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Kids and their sleep

Kids and their sleep patterns confuse me. One moment they are sleeping and the next they aren’t. And I am pretty sure this yo-yo lasts until they are teenagers!

I was chatting with my bestie about this because she was having sleep dramas with her 8 year old. It’s like they suddenly decide they can’t sleep anymore… The cycle just goes round and round…

When they are babies they sleep through anything. You can vacuum around them, talk loudly and nothing wakes them.

Then they turn in to little monsters where they won’t sleep as toddlers. We start the sleep/cry routine.

They tend to snap out of it when they hit school.

All of my kids have then gone back to some feral sleep pattern from the ages 6-8. Not all the time, but in waves of it. They are at a stage where they don’t like us going to bed before them. Now I feel like we’re back to brand new babies where they’d rather you be vacuuming, chatting and watching tv while they try to sleep. I like to go to bed at 8.30pm though, so they always ask “how much tv will you watch?” Ha! It’s like they need to know you’ll be asleep after them.

Whilst they aren’t driving me mad with it, it still baffles me when they carry on about how they “can’t sleep”. After all the activities they do I can’t believe they aren’t exhausted some days.

Me? My head hits the pillow and I’m gone…

How’s the sleeping in your house?

6 comments

  • A-M

    I used to be like that as a little girl! I was scared if my parents went to bed/sleep before me. It’s a safety thing. Now my eldest tucks me in at night, as he studies until 11pm some nights. And would sleep all day on the weekends if he could. Makes a nice change from ‘good morning Mummy’ at 4.30am that we had for the first 10 years. No wonder I am an early bird. He’s ruined me! Love Texie’s room! xx

  • Kimberly

    I feel like a zombie this morning..with a 3 week old baby that’s gonna do it! I also have a 2.5 year old who likes to come in and sleep sideways between mum & dad with hands resting on each of us..thankfully my 5 year old sleeps through..but only after he and his brother have whined and cried because their not tired, can’t sleep, too hot, thirsty, need another cuddle..you know how it goes! ahh, the joys. 🙂 love my 3 boys to bits though!! x

    • Katrina (author)

      Oh you would feel like a zombie with a new bubba. I remember that feeling! But enjoy because it goes so fast! X

  • Helen Jaman

    I’m out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow…I like a good 9hrs (at least) lol…hubby on the other hand stays up watching things till midnight ! Our 14yr old still does not sleep in (I’m waiting for that whole teenager sleeping in thing to happen ?!!)…no matter how late he may go to bed…he’s up doing his thing the next morning…even when he was younger and if we went out or had friends over till midnight he’d still be up bright and early the next morning…he was never a good sleeper as a baby and always woke in the night…always…We have always followed a strict routine of bedtime on a school night, funny how it changes as they get older…I remember it being 7.30, then 8.30, now he seems to be pushing 9.30 some nights and he’s not tired otherwise ! How is this so, as he does way much more sport and activities, not to mention how much more his mind is working !!? I find peoples sleep patterns fascinating ! Hx ps great photo !

    • Katrina (author)

      Oh I am hanging for when the children finally sleep in! I may regret that though when I can’t get them out of bed ever haha!

  • Susan Henshaw via Facebook

    My 13yo son has always been a late to bed kid, he started off with only 5 hours sleep a day as a newborn. Currently he needs to be in bed by 8:30pm to get enough sleep, but he will try to push it out to 9:30pm, after that he has difficulty getting up in the morning. My daughter is almost 5yo and still at Kinder, she is also going through the stage of wanting to stay up as late as us…. however my bedtime changes, the earliest I get to bed is 11pm, but generally it is closer to 12 and at the worst 1am. Sometimes she doesn’t make it to kinder or is late, but we are already pre-empting next year and telling her that she has to to get up to go to school on time, but currently she is still having afternoon naps, so it is going to be an interesting change next year for her.

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