How many hours of sleep at this age
9 to 11 hours a night
This figure follows the Canadian Paediatric Society's guidance for the end of elementary school. Every child is different: at 10, the gap between two kids in the same class can easily be an hour and a half a night.
Typical struggles, and what to do
Not sleepy at 8:45 pm
Olivia is in bed at 8:45 pm, light off, and she calls out twenty minutes later: "I'm not tired, for real." At 10, it is often true: with the start of puberty, the sleep hormone shows up later. Forcing it does nothing. Shift bedtime by 15 to 30 minutes and keep wake-up time fixed, even on weekends, so the clock does not slide further. Morning light, outside or by a window, helps more than people think.
I'm too old for this
The hug, the good-night sentence, the story: at 10, all of it can be declared "for babies", especially in front of a friend. Do not fight for the form, fight for the moment. Ten minutes, door closed, sitting on the edge of the bed: you talk about their day, yours, nothing in particular. Call it whatever you like, but do not let it vanish. It is often the only moment of the day when a 10-year-old says what is on their mind.
Morning stress the night before
At 10, responsibilities pile up: agenda, group projects, basketball practice, and soon the move to high school on the horizon. At night, your child falls asleep thinking about what they will forget tomorrow. The fix is simple and effective: prepare everything the night before. Bag zipped, clothes on the chair, lunch box in the fridge, form signed. Ten minutes before the shower, and the head is clear for the night. In the morning, all that is left is getting up and eating breakfast.
A 20-minute routine that holds up
A 20-minute template for a 10-year-old who gets up around 6:45 am. They run the first four steps alone; the last one is yours.
- 8:00 pm
Screens off, lights dimmed
One hour before bed, screens go off and charge in the kitchen. Dim the house lights at the same time: at 10, the body clock is sensitive to evening light, and a living room lit like noon pushes sleep later.
- 8:40 pm
Prepare everything for tomorrow
Bag zipped with the agenda checked, clothes on the chair, lunch in the fridge. They do it alone and you do not check. If they forget their gym shorts, they will forget them once. That is how autonomy gets learned, not by rereading the list for them.
- 8:45 pm
Shower and pyjamas
Five-minute shower, bedroom roughly tidied, window cracked open if the room is warm. A cool, dark room helps a 10-year-old whose body is in no hurry to sleep.
- 8:52 pm
Teeth, then reading alone
Two minutes of brushing, then into bed with their book for ten to fifteen minutes. Bedside lamp only. If they are not sleepy, this is where it gets handled: reading in bed, quietly, until the eyes get heavy.
- 9:00 pm
The sacred ten minutes, then lights out
You come in, you sit down. Some nights you read two pages together, some nights you only talk. No phone in your hand either. The good-night sentence, the same one as at 6, and lights out at 9:10 pm.
Reading alone at 10, and keeping the ritual
At 10, your child chooses their own books and reads them alone, often faster than you would. 200-page novels, series that never end, comics borrowed from the library. Your job is to keep the bed as a place where reading happens: the bedside lamp, the ten or fifteen minutes before lights out, and no screen to compete with it. If the current book is "too easy" for your taste, let it go. Reading every night is the goal.
And the shared ritual? It changes shape, not value. Every other night, read two pages aloud from a book you picked together, a little more grown-up, or ask them to tell you where their hero is at. Even when they say "I'm too old", they listen. Many parents find that at 10, the reading moment has quietly become the moment for talking about everything else.
Questions parents ask
What time should a 10-year-old go to bed?
For a 6:45 am wake-up, lights out between 8:45 and 9:15 pm: that gives nine and a half to 10 hours, inside the recommended 9 to 11. If your 10-year-old cannot fall asleep before 9:30 pm, their clock may be shifting; focus on a stable wake-up time and morning light rather than pushing bedtime even earlier.
My 10-year-old is going to bed later and later, is it puberty?
Possibly. In many children, from 10 or 11, the body clock moves back by about an hour: the body gets sleepy later and would like to wake later. It is not a whim. What helps: a fixed wake-up seven days a week, daylight early in the morning, screens off one hour before bed, and a dark bedroom. If tiredness is still hurting school, talk to your family doctor.
Does a 10-year-old still need a bedtime routine?
Yes, but it is theirs now. At 10, your child handles the shower, teeth, bag and reading without you. What you keep is the fixed order, the screen cut-off and the ten minutes of connection before lights out. A child who had a steady routine until 10 reaches high school with a habit that holds on its own, and that is worth gold at 13.
Contes de Lune
And where does the card fit in?
The Contes de Lune postcard arrives by mail every week, in your child's name. At 10, they read it alone, in two minutes, and pretend it is no big deal. Yet the cards stay on the wall, in order, and they notice when one is missing. A paper ritual, with their name on it, that survives the age when "I'm too old" becomes the answer to everything.
The last step of the routine, by mail
At Contes de Lune, your child receives an illustrated card in their name every week, with a new chapter of a story where they're the hero, with their imaginary friend. Their first story is free, to read on screen.
Create their first story for freeNo credit card · then, if you love the adventure: the cards by mail for $14.99/month, delivery included in Canada.