what time do your toddlers go to bed?

[trailingspouse]

Hi there,

I am moving to HK in november with twin boys who will be just 3 and a baby who will be 18 months. What I was wondering was what sort of sleep routine do people in HK tend to follow with their children? I have my twins in bed by 7.30 pm here (UK), but was wondering if people tended to keep their children up later in HK as the weather is warmer in the evening. is it more of a medeterranian style arrangment of a siesta then a later bed time, or should i plan on sticking with my early to bed routine? I like the idea of taking them out for walks and so on in the evening to enjoy the cooler weather but was wondering if other people do this as well.

thank you in advance!

 

[wanfamily]

Both mine (one 3 yrs and one 9 months) are in bed by around 7:30. But I'm from the UK and a lot of my Chinese friends have their kids go to bed a lot later. Personally, I prefer to stick to the early bed time for a few reasons: 1) I think it's better for the kids ( they need at east 12 hours at this stage) 2) On the few occasions they have had to go to bed later, they wake up just as early but a lot more grumpy 3)By the time they go to school, they're going to have to go to bed earlier anyway.(Some of my Chinese friend's kids have started going to bed earlier once they are in school )
That's just my 2 bits worth...

 

[pooch]

as a generalisation you tend to find that Chinese families keep their children up later and Western families stick to earlier bed times.

My almost-3 year old goes to bed at 7.30pm and still naps in the day at 12.30/1pm for a few hours.
His younger brother goes to bed any time between 6.30 and 7pm.

 

[Seb's Dad]

agree with the pp's.
our youngest are in bed by 7.30pm.

 

[kashismum]

Those who keep their kids up later often do so to allow the working members of the family to spend some time with them. HK job are rarely like UK ones and you can't leave the office at 5;30/6.
So, to compensate, children as old as 5 or 6 will still nap in the afternoon and attend school in the morning.
Having said that, I put my kids to bed by 8pm as I like to have some adult time in the evening as well as all the reasons previously stated.

 

[mel_g20]

Hello, also from UK and my kids are in bed the same time as everyone else has stated here. Just to let you know that it is dark by 7pm even in the summer here, and dark by 6pm in the winter. There are no long light summer evenings like in the UK, which I really miss - so if you go out late it will be dark

 

[NYCMel]

My 13 month year old is in bed at 7pm.

 

[carang]

my two kids (2 & 4) go to bed between 7-8pm.

however, as previous posters have mentioned, most chinese parents keep their kids awake MUCH, MUCH MUCH later. i have kids at my playgroup centre the MUST have afternoon classes as they don't wake up until 10:30-11am!!! when i commented on how late they wake up, i was informed "of course she sleeps so late, she doesn't go to bed until .... MIDNIGHT!"

as for "cooler" temperatures... please be aware that the temperatures in the evening are usually only a few degrees different in the summer time (may-september).

 

[tallmama]

I'm local Chinese. My girl sleeps from 8pm to 7:30am since she's 6 weeks old (she's 11 mths now). Quite a few of my friends also put their babies to sleep around this time. Yet, the majority of local parents do let their kids sleep as late as 10 or even later. Like Kashismom says, it's very common for both parents going to work and they want to enjoy some quality time with their kids when they're home. Most of them will be surprised to hear that ur babies sleep at this time and they do think babies sleeping early (7pm, 8pm) are weird! My mother-in-law always thinks i give my girl special training and force her to sleep at 8pm! I don't care about what she says. It's my baby's routine. She has 2 naps in day time and she sleeps like an angel when we put her to bed.

 

[Neha]

our son used to sleep between 7-8 but now a days he sleeps by 9 and wakes up by 7.00 which is normal time he never slept more than 10 hours at a stretch and he sleeps in the afternoon for 2 hours so he makes up his 12 hours of sleep. There are days when doesnt take his afternoon nap he sleeps early at 7 and wakes up at 6-7