I love all that summertime brings. Life slows down, there are more vacations, the weather is perfect and the sunny days are longer. As a kid, I enjoyed running around the neighborhood and playing outside well into the evening.
Four years ago, when the world shut down and our kids didn’t have to be up for school, I decided to push bedtime a bit later. It was so nice to be able to enjoy some daylight after dinner. Both of my kids, who were then 4 and 7 years old, started sleeping in just a tad later. It was glorious to have longer evenings and later mornings. Now it’s something I do every summer.
Do you want to make this happen for your toddlers, preschoolers or elementary school-aged kids and be able to enjoy a bit more evening time with them in the summer? Let me walk you through how to make this a reality for you this summer! . Please keep in mind that pushing bedtime later is typically not going to work for babies as their schedule is based on awake windows and their natural circadian rhythms work best with an early bedtime of 7 pm-ish.
Your kiddo might be going to bed at 7 pm and you are LOVING it. If that’s you, don’t change a thing. Keep the early bedtime!
Another reason to keep the bedtime the same is if your child’s schedule isn’t changing. For example, if they still need to wake up at the same time to get to summer camp or daycare, don’t implement a later bedtime or you’ll be robbing them of valuable nighttime sleep.
The goal for nighttime sleep is a glorious 11-12 hours for toddlers and preschoolers. If your toddler is still napping, he might sleep a tad less at night. You also want bedtime to land somewhere between 7-8 pm (8:30 at the very latest) and for your kiddo to fall asleep in 10-15 minutes.
If your child has a great 30-40 minute bedtime routine, falls asleep in 15 minutes, and gets 11-12 hours of zzz’s each night, you can try pushing it later to enjoy the summertime months.
Since sleep isn’t black and white, you’re going to have to play with this a bit and see how your kiddo adjusts.
And don’t forget to maintain a consistent bedtime routine. Kids thrive on that structure so don’t throw it out the window during the summer months. If you don’t have a bedtime routine in place, I can help. Read all about bedtime routines for toddlers and big kids on my blog.
Start by pushing bedtime 15 minutes later. Oftentimes, parents assume that a later bedtime will result in a later morning wake-up. That’s not always true and it can cause some kiddos to wake up even earlier. Again, the goal is to maintain a healthy amount of sleep, 11-12 hours.
If your child goes to bed at 7 pm and wakes sometime between 6-7 am, they are hitting the target goal. Now, push it to 7:15 pm for several days and see what happens. It’s imperative to take note of the bedtime and wake-up time to ensure your child is still getting adequate nighttime sleep.
Next, push the bedtime another 15 minutes later and keep it there for several days. Again, take note of the bedtime, how long it’s taking your kiddo to fall asleep and what time they wake in the morning.
You can continue to push the bedtime later by 15 minutes, but only IF your child is getting an appropriate amount of sleep. If a later bedtime actually makes them wake up earlier than they did before making a shift to bedtime, go back to the original bedtime. Your kiddo isn’t ready for a later bedtime and will actually be getting less than adequate sleep if you move bedtime later.
Don’t Forget to Shift the Schedule Back Before School Starts In the Fall.
I suggest marking your calendar to reverse the later schedule about 2 weeks before school starts. Kiddos need an even earlier bedtime as their bodies and brains adjust to being back to school. Here are some back-to-school sleep tips for you. Copy the link and paste it into your calendar a few weeks before school starts.
Happy Summer!