Mom Confession: My Kids Go to Bed After Midnight

when our dd was born we were houseparents and were often up til midnight or later and up at 6 in the morning.....she was right there with us!....her and i would usually nap in the afternoon....so she was getting plenty of sleep.....even after we left houseparenting she was still pretty much on that same schedule....mainly because that's just how we were and it fit well with dh's work schedule at the time.....after our ds came along things changed a bit.....as he's gotten a little older he's not so much of an "early bird" when it comes to bedtime....he also naps most days....we started with a "school" schedule for dd when she was 4 so that she would be ready for kindergarten....she's a first grader this year and a lot of nights she's still up/awake at 11....maybe later....and has to be up by 7.....she doesn't nap when she gets home.....once every few weeks or so she will have an evening when it all catches up with her and she may be in bed by 7 and sleep all night!....she has a set bedtime....but doesn't always observe it!.....lol

Because both my husband and I work, we started our kids off going down at hours that were not only beneficial to us, but them in the long run as well, as they would have to get up and go to daycare, and one day they will have to go to school. I don't believe in waiting until the last minute to teach children something. Our kids are in the age bracket that should receive anywhere from 10 to 13 hours of sleep, and they get it, because we make sure they do. It's been proven that children who receive the appropriate amount of sleep concentrate better, can learn things easier, etc. So why would I deprive my children of something that is beneficial to them in so many ways? They are kids, not adults, and they should be in the bed at a reasonable hour.

I tried keeping my kids up late so they would sleep in.  It never works for us.  So bedtime is at a reg time at my house

I put other... if you plan on sending your kids to conventional schools (in other words, schools that start in the mid or early morning and get out sometime in the early or mid-afternoon), then my opinion is that it would be better to prepare them for that type of schedule so it isn't as hard when that time comes. If you plan on home-schooling or another type of "free" scheduled schooling, then who cares as long as they get enough sleep! I'd LOVE for my kid to go to bed late and wake up late (my DH and I are both night owls, mostly due to our types of jobs), but we ended up with an early bird! He sometimes will go to bed as early as 6, but he ALWAYS wakes up between 6 and 7, no matter what time he crashes at night!

my son has gone to bed at 9pm since he was 1 1/2 yo. If were out or doing something he may not get to bed til 10@the latest

What Rana said.  My kids had night owl parents (I still am), and their dad was on a 2nd-3rd shift schedule when my boys were little.  By the time my daughter came along, he was first shift and I started adjusting the kids toward that and a regular school schedule that was inevitable. They did adjust at least moderately.

I cannot adjust to the a daytime schedule.  Never have been able to.  If I have to get up early, I just don't sleep. 

I usually put my dd to bed around 9-9:30 cause it won't matter if I let her stay up later, she wakes up at the same time every morning regardless. one time we were at a friends and didn't get home until 2am and she didn't want to sleep there until we left...she woke up @ 8am the next morning...even if I put her to bed @ 9 it's usually 8am she wakes up so, I try to get her down early so hubby and I have our time or I can have "me" time since I'll be up early the following morning.

My husband used to work swing shift and I stayed home so in order for my little one to see him at all I'd let him stay up until Daddy got home. My husband then stayed up with him while I went to bed, our older kids had to go to bed early for school so I needed to be able to get up with them. The littles and Daddy would snuggle until Daddy put them to bed and then sleep in with him while I got the other kids off to school. It worked for us then but now with work and all but one is school we are on a more traditional schedule.