Children need a lot of sleep and it can be difficult to know what time to put them to bed. To help us out, a teacher shares a table showing the time to go to bed according to the time you wake up.
Between 10 and 13 hours from 3 to 5 years old, between 9 and 12 hours from 5-6 years old and up to adolescence, between 8 and 10 hours for teenagers: children need a lot of sleep for their development and health. However, it is sometimes difficult to know what time to put them to bed depending on when they will have to get up the next day to go to school or participate in activities while having slept enough.
To help parents better understand when their children should go to bed, Stacy Karlsen, a teacher at Wilson Elementary School, came up with an idea. She shared a chart with bedtimes by age and wake-up time. She published it in 2015, and it’s so handy that it’s still making the rounds online regularly. Here are her recommendations:
- For a 6am wake-up: bedtime at 6:45pm for 5 year olds, 7pm for 6 year olds, 7:15pm for 7 year olds, 7:30pm for 8 year olds, 7:30pm for 9 year olds, 8pm for 10 year olds, 8:15am for 11 year olds and 8:15am for 12 year olds.
- Wake up at 6:15 a.m.: bedtime at 7 p.m. for 5-year-olds, 7:15 p.m. for 6-year-olds, 7:15 p.m. for 7-year-olds, 7:30 p.m. for 8-year-olds, 8 p.m. for 9-year-olds, 8:15 p.m. for 10-year-olds, 8:30 p.m. for 11-year-olds, and 8:30 p.m. for 12-year-olds.
- Wake up at 6:30 a.m.: bedtime at 7:15 p.m. for 5-year-olds, 7:30 p.m. for 6-year-olds, 7:30 p.m. for 7-year-olds, 8:00 p.m. for 8-year-olds, 8:15 p.m. for 9-year-olds, 8:30 p.m. for 10-year-olds, 8:45 p.m. for 11-year-olds and 8:45 p.m. for 12-year-olds.
- Wake up at 6:45 a.m.: bedtime at 7:30 p.m. for 5-year-olds, 7:30 p.m. for 6-year-olds, 8:00 p.m. for 7-year-olds, 8:15 p.m. for 8-year-olds, 8:30 p.m. for 9-year-olds, 8:45 p.m. for 10-year-olds, 9:00 p.m. for 11-year-olds and 9:00 p.m. for 12-year-olds.
- Wake up at 7am: bedtime at 7:30pm for 5 year olds, 8pm for 6 year olds, 8:15pm for 7 year olds, 8:30pm for 8 year olds, 8:45pm for 9 year olds, 9pm for 10 year olds, 9:15pm for 11 year olds and 9:15pm for 12 year olds.
- Wake up at 7:15 a.m.: bedtime at 8 p.m. for 5-year-olds, 8:15 p.m. for 6-year-olds, 8:30 p.m. for 7-year-olds, 8:45 p.m. for 8-year-olds, 9 p.m. for 9-year-olds, 9:15 p.m. for 10-year-olds, 9:30 p.m. for 11-year-olds and 9:30 p.m. for 12-year-olds
- Wake up at 7:30 a.m.: bedtime at 8:15 p.m. for 5-year-olds, 8:30 p.m. for 6-year-olds, 8:45 p.m. for 7-year-olds, 9:00 p.m. for 8-year-olds, 9:15 p.m. for 9-year-olds, 9:30 p.m. for 10-year-olds, 9:45 p.m. for 11-year-olds and 9:45 p.m. for 12-year-olds.
As you may have noticed, these schedules are very strict and, for some, particularly early. As we know, putting your child to bed before 7 p.m. or even before 7:30-8 p.m. is sometimes impossible for some parents who finish late. You must therefore try to respect them as much as possible, while keeping in mind that you do what you can according to your own possibilities.