First grader bed time?

I think 8pm is good time, they're still young and need a lot of sleep. In the summer I'd say feel free to extend this. I extend it on the weekends with my daughter who is 5; her normal bedtime is anytime between 7:30 and 8:30 depending on whether she's got something going on in the evening, i.e. dance, swimming lessons. If they're able to sleep in the next day or don't have any big plans I don't see what it's hurting to let them stay up a little bit longer.

I agree that 8 p.m. is a good time for that age, but also feel it is dependant upon the child. My kids are nightowls - always have been. When this subject camp up with some other moms at their school, they were amazed (and somewhat appalled) how late their bedtimes were. I tried puttung them to bed earlier and they couldn't sleep. They are straight A students and have never been hard to wake up. One of my kids' friends is 10 and has to go to bed at 8 p.m. She often comment she just closes her door and does other stuff until 10:00 or 10:30.

sure, fine, whatever

We shoot for 8 - in the summer I let it slide a bit to 8:30 or 9 depending on how the day is going. but if we have a 9 one night, then i try for 8 the following night.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

My 1st grader goes to bed by 7:30 - at the latest. Sometimes 7 p.m.

However, Scottsdale schools start the elem. the earliest, with the older kids starting school later. So her bus comes at 7:08, and she must be up by 6:30.
My friends who are in PV schools with a 9 a.m. start time can let their kids sleep later, and thus, they have later bedtimes.

Honestly, by 7, she is tired, and gets too cranky and obnoxious the next day if she stays up past 8!

We have never changed bedtimes just because it is summer. The kids don't expect to stay up later either.

Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 7 yr. old daughter and a 5 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.

I would agree with 8pm as long as your child is getting at least 9-11 hours of sleep, according to research studies for that age range.

There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one!

My first grader goes to bed at 8, up at 7. My preschooler is on the same schedule. Vacations and weekends stay the same. My kids benefit from being on a schedule - and I benefit from it as well. At least I know that when 8:00 rolls around I'll have time for myself and the hubby. The only exception is that my kids earn rewards, and one of the rewards they can pick is that they can stay up late (1/2 hour for the 4 YO; 1 hour for the 7 YO) on a weekend night.

My soon to be 1st grader goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and wakes around 6:30 a.m. We will probably let it slide a little for the summer, but I don't want too much of a transition when school starts up again.

I too think 8 pm is good time. I found it was good to keep up routines as much as possible, although it is difficult in the summer time, I tried to always keep my children's bedtime in the same ballpark as their school year bedtime. I gave them an extra 30 minutes at least each night, but I tried to not let it extend too far beyond that. Of course, there would be exceptions, but it made for a better transition into the school year. If we were getting too far away from the school year bedtime, I found that it was always best to start at least a week before school started again to get them back into the school year routine. If you wait until the night before school starts to get them back to the 8 o'clock time, it will be a struggle.

JuneSlager is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com, raising three children (ages 15, 14, & 11) in Northeast Phoenix.