Most of my kids are bleary-eyed and grumpy in the morning and on school mornings, I almost always have to drag the boys out of their beds. It’s not a very pleasant job, especially when my natural state in the morning is not exactly conducive to rising with the sun either.

By the time school is over, tempers are running shorter, certain younger folks fall apart at the smallest provocation and everyone is just crabby. If we have to drive somewhere, generally everybody falls asleep.

All this seems to indicate to me that my kids aren’t getting enough sleep.

Which made me wonder: How much sleep do they need anyway? Once upon a time, I was well-educated as far as how much sleep babies need, but I haven’t ever paid much attention to the requirements for school-age kids. Since sleep is so important for kids’ growth, development, behavior and success in school, I want to make sure they’re getting what they need.

I put the boys to bed around 8:00 p.m. and they get up a little bit before 7:00 a.m. Of course, they don’t exactly go right to sleep, especially since they share a room now and keep each other up, so they’re often awake until 9:00 p.m. or later. The girls usually go down around 8:30 p.m., but I let them read for awhile. They also get up a little before 7:00 a.m.

So the boys probably average 10 hours of sleep and the girls between 9-1/2 and 10. I’m guessing that’s not enough.

According to an article on WebMD.com, they may not be getting quite enough shut-eye time in. The site states that 3-6 year-olds need between 10-3/4 and 12 hours per day, while 7-12 year-olds need 10-11 hours per day.

However, an information sheet from The National Sleep Foundation says that kids ages 5-12 need 10-11 hours in dreamland. If that’s the case, then my kids are getting close to what they need.

As with most everything, the amount of sleep a kid needs probably boils down to the individual. Still, I like to see hard and fast figures so I have a number to start with. Most likely, my kids got unlucky and inherited my “needs-more-sleep-than-the-average-person” gene and that’s why it seems like they are often tired.

I’m not sure how to solve this problem. I’ve tried putting the boys to bed at 7:30 instead of 8:00, but it’s very difficult to cram everything into only 3 hours every evening.

Sleep deprivation is an ugly thing. It brings out the worst in kids and thereby the worst in parents as well. For the sake of family harmony, it’s imperative that everyone gets all the zzzzs they need.

Maybe I can get the kids to take a daily nap this summer. Then I can take one too.

Ha. I wish.

Do your kids have any sleep issues? Do they get enough sleep? If the little darlings share a room, do they keep each other awake? If not, tell me how you’re doing that!

Tags: children, family, getting enough sleep, kids, large families, mom, parenting, sleep, tired kids, twins