Some nights bedtime is easy. Other nights you're on your third trip upstairs for "just one more" glass of water, and you're starting to suspect they're doing it on purpose. (They are. A little.)
Then the holidays show up. Class parties, weeknight school concerts, late dinners at Grandma's, and a countdown to the big day that has everyone wound up. It's a fun season, but it's hard on bedtime.
If bedtime already feels like a battle, one of these five things might be part of the problem. Most of us never think to check number 2.
This article is sponsored by Avocado Green Mattress.
1. Their Bedtime Keeps Changing
It starts with one late night. The time changes. A holiday party runs long. A concert on a school night... before long, an 8 p.m. bedtime quietly shifts to 9:30, and everyone pays for it the next morning.
Kids' bodies run on a schedule, and they notice when it slips. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping bedtime and wake-up time consistent, weekends included.
What helps: You won't hit bedtime every night this season, and that's OK. The trick is getting right back to it the next night so one late party doesn't become the new normal. On the late nights, keep whatever pieces of the routine you can. Pack pajamas for the drive home so they can go straight from the car to bed, and read one short book even if it's way past bedtime.
Not sure what time bedtime should be? School-age kids need 9 to 12 hours of sleep, and teens need 8 to 10. Check how much sleep your child needs by age →
2. Something in Their Bedroom Is Keeping Them Up
We put a lot of energy into the bedtime routine and almost none into the bed itself.
A room that's too warm or too bright can keep kids awake. So can scratchy sheets or a mattress they've outgrown. Little kids rarely say "my mattress is uncomfortable." They say "I can't get comfy" for the fifth time, or they show up in your bed at 2 a.m.
Do a quick bedroom check tonight. Lie down on your kid's bed for a minute. Is it lumpy or saggy? Is a streetlight shining right on the pillow? Is their room warmer than yours? A cooler room, darker curtains, and soft bedding helps with more bedtime problems than you'd think.
If the mattress is the problem, Avocado Green Mattress makes one just for kids. The Eco Organic Kids Mattress has individually wrapped coils for support, certified organic latex, and a soft organic cotton cover. At 7 inches thick, it fits many kids' beds, including suitable bunks and trundles, which is good news if you've wondered whether a "real" mattress would work on a bunk bed.
Avocado also makes pillows and bedding with certified organic materials, so you can give the rest of their sleep setup a refresh, too.
 |
AVOCADO HOLIDAY SALE · NOW THROUGH DEC. 7
Give Their Bed a Refresh. Save Up to 20%.
If your kid's bed is due for an upgrade, now's a good time. Avocado's certified organic kids' mattresses, pillows, and bedding are on sale through December 7.
10% OFF Baby + Kids Mattresses
20% OFF Eligible Pillows
20% OFF Eligible Bedding
Offer valid October 27–December 7, 2026. Select exclusions apply.
3. Screen Time Before Bed Is Keeping Them Up
"Five more minutes" is never five minutes, especially in the middle of a game or when the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Screens make it harder for kids to switch off. Part of that is the light. A bigger part is that the game is a lot more interesting than lying in the dark. The CDC recommends turning devices off at least 30 minutes before bed, and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests a full hour.
In our house, screens have never lived in the bedrooms. No TV, no tablets, and now that our kids are teenagers, no phones at night either. Because it's been the rule since they were little, nobody fights it. There's nothing to negotiate.
If that ship has sailed at your house, you can still start now.
Pick a spot outside the bedrooms where devices charge overnight (the kitchen counter works fine), and fill the last half hour before bed with something low-key, like a book, a puzzle, or LEGOs on the floor. Holiday movie nights can still happen. Just press play earlier.
4. Their Bedtime Routine Is Too Rushed
Dinner ran late, the cookies for tomorrow's class party still aren't baked, and now it's 8:45. We flip off the light and expect a kid who's been going full speed all day to fall asleep in five minutes. Most adults couldn't pull that off either.
Kids need a runway. Even 20 to 30 minutes of quiet before bed tells their body the day is over. Bath or shower, pajamas, teeth, a book. What you do matters less than doing it in about the same order every night, so the routine itself becomes the signal to sleep.
 |
5. Their Brain Won't Turn Off
You tuck them in, say goodnight, make it halfway down the hall, and hear, "Mom? Can I ask you something?"
It's never a quick question. I know from experience. It might be a worry about a friend or a test they forgot to mention. Sometimes it's whether dogs know they're dogs. And this time of year, there's the nightly "How many more sleeps until…?" Lights-out is often the first quiet moment in a kid's whole day, so that's when everything they've been carrying around finally comes out.
Get ahead of it with five minutes of talk time before the light goes off. Ask what's on their mind or what they're looking forward to tomorrow. If a worry still won't let go, write it down. Even just writing it on a sticky note and leaving it on the dresser to deal with in the morning can help more than you'd expect.
Start With Just One Change
Some nights will still be rough. Holiday schedules don't care much about your bedtime routine.
You don't have to fix everything at once, though. Pick one thing from this list, whether that's getting back on schedule the night after a party, charging phones in the kitchen, or lying down on your kid's mattress, and start there.
The "one more drink of water" requests may never fully stop. But they can get a lot shorter.
Before you turn out the lights, one last thing: Avocado's holiday sale runs through December 7, with 10% off baby and kids' mattresses and 20% off eligible pillows and bedding. Shop the sale →
