What Time Should an 8-Year-Old Go to Bed? School Nights, Weekends and Summer

An 8-year-old who wakes up at 7:00 AM should go to bed around 8:15 PM, and no later than 9:45 PM. That gives about 10.5 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 8-year-old. Eight is often the year after-school activities start in earnest, so this page covers school nights, busy evenings, weekends and summer.

What time should an 8-year-old go to bed on a school night?

Count back 10 hours and 45 minutes from the time your child has to get up. For a 7:00 AM wake-up that's 8:15 PM; for 6:30 AM it's 7:45 PM.

The "latest" column is the last bedtime that still meets the 9-hour minimum. It's a floor for the occasional late night, not the everyday target. The "earliest" column is the top of the range: few 8-year-olds need 12 hours, but an early night after a big day does no harm.

Ten and a half hours is a starting point, not a rule. If your child is hard to wake, melts down by late afternoon or falls asleep in the car, try 15 minutes earlier for a week and see what changes.

What time should an 8-year-old go to bed for school?

Set bedtime from the real school-day wake-up, including the time it takes to get ready and catch the bus. If the bus comes at 7:15 and your child needs 45 minutes to get up, dress and eat, the wake-up is 6:30 AM and bedtime is about 7:45 PM.

That can feel early, especially in fall when it's still light out. Two things help:

• Work back from lights-out. For a 7:45 PM lights-out, the routine starts around 7:15 PM and screens go off before that.
• Change it in steps. If bedtime has drifted to 9:00 PM over the summer, move it 15 minutes earlier every couple of nights for the week or two before school starts.

How much sleep does an 8-year-old need?

An 8-year-old needs 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night. The AASM's pediatric guideline sets that range for all children aged 6 to 12 and links regular sleep in that range to better attention, behavior, learning, memory and mental health.

Naps are long gone by 8, so it all has to come at night. Most 8-year-olds do well on about 10 to 10.5 hours, and some need closer to 11.

What time should an 8-year-old go to bed with practice or activities?

On late-activity nights, shorten the routine rather than moving lights-out. A 6:00 PM practice can push dinner, homework and bath right up against an 8:15 PM bedtime. A quick shower, one short book and lights out keeps most of the sleep.

If the same activity runs late two or three nights a week, it's worth looking at the whole week. One night at the 9:45 PM floor is fine; several in a row adds up, and Friday afternoon is usually when it shows.

What time should an 8-year-old go to bed on the weekend?

Keep weekend bedtime and wake-up within about an hour of school nights. If your child wakes at 7:00 AM on weekdays, an 8:00 AM weekend wake-up and a 9:15 PM bedtime keep the same 10.5 hours without moving their body clock much.

Regular bedtimes matter at this age. A large UK study of more than 10,000 seven-year-olds found that children without regular bedtimes had more behavioral difficulties, as rated by mothers and teachers, and those who moved to regular bedtimes showed improvement. It's observational, so it can't prove cause, but it's a good reason to keep weekend times close. A sleepover now and then is fine; just plan a normal bedtime the next night.

What time should an 8-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. For an 8:30 AM wake-up, bed around 9:45 PM still gives about 10.5 hours.

Bright evenings are a common reason children this age can't settle in June and July, so blackout curtains or blinds help. About two weeks before school starts, move both times 15 minutes earlier every couple of days until you're back on the school schedule.

Is 9 PM too late for an 8-year-old?

On a school night with a 7:00 AM wake-up, 9 PM gives about 9 hours 45 minutes of sleep, which is inside the healthy range but below the 10.5-hour target. With a 6:30 AM wake-up it gives about 9 hours 15 minutes, close to the floor.

So 9 PM is fine now and then, but most 8-year-olds do better with an earlier lights-out on school nights.

Getting an 8-year-old to bed on time

A routine that ends the same way every night does more than any argument at bedtime. The full version by age is in bedtime routine for kids.

• Start about 30 minutes before lights-out: shower, pajamas, teeth, then reading in bed.
• Keep phones and tablets out of the bedroom. In a review of 20 studies of school-age children and teens, bedtime device use was linked to roughly twice the odds of not getting enough sleep, and even having a device in the room without using it was linked to poorer sleep.

The year below is in what time should a 7-year-old go to bed, and the year above in what time should a 9-year-old go to bed. For any other wake time, the kids bedtime calculator gives the window in a tap.

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, wake often every night, or have had trouble falling asleep for weeks.