Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Caught reading past bedtime

I tried searching for a previous post on this but couldn't find one. My DD6 has become a voracious reader and I've recently realized why she's been so quiet after she has been put to bed at 8pm. She has one of those constellation turtle nightlights which she likes to turn on initially and if she wakes up from a nightmare. I caught her reading her book with the colored light crammed up right against her book which we thought was amusing until we discovered she does this every night. I'm concerned about her eyes reading under these conditons. Should I get her a bedside light? With school starting, I am afraid she will read well past 10pm with a light on. She insists she can't fall asleep. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Sometimes a few minutes with a book is exactly what's needed to fall right to sleep. It's often the last thing DW and I do for the day, too. So, we allow it. DD can use the bedroom light, and she has a book light, too.

If you're concerned about reading too long, you can always check back later.

It may also be worth revisiting her schedule, because sleep needs do decrease as they age, and the sun isn't even setting until 8pm this time of year.

A LightWedge book light might be helpful, and possibly safer than a lamp.

Many gifted kiddos seem to sleep less than the norm.

maybe an electronic reader? the main reason I like those is I don't need a separate light since the iphone/ipad has built in light and I can read my books late into the night, but if there is no activity from me for a while (like no turning of the pages), it shuts off itself. I can remember using a flashlight for a while as a kid, and then when my parents finally just let me read, I had fallen asleep many nights with the lights on because I got too tired to remember to turn them off (I suspect my parents have turned off my light for me too in the middle of the night when they found me asleep with the lights on).

We gave our DD a flashlight, and negotiated a firm "lights out" time with her. We reminded her (if she was still awake at that point).

But this has been an ongoing thing at our house, too. I would probably NOT use an e-reader for a child this age, unless it is lacking gaming/internet functions entirely, and has a brightness setting that you can tamp WAY down-- screen lights can interfere with sleep regulation.

Even if your child goes to bed on time, there is no guarantee that he or she won't wake up and read in the middle of the night. We couldn't figure out why my DS was so tired all of the time when he was about 6 until he confessed that he had been having "midnight reading parties."

I have no idea how late my son would stay up reading if I let him. He does need a fair amount of sleep and does not self regulate well.

If he did self regulate better, I may let him, but I would look at a having a light source that had less of the blue light wavelengths which hamper melatonin production! I'm sure he would love to stay up in bed reading.... I wonder if I should try letting him.......

DD will fall asleep with a book, but we have also then caught her reading later (wakes up and starts reading again). This was particularly dangerous when she did this the week of MAP winter testing. Of course, by then, the PS had already done so much testing for the year, that I almost wanted to just let her read.

Good quality sleep is very important to learning and mood, though. So we tend to enforce "lights out" at a certain time.

This depends very much on the child. Some will fall asleep after a reasonable amount of time spent reading, and others won't. I have one child who has a "head on pillow" time, but no other restrictions. She will naturally get enough sleep, sometimes reading for a few hours, other times, falling asleep nearly right away. I have another child who has not been regulating himself well, and we've had to impose true "lights out" times.

I bring home books on CD for my dd. Lights out at 9 but listen as long as you like.