Bedtimes are sort of controversial, because everyone does things differently, and yet everyone things they’re right.
Here’s my take: you can’t really win. Your kid is going to sleep or not according to their whims.
If you put them to bed early, they’ll wake up at the crack of dawn, but if you put them to bed late, they might still be up with the sun.
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If you miss your window, and they get overtired? Forget having an evening to watch television and veg with your partner, my friend.
If you’re wondering what the experts have to say about appropriate bedtimes for your child’s age, this handy dandy chart should be able to help.
One thing we know for sure is that kids need more sleep than adults, and not getting enough can negatively impact their ability to thrive and learn throughout the day – which is why it makes sense that an elementary school is who posted the chart to Facebook in the first place.
Parents have a lot of thoughts, many of which are that it’s not exactly possible to make these bedtimes happen for a slew of reasons – sports, illness, schoolwork, etc.
That said, I think the point is to remind parents that sleep is important, and kids who are under 13 shouldn’t be allowed to set as late a bedtime as they would like.
There’s been plenty of discussion, considering the post has 64,000 reactions, 463,000 shares, and over 14,000 comments, but the people who posted it are staunch in their belief that guidelines aren’t rules, and both have to be applied to individual children and families.
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Hopefully that means you’ll get some much-needed shuteye of your own!