Bedtime in HK for Kids

[donnaclews]

Hi, I hear that children have a nap after school and then stay up late.

Is this right?

Is this done by the majority?

Thanks.

 

[carang]

yes, by the majority of the locals. full-day kindergartens have nap-time built into their day (my son's school has nap-time from 12:30-2). local children go to sleep anywhere from 10pm-12am!!!

to me, it's crazy. my kids go to sleep anywhere from 7:30-9pm (only 9pm if we've been out to dinner with the in-laws).

i think that the majority of expat kids go to sleep at the same time as kids in other western countries.

 

[TheQuasimother]

Quite normal for the local kids as they would not see their parents otherwise. And, for many of them, dinner is at 9! So it makes sense to still have that afternoon nap.

Ours doesn't nap during the day and is in bed by 8.

 

[lesliefu]

yes - bed time is later for many local families since many attend afternoon class...and nap so that they can at least get to see their parents for a couple hours a day.

mine is in bed anywhere from 9-9:30pm..quite late by some standards, but she gets to see daddy for 1 hour before bed time, which works well for us....

 

[Sleuth]

We are with Carang. Our 2 YO is usually asleep at 7 or 730. His 3 YO brother hangs on until 8 or 830. Although last night he made it until 10; hopefully that is not a trend.
Whilst having toddlers up until dawn might be okay, when kids start getting older not much good comes after dark.

 

[elaine]

My 3.5 year daughter's bedtime is between 10 to 10.30pm and I tried everything to bring it forward to no avail. She does nap around 1.30pm for 1 - 1.5 hour. She wakes up around 7.30am. I am worried but it looks like this is her natural body rhythmn.

 

[genkimom]

Yep, My son has always stayed up past 11:00 pm, no matter if or when he took a nap, and we often got stared in the US for that, but here in HK, we are "normal!" Not one person looks at us strangely if we go to dinner at 9:30 with our 4 year old. It's been kind of a reliev to not have to face down disapproving glares.....their kids are there too!

 

[yonge]

My 2 year old and 5 year old go to bed at 10:00pm and wake up at 7:00am. They have always slept in aggregate 8-9 hours a day since they were newborns, if I don't count the time spent nursing. Therefore, as they dropped nighttime feeds, the bedtime would get later and later. The younger one still naps in school for about an hour and a half. When we try to push up the bedtime, they actually wake up earlier, so we actually prefer that they wake up at 7:00am than say, 4:00am or 5:00am! I think it's hereditary. My husband and his mother sleep very little. My mother-in-law goes to bed at 3:30am and wakes up every day at 8:00am!

 

[MommyTo3]

My 4 yo's are in bed by 7 pm, my 6 yo at 7.30 pm. She has to wake up at 6.30 am. She needs to sleep 11 hours in order to have a good full day of school. I hear from many teachers at our school that a lot of (local) children are falling asleep during the school day, can hardly keep their eyes open. The brain needs sleep in order to function properly. I don't believe little kids can manage with 8-9 hours a sleep, day in, day out. I still need 8 hours at least!

 

[Portia]

My 4 yo is in bed by 8 pm, then we have our storytime and chat. He's usually fast asleep by 8:30 pm and up by 6:30-6:45 am. He gave up taking afternoon naps before he turned 3 yo, but will sometimes fall asleep in the car in the afternoon.