Need advice for bed time for an 11 year old

amother

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 12:28 am

Hi!
So we just moved, which means an earlier wake up time for my daughter. We used to live 4 blocks away from school. School starts at 8am so she would wake up at 7 every morning. She goes to bed at about 11 each night. I've always found getting her to bed ealier was difficult, as she would come home, do homework, eat dinner, then get ready for bed. She'd always want some time to talk in the phone with her friends as well.
Ever since we moved, she now has to wake up at 6am to make her bus on time (as we now live further from the school) at around 7:10 am.
Things have been hard as this new schedule just started last week. Any ideas on how to get her to bed by at least 10 pm each night without stress? She gets home from school at around 6pm but gets most of her homework done on the bus. She comes home at 6, showers, eats dinner, wants time to talk to friends, then gets ready for bed. It almost seems impossible to do all that in the span of 4 hours, especially when she wants to unwind after a long day first. Any advice on a better bedtime schedule (where she would be in bed by 10) would be great. This all honestly seems impossible.
Thanks in advance for your responses

Teomima

Thu, Feb 18 2021, 1:53 am

11 seems like a very, very late bedtime for an 11 year old. At that age my kids went to bed at 9-9:30 (up by 6:30-7).

Also school till 6 is very strange for me so my advice/experience might not be applicable. That seems like such a late hour for a kid to get home, I can understand her wanting to stay up later. But it still doesn't seem like too much in 4 hours, especially if there's no homework. My kids would get home around 3 but then have a couple of hours of homework and chores before eating, relaxing, etc. Maybe sit and make a schedule together, estimate how long every activity should take and figure out something you both agree upon. Also, maybe chatting with friends can come earlier, so the later hours are for showering and quiet relaxation, like reading. That'll help her system calm down earlier to help her be ready for bed at a more reasonable hour.