we miss out on so many family type activities and events that I get sad, especially this time of year. A group we belong to here is having a Xmas eve party that starts at 5pm but we can't Get there and back by bedtime and don't want xmas day to be a bad day. Anyone else in the same boat?

 

Bed time is 8- we can push it to 8:30 but any later and we pay with whiny kids, too. I don't mind for a holiday but don't usually want to deal with cranky kids for no reason.

 

I do for special occasions. We usually pay the next day too, but if we have enough going on to keep the busy and plan a decent nap for them its not so bad.

 

We do the same. I know Christmas Eve, they probably won't get to bed until close to 10pm but they've done fine with that for the past two years. And they are not at the age where they are up at the crack of dawn for Christmas, so there is no issue of letting them sleep in if they need to.

 

I felt the same way at that age. The rough day the next day was sooooo not worth it to me. I would say the summer before they turned 5 it was easier to keep them up late. So the time will come. But for now, I totally see your point! :good:

 

We almost never let the kids stay up late. The only exception I can think of is this amazing jack-o-lantern festival around Halloween, where there's a path with over 5000 jack-o-lanterns, some of them really elaborate. Naturally, it only starts after dark, and the lines are always long, so it makes for a later night. But that's about it. Otherwise - not worth it for us.

 

I am a sleep zealot. I always have been and always will be. I NEVER have let my kids stay up late. EVER! Now they don't nap, but go to bed at 6:30 pm. Sebastian goes to bed at 5:30 pm. We do NOT stay out past that. I have pretty much memorized HSHHC and have been rewarded HUGELY for following that book. I'm not about to mess it up. Not worth it!

Anyway, nope. You're not alone. We miss a ton of stuff due to my beliefs but I do not care. WE do TONS during the day to make up for it! Night time is for sleeping!

 

We don't push bedtime by more than 30 minutes. Otherwise my guys are totally crazy and cranky for several days afterwards. Yes, we miss some family events, but I'd rather have my kids rested and happy. If there is an event that starts in the evening, we will go, but take their pajamas along and let them fall asleep on the way home.

 

We don't really have any reason to let them stay up later to be honest, so no, unless we're visiting people and it's safer for all of us to just go to bed later (so we can keep an eye on them). Which hasn't happened since last year, so...

 

Staying up an hour or so past their bedtime, they are ok the next day. Anything more than that :gah:

This will be their 4th Christmas and I finally put my foot down and said that they would be in bed no later than 9:30 Christmas eve.

Previous years we would not get home until midnight or later and Christmas day was horrible for us. Last year I got them a train table and was so excited to see their faces. They woke at their usual time, came downstains and my on DS went Godzilla on it, trying to tear it down. :woah: Even after a nap, they were still off because they still had not caught up on their sleep.

What annoyed me the most is family telling me "oh don't worry, they'll sleep in the car on the way home". My boys are strange and would hardly ever sleep in the car. So here I'd be driving for an hour home with SCREAMING exhusted kids in the back seat.

This is the first year that I am not dreading Christmas day with them. I know they'll be rested and we can all enjoy the day.

 

My twins will be two in January. We usually put them to bed between 730 - 8pm on a regular basis. The sleep until about 630-7am. I definately am measured in my decision on when to let them stay up late and christmas, haloween, and other special occassios are certainly ones that are ok to let it slide. I probably wouldn't keep them up past 9pm though.

Having said that, the world won't end if your kids are up late a few nights a year. yes, they are more easily cranky the next day, but just keep them busy and make sure they nap. Everyone will get through the day.

On that note, there is a lot to be said for the important events that happen every now and again. There is a lot of value in having everyone in the family involved in those events. Its a part of building memories and enjoying life. If you spend your time worried more about the next day than the current one you are in, you'll end up missing out on a lot.

I too followed HSHHC and feel as a result my kids are great sleepers and resilliant when we have the days when they don't get the sleep they need. If you re-read that book, he does say that you should keep to the schedule the majority of the time (not all the time) and on special occassions and things like vacations, just enjoy yourself.

We recently flew to New Zeland from the midwest w/ our twins...as lap babies. They only slept 5 hours in a 24 hour period 2x within 2 weeks (way there and way back). They were fine, didn't skip a beat w/ the sleep and schedules. We kept them busy so melt down's were standard and no better/ no worse.

In my opinoin, its christmas...so live a little and just drink heavily the next day or invest in some ear plugs or a babysitter for an extra set of hands

 

My kids have always been pretty good about being flexible about bedtime, maybe because they are used to staying up late, their normal bedtime is 9:30, so staying up until 10:30/11 isn't a big deal. But, we do let them stay up really late if necessary, new years we go to a party at our aunt's house and it's until after the ball drops at midnight. Usually all 4 kids fall asleep in the truck on the way home.

 

My girls dont go to bed until 10:00 or 11:00 most nights but they both almost always sleep in till 10:00 am, well atleast one of them does the other gets up around 9:ish from time to time....But I dont like going anywhere in the evenings because on the way home when its later they always fall asleep in the car then that means a even later night. I have to start working on eariler nights soon, this year they are in afternoon preschool so no biggy. Next year(kindergarden) I think I'm going to keep them in half days and afternoons again so I have time to work on it!!!

 

At least I feel better that I am not the only one. And I do agree with one of the pp that you have to live for the day a bit, and not worry too much about tomorrow. And, honestly I think I would do that more if my kids would take a nap when they were tired, but unfortunately they have stayed up late a few times while on vacation and then we paid dearly for it the next day (my DD gets extremely hard to deal with when she is overtired, and I just know this about her and try to accept it) after a 45min screaming tantrum (where tantrums normally take about 2-4min) where I had to spend 30min getting her to sleep, I am in no hurry to repeat that again (even if it means they miss out on a few family things for another year or two). So, I guess in the end I am not prepared to deal with hours of screaming and tantrums just so the kids can spend an extra 1-2hrs of family fun. We are trying to make up for it by doing things that are fun and making new traditions during waking hours, and I think and hope the kids won't feel that they were left out when they get older. I know one day when they learn to sleep in they will get to participate with us in many more activities, but for now, they need a happy mommy (and that means well slept kids).

 

We've been mostly lucky with our kids sleep schedules; if they stay up late they just sleep in the next morning. At worst, they have to have a nap in the afternoon, but for the most part they're good sleepers. Our schedule has been wild lately so they've been going to bed at all different times and have been pretty good. However, I don't hesitate to put them to bed extra early or down for a nap if I find their behaviour starts getting out of control.

 

I used to be a lot more strict, but it's better now that they are older. Now that they rarely nap, I know if I can get them to nap they can handle staying up late without being insane the next day.

 

On special occasions we let them stay up later. Their normal bedtime is 9 p.m. and for the holidays, my guess is they will be up till at least 10 p.m. They will typically sleep in until 8:30 ish and then will be ready for a nap a bit early the next day.

 

When my kids were your kdis' age, I hated for them to get to bed late regardless of what was going on because of the hell we went through the next day (usually afternoon). I still want my girls to get their full amount of sleep because they get up the same time regardless if they go to bed at 8 or 11, so it is still very important for them to go to bed as close to their normal bedtime as possible. I would often drive separate from my husband at family get togethers so that I could leave when we needed to in order to get the girls to bed (or even to nap). Sure, I missed out, but that was part of it, at least by driving separate, my husband didn't have to. But we are at an advantage because all of our family lives within 30 miles of each other, so it was easy to do that sort of arrangement.

 

I don't let them slide actually. Their bedtimes are around 8:30. They've gone to bed at 9 before and have been fine, but I'm not going to let them stay up late just because of a holiday. There has been a time or two that we've picked them up from a night event at their gym or school and they ended up going to bed after 9, but that was a rare occasion and not really by choice. They do fine, but I cherish the times I have with my husband and without the kids. So the rules on putting them to bed at those times are not just for them, but for us too. But, it also keeps the twins happy the following day and I'm not usually exhausted and remain a happy mommy for them because I can sleep longer before they wake up the next day.

 

I've always been very strict. Going to bed at 6-7 pm when they were young. Now my oldest (7 1/2) goes at 7.30-8.00 pm and the twins (just 5) go at 7.15 pm. They have to get on a school bus at 7.20 am every morning so we wake up at 6.30 am. They won't get home until 3.30 pm. It's full time primary so no more playing around. Even during this break, they usually don't go much later than 8.00/8.30 pm. They do well, sleep a little longer. We've travelled a lot, everywhere, lots of jet lag but they handle it really easily. I think it's because they're generally well rested. Even when sick (which is rare), they sleep. I hardly ever get out of my bed for them and hardly have the past once they slept through. I consider myself lucky but also believe that if you're child gets good quality sleep they'll behave better and are just so much easier to deal with in every possible way.