We are huge fans of the early bedtime in our home. It came about naturally for us after a trip to Scotland when Crumb was 3 months old. He had been going to bed around 10 PM like many newborns and when we came home due to the time change, he wanted to go to bed earlier so we transitioned him then. Crumb’s bedtime was 7 PM until this summer when he turned 2 and we switched it to 7:30 PM. A few factors contributed to the change — his age, the extra sunlight in the summer, and the fact that we were transitioning Chip to a 6:45/7 PM bedtime and we didn’t want to have to rush to put them to bed at the same time.

I’d say my mom friends with toddlers and babies are a mixed bag. Some of them put their kids to bed relatively early like us and some of them have 9 or even 10 PM bedtimes. As with anything parenting related, every child is different and what works for one family might not work for another, but I imagine the Cookie household will continue with early bedtimes for as long as possible for a few reasons.

We both crave alone time at night.  Mr. Cookie and I want to relax and zone out in the evenings for different reasons. At the end of the day I’m touched out, questioned out, and just sick of cleaning, wiping, feeding, and organizing. I want to be alone to watch a show or catch up on my favorite YouTube vloggers and ignore everyone else. Mr. Cookie is an introvert who spends all day solving computer coding issues and is very mentally spent when he gets home. He wants to play a video game or watch a superhero show and chill out in his office. Occasionally we spend the evenings together and have recently implemented date night on Fridays so we make sure we have quality time together without the kiddos around.

We can get SO MUCH done after bedtime.  As much as we’d like to, we don’t get to relax all night every night. The evenings are also when I get groceries and run other errands that are so much easier without kids in tow. Mr. Cookie will do odd jobs around the house, assemble IKEA furniture, and take out the trash. We get so much done at night in a very short amount of time that we constantly wonder why we didn’t accomplish more before we had kids, haha!

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I’m a morning person. I much prefer going to bed early and waking up early to staying up late and sleeping in. Mornings are my most productive time and while being a mom has definitely affected my energy level, I still get excited about a brand new day. It makes sense that our kids wake up early, although Crumb has started sleeping in until after 7 AM once in a while and that is glorious. We are usually up by 6 or 6:30 which is fine by me.  Mr. Cookie would argue that it’s way too early but I know plenty of people who start their day before us so I don’t think it’s too bad!

We can get to school and other places on time. I don’t know about you guys, but it takes me forever to get myself and two kids ready to leave the house. I need all the extra time in the morning I can get! Crumb is in a school type program once a week but next fall he’ll be going three days a week and two years after that is kindergarten. If our kids slept in until 8 or 9, I’d worry about getting them up and ready in time for school once that becomes a daily part of life.

Our kids are rested and happy. This is probably the biggest reason we do an early bedtime  It works for our boys. We can tell when they aren’t getting enough sleep because their mood affects us all. I have no idea how much of it is that we started the routine and they got used to it, or if 7ish PM is naturally a good time for them to go to sleep, but we rarely get any resistance from them because they are so ready for bed by that time.

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Sleepy Newborn Chip, photo by Annie Wiegers Photography

Of course it’s not all great, there are some cons to the early bedtime as well.

We have a strict time we need to be home. The boys respond well to routine but it only works if we are as consistent as possible, so unless it’s a special family party or holiday, we are always home by 6:30 or so to get the boys ready for bed. This makes doing fun family things in the evening a bit trickier. We have done an after dinner swim class for Crumb that pushed his bedtime back but all the rushing around was not for us. We are always lenient when it comes to family time and having guests over but if we can, we put the boys to bed as close to their bedtime as possible.

Someone always has to be home. At least one person is stuck in the house after 7 PM unless we get a babysitter so Mr. Cookie and I take turns going to movies or meeting up with friends once in a rare while.

We never get to sleep in. This is toughest on Mr. Cookie but I also miss lazily lying in bed and waking up naturally instead of to a crying baby. Even if our kids go to bed after their bedtime they rarely sleep in; their internal clocks get them up around the same time no matter when they go to sleep so it makes sense to put them to bed earlier so they can get plenty of rest.

When do your LO’s go to bed?  Why does that work for your family?