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Too much fun?
How much "fun" in the summer is too much?
Summer, when the daylight is longer, is when I tend to let the bigger kids stay up, catch fireflies, go swimming and visiting and all those fun things. The stuff you SHOULD do in the summer. The stuff you remember 30 years later and the smell of rain hitting the steamy pavement brings back the memories. But this morning, after 2 nights in a row of late bedtime, my 5 year old was weepy as she went through her normal routine, so now I feel guilty, like I pushed it too hard.
And they are in daycare all day, so it's not like she will have the opportunity to have a nap.
What do you do, hivemind? Does bedtime remain unaltered or do you push the limits in the summer? How do you cope with the morning afters?
Summer, when the daylight is longer, is when I tend to let the bigger kids stay up, catch fireflies, go swimming and visiting and all those fun things. The stuff you SHOULD do in the summer. The stuff you remember 30 years later and the smell of rain hitting the steamy pavement brings back the memories. But this morning, after 2 nights in a row of late bedtime, my 5 year old was weepy as she went through her normal routine, so now I feel guilty, like I pushed it too hard.
And they are in daycare all day, so it's not like she will have the opportunity to have a nap.
What do you do, hivemind? Does bedtime remain unaltered or do you push the limits in the summer? How do you cope with the morning afters?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on
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I let Big O decide when she'd like her schedule to be. Given that freedom, she took complete control and now sleeps in a whole 20 minutes later. It's just ingrained in her to get up early now. If she wants to stay up late for one thing we don't make a fuss. We adjusted Ebay to match. They both are asleep by 9 and up between 6:30 and 7:00. Yes, Ebay sleeps less than O.
When O's cast comes off (She broke her ankle last week, has a walking boot-cast) she and Hubby will be at the pool every night until closing at 9.
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Permalink Reply by Mamawho on
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GirlWho is naturally a night-owl, like her parents, and will happily sleep until noon if given half a chance. Bedtime is 9:30 ish in the summer, and I'll let her watch a little something while she's in bed. That's never allowed on school nights. Of course, she conks out about 10 minutes after laying down to watch a DVD. Had I not let her watch anything, she's be up for another hour, bitching about how she's not at all tired.
I'm home during the days, so we don't have conflicts with late bedtimes and early mornings, but I try to keep her on a decent schedule - and me too. We're both prone to sit around in our jammies until we're so bored that we're irritable. It's more inertia than actual laziness.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Mama on -
I tend to think the wake-up time has to drive the bed-time. If she is waking up on her own before you have to wake her up for daycare then everything is good to go, but if she isn't getting enough sleep then you aren't really doing her any favors by pushing the bedtime back.
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Permalink Reply by Floor Pie on -
Bedtime is tough, because it stays light until 10pm or so this time of year. My rule is that they have to be in bed by regular bedtime, but they can fall asleep at their own pace. The Boy looks at his Lego catalogs, Little Girl plays with her stuffed animals, and eventually they doze off. The last few days, they've been waking up at 7am instead of 6am. I might be kicking myself when school starts, but it works for now...
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Permalink Reply by Mommy Monster on -
It's hard because of the late light in the summer. School bedtime is 8:30, and we've said summer bedtime is 9:30. If they're having a sleepover, it's 11:00. But even without the sleepover, it's often 10 or 10:30 before I get them down. They sleep in until 8:30-ish, so it's not really a problem.
That is until school starts and they have to be up at 6:15 to catch the bus at 6:55. Ugh. The first day is easy because they are excited. The following 2 weeks are a nightmare.
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Permalink Reply by ks on -
Ours go to their beds by 8:30 or 9, unless we're out or something else is going on. They can go to sleep whenever, though, although Mr. S or I will turn the lights off by 9:30-10 most nights, so it's mostly giggling and talking if they manage to stay awake later. A almost always falls asleep pretty quickly, but N is a night owl and will stay up until we practically force him to go to sleep. Then he bitches and whines in the morning when it's time to get up. They'll both sleep in until 8 or so on their own, though, unless we have to wake them for something.
It's pretty much the same during the school year now, except I'm a bit stricter about lights out and sleep--lights go out by 9 and I'd better not hear any talking past about 9:30. We live across the street from the school and it doesn't start until 9, so now that I'm not subbing and I don't have to be anywhere at 7:30 am (and nobody has to drop me off, so they don't have to get up that early either), they tend to get up around 8-8:30 and to school by 9. It's been really nice and we're all a bit spoiled now.
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Permalink Reply by Marissa's Dad on -
I'm such an underachiever here, but I have a good excuse.
Marissa falls asleep between 11PM and 3AM. Can't really change it, as her seizure "schedule" is related to her sleep. If she falls asleep on her own, she has a decent day. If we force it in either direction or try to, the next day is terrible.
The brother on the other hand- 8:30 to midnight, 1AM to 7AM, 8AM to 11AM. Maybe a nap in the afternoon. You can set your watch to it.
Spring, summer, winter or fall. It matters not.
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Permalink Reply by Mommy Monster on
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holy cow MD! That means one of you is up with Miss Marissa until as late as 3 am?? Do you take shifts or what? Plus juggling feedings for the little man?
You seems so matter of fact about it, but seriously, you and Mrs. MD are my heros. I don't know how you manage a coherent thought.
Marissa's Dad said:I'm such an underachiever here, but I have a good excuse.
Marissa falls asleep between 11PM and 3AM. Can't really change it, as her seizure "schedule" is related to her sleep. If she falls asleep on her own, she has a decent day. If we force it in either direction or try to, the next day is terrible.
The brother on the other hand- 8:30 to midnight, 1AM to 7AM, 8AM to 11AM. Maybe a nap in the afternoon. You can set your watch to it.
Spring, summer, winter or fall. It matters not.
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Permalink Reply by Marissa's Dad on
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Yeah, that's basically the deal. It's midnight, and Marissa's rolling around on her playmat, not showing any signs of sleep. I've got no idea (for the moment) what's going on with the little man, but I suspect he's about to wake for some chow.
Coherency left a long time ago, I'm afraid. 2009 maybe?
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Permalink Reply by SweetJudyB on -
We haven't had any morning after fallouts....yet. We were in this blissful schedule of E going to bed around 7-7:30, giving us some down time. Spring, clock changes and the long daylight have thrown all that out the window. Now he's going to bed with us/hubby- literally, not in his crib, around 8:30-9. (Hubby gets up at an ungodly time, so he goes down early). I miss our free time in the evenings.
I think it's not a huge deal, but watch for signs the kids are getting tired, or overtired and punchy.
My SIL was super strict about my nephew's bedtimes and naptimes- and that came around to bite her in the butt when he started school and couldn't handle it.
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Permalink Reply by mightyninjamom on -
I might let them have a couple of late nights here and there, but I try to stick to the schedule. Little B tends to wake between 6:30 and 7:00 am no matter what, so I don't like to keep him up late. The Little Miss is similar, and they are both super cranky the next day if kept up late the night before. Since I despise dealing with them that way, I'll only flex on their bedtime by about a half hour or so, unless it's a special occasion or something.
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen on -
I guess I have it lucky, we are all night owls & my son is only 2.7 so he doesn't have school to worry about. I love going to bed late and waking up late, i'm not sure how we'll cope when he starts school! (Although perhaps that's another reason to homeschool... sleeping in!)
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