An 11-year-old who wakes up at 7:00 AM should go to bed around 8:45 PM, and no later than 9:45 PM. That gives about 10 hours of sleep, inside the 9 to 12 hours the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for children aged 6 to 12. Each bedtime on this page includes about 15 minutes to fall asleep.
These are the same numbers the kids bedtime calculator gives for an 11-year-old. Eleven is often the first year of middle school, with an earlier bus, more homework and, for many kids, a first phone, so this page covers school nights, weekends, summer and early alarms.
Free toolSleep Needs by AgeRecommended hours for every age, from newborns to over-65s.What time should an 11-year-old go to bed on a school night?
Count back 10 hours and 15 minutes from the time your child has to get up. For a 7:00 AM wake-up that's 8:45 PM; for 6:30 AM it's 8:15 PM.
| Wake-up time | Ideal (10 h) | Latest (9 h) | Earliest (12 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | 7:45 PM | 8:45 PM | 5:45 PM |
| 6:15 AM | 8:00 PM | 9:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| 6:30 AM | 8:15 PM | 9:15 PM | 6:15 PM |
| 6:45 AM | 8:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
| 7:00 AM | 8:45 PM | 9:45 PM | 6:45 PM |
| 7:30 AM | 9:15 PM | 10:15 PM | 7:15 PM |
The "latest" column is the last bedtime that still meets the 9-hour minimum, so it's for busy nights, not every night. The "earliest" column is the top of the range; few 11-year-olds need 12 hours, but a tired child after a big week may sleep close to it.
What time should an 11-year-old go to bed if they wake up at 6am?
For a 6:00 AM wake-up, an 11-year-old should go to bed around 7:45 PM, and no later than 8:45 PM. That's the same 10-hour target, just earlier, and it often feels very early to a tween.
If 7:45 PM simply won't happen, protect the 8:45 PM floor first. Then look at the morning: can lunch be packed and clothes laid out the night before so the alarm moves to 6:15 or 6:30? Every 15 minutes gained in the morning is 15 minutes of bedtime you don't have to fight for.
Early middle-school starts aren't just a family problem. The American Academy of Pediatrics has named school start times before 8:30 AM as a key, changeable cause of insufficient sleep in middle and high school students, and urges schools to start later. Until your school does, the earlier bedtime is the lever you have.
What time should an 11-year-old go to bed and wake up?
A workable school-night schedule for most 11-year-olds is lights out at 8:45 PM and up at 7:00 AM, or 8:15 PM and 6:30 AM. Both give about 10 hours.
If bedtime is the fixed point instead, add 15 minutes to fall asleep plus 10 hours:
| Bedtime | 10 hours ends at | 9 hours ends at |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 PM | 6:15 AM | 5:15 AM |
| 8:30 PM | 6:45 AM | 5:45 AM |
| 9:00 PM | 7:15 AM | 6:15 AM |
| 9:30 PM | 7:45 AM | 6:45 AM |
| 10:00 PM | 8:15 AM | 7:15 AM |
So a 10:00 PM bedtime only reaches the 9-hour minimum with a wake-up of 7:15 AM or later, which is why it's usually too late on a school night.
How much sleep does an 11-year-old need?
An 11-year-old needs 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night. The AASM range is the same for every child from 6 to 12, and its guideline links regular sleep in that range to better attention, behavior, learning, memory and mental health. The calculator aims for 10 hours from age 10 to 12.
What time should an 11-year-old go to bed on the weekend?
Keep weekend bedtime and wake-up within about an hour of school nights. If your child is up at 7:00 AM on weekdays, an 8:00 AM weekend wake-up and a 9:45 PM bedtime keep the same 10 hours without shifting their body clock much.
| Weekend wake-up | Bedtime for 10 hours |
|---|---|
| 7:30 AM | 9:15 PM |
| 8:00 AM | 9:45 PM |
| 8:30 AM | 10:15 PM |
Sleepovers are part of being 11. Expect a short night and a tired day after, then plan a normal bedtime the next night instead of a long lie-in that pushes Sunday night later.
What time should an 11-year-old go to bed in the summer?
In summer, a later bedtime is fine as long as wake-up moves later by the same amount and your child still gets about 10 hours. For a 9:00 AM wake-up, that means bed around 10:45 PM.
| Summer wake-up | Ideal bedtime | Latest (9 h) |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | 10:15 PM | 11:15 PM |
| 9:00 AM | 10:45 PM | 11:45 PM |
| 9:30 AM | 11:15 PM | 12:15 AM |
The hard part is September, especially if middle school means an earlier alarm than last year. About two weeks before school starts, move bedtime and wake-up 15 minutes earlier every couple of days. If bedtime has already crept late, how to go to bed earlier walks through it in small steps.
Phones at night for an 11-year-old
The most useful single rule at this age is that phones and tablets charge outside the bedroom. In a review of 20 studies of more than 125,000 children and teens, bedtime device use was linked to roughly twice the odds of not getting enough sleep. Even having a device in the bedroom without using it was linked to shorter, poorer sleep and more daytime sleepiness. These are associations, not proof, but the pattern is consistent.
- A family charging spot in the kitchen or hallway, used by parents too
- Screens off about an hour before the bedtime in the chart
- An alarm clock instead of the phone, so there's no reason to keep it nearby
The year below is in what time should a 10-year-old go to bed, and ages 10 to 12 side by side are in what time should a 12-year-old go to bed. For any other wake time, use the kids bedtime calculator.
When to talk to your pediatrician
Check with your child's pediatrician if they snore loudly most nights or have pauses or gasps in breathing while asleep, are very sleepy during the day despite enough time in bed, or have had trouble falling or staying asleep for weeks.