Bedtime chez the Duggars

[fakepigtails73]

A weird thought, but hey...

 

J'chelle and JBob mention often that the whole family are night-owls, hence why they have trouble waking up to leave on a trip at 6hAM.

 

That scene in the recent episode when all the girls lined up to go to their bedroom made me scratch my head . I hope that this scene was faked and that for the most part the eldest kids don't have to go to bed at the same hour as Jordyn, Jenny and Josie?? If I was Jessa I'd want to hang out a bit with my close-in-age siblings without having howlers running everywhere in the living room.

 

If I was JD the last thing I'd wanna do at 9hPM is to go to bed at the same time as my little bros Jackson and Justin...

 

 

Do all the kids have to go to sleep every night at the same time as the youngest ones? I wouldn't put it pass J'chelle and JBob to have that rule in place so they can "spend time with each other only..."

 

And how do the little ones get to have a bath every evening? Me thinks they get bathed only every other day. Wonder which J'Slave has the "giving little ones their baths" jurisdiction?

 

So bizarre, if that's how it goes!

[Whydoyouask]

I have no idea. That whole scene was just creepy. Everyone jammed in the master bedroom. So many older children in mom and dad's bed. I wonder how much 'prayer time' this family actually does, I thought they prayed in the AM with JB but now it seems a night activity? I guess Michelle isn't reading to the girls at night . (Remember the one time she was in the girls room reading at night- staged of course).

I can not imagine going to be with the littles. I can't imagine getting young adults to comply with a bedtime, then again the adults seem to comply with chores etc. I can't imagine the teens complying with bedtime or whatever either. Many nights my own tween is up to midnight on the computer or reading. If he had younger siblings there is no way they all would go to sleep at the same time. And there is no way my tween would want to share a room with a toddler or a 20 yr old.

Duggar central seems to have extra rooms, why not let some of the adult children move to a different section of the house? Someone posted a floorplan on here a few weeks ago. BOTH parents have offices, I would give up my office so the kids could split up. They have a 'goodbye room', turn that into another bedroom.

The entire situation is just creepy.

And stop with the excuse you can not get up to be anywhere on time. If it was important you would be there!

[Eclipse]

Part of me says yes, the other part says no.

Yes, because it makes Michelle and JimBob's life easier if all the kids go to bed at the same time. And since its so important to exert all consuming control over the kids, I could see them doing it.

On the other hand children sleep needs regarding the amount and when they like to sleep, changes over time. Of course by the time the sister moms have put all the younger children to bed they may be too exhausted to want to stay much later.

[PBrooke]

I said this in another thread somewhere, but I don't think so. They've mentioned somewhere (a book, maybe? I haven't read them myself) that after the little ones go to bed that's when they do some of their one-on-one time with the older kids. I think Michelle mentioned staying up til 2 talking to Jana. We all know TLC stages a ton anyway.

[Feberin]

I think it was just for show. Even if Jimbob and Michelle send them all to bed at the same time the girls have a sewing room and the boys their studio thing off the bedrooms where the older ones could hang out. Also are we to believe that the older boys put the younger ones to bed? My guess is the oldest girls are going back and forth to the boys' room several times trying to get the Howlers to calm down and go to sleep.

[Seven Severn]

They have a 'goodbye room', turn that into another bedroom.

The 'goodbye room' has a door directly to the outside. Far too dangerous.

[Feberin]

Duggar central seems to have extra rooms, why not let some of the adult children move to a different section of the house? Someone posted a floorplan on here a few weeks ago. BOTH parents have offices, I would give up my office so the kids could split up. They have a 'goodbye room', turn that into another bedroom.

I think the two large bedrooms were done to ensure the oldest children wouldn't have alone time. I also think Jimbob and Michelle are extrmely selfish and could care less about the children's needs for space and alone time. If they cared at all about their children then the little girls would have beds.

[O Latin]

Maybe the older kids stay up later but in different parts of the house. My sister and I shared a room all through high school and we almost never went to bed at the same time. Whoever went to bed first would turn the light off and shut the door. The other one would just slip in quietly when ready.

[fakepigtails73]

And I can't see why they don't put all the girls from JoyAnna to Jana in one room, and JD-Joseph-Josiah in another. That way they'll still have "more than one person" in a room (can't have any of them discovering their own bodies, y'anno!).

It must be unbearable for a 20 year-old young woman to sleep every single night in the same room with toddlers aged 2,3 and 4. I'm willing to bet the farm that if, say, Jennifer has a nightmare and wakes up crying it's Jill that ends up comforting her, not Michelle...Can't have the Queen being disturbed from her beauty rest!

Count me in also as one that finds their "Duggar Time" totally inconsiderate and selfish. One more reason that these kids are unemployable outside of a family business...

[ladypuglover]

The 'goodbye room' has a door directly to the outside. Far too dangerous.

I agree but maybe for different reasons. Having normal teens I wouldn't put it past a kid to sneak out. Double that for an unhappy Duggar.

No, as far as I know none of my teens have ever snuck out as they seem to tell us when they will be home late and we talk about a lot of their lives. Maybe they have but the older 2 sons said it would have been very hard with an insomniac mother and 3 dogs who bark at the smallest of sounds. They said they never knew when mom would come down/up* to their rooms to just have a peek.

So I doubt the Duggars would allow it and I doubt they would make the effort to peek in on sleeping teens to check in on their well being.

* Our kids are spread out on 3 different floors in a 4000 sqf house and If they are sick I can't hear them so I will go and check or if they are acting sneaky. Not that hard to do while on a bathroom run.

[silverspoons]

I the first book Michelle says the bedtimes are different. She claims the younger ones go to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. The young ones are suppose to go to bed right after daddy bible time. The older kids get to stay up. She does mention this is when they have heart to heart talks but I wonder these days if it isn't going over the next days chore list. It is unclear how late the older kids stay up but it was implied that it was several hours longer like till 11ish. I wonder if JD ever makes up an emergency tow call or stays out on one longer then he needs to just to be out of the house? Michelle and Jimbob stay up late. She said they don't go to sleep till 1-2am. Jimbob likes to sleep in till 9am! I wonder what time it is for Michelle?(when the cameras are not rolling). I wonder besides trying for another blessing what Jimbob and Michelle do when they stay up? do they have a secret tv? read the Bible? I'm a night owl but all the things I do, watch tv, play on IPAD, read books, crafts, I have never seen Michelle do.

[Pandora Moon]

They have a 'goodbye room'

I hope it's not too silly a question. But what is a goodbye room? If it is what it sounds like then why would someone need a separate room to say goodbye to people in?

[bananacat]

It's simple, really. The young women have to go into the bedroom at the same time as the little kids, because the little kids need help getting ready for bed, and we all know Jim Bob and Michelle aren't doing any of that.

[Whydoyouask]

I hope it's not too silly a question. But what is a goodbye room? If it is what it sounds like then why would someone need a separate room to say goodbye to people in?

IDK what a 'goodbye room' is. Sadly I though this is where grandpa was staying but I hope I'm wrong. I had a wicked sense of humor at all the wrong times. :oops:

The dysfunction that screams from this family is so loud I'm surprised some of them are not deaf already. We know they are not employable, they are not self sufficient young adults. Then again I wonder what Michelle uses her realtor license for anyway- I've never seen the woman work at home, let alone outside the home.

I wonder at times what happens when JD's pager or fireman alarm goes off? How does all that work? Is he still with the fire department? What happens when people need tows at 3am? Are the girls still with the fire department or was that totally staged? Are the girls not allowed to go on night calls for the fire department?

The whole situation makes NO friggin sense.

[ElphabaGalinda]

The older girls go to the bedroom at the same time as the 2-4 year old ones probably because they're the ones who make sure the kids are ready for bed and actually go to sleep. They probably can stay up later, but if one of the little girls needs something, has a nightmare or is sick during the night I highly doubt Michelle ever hears about it, it's up to the older girls to deal with it. They probably also have to deal with little boys who need something at night too. So they might not want to go far.

I imagine not having to do any parenting at night (as if she ever did any during the day), is one of the reasons Michelle likes having 2 big rooms. That and the whole not exploring their body. If it was just a bunch of older girls, they'd all probably understand what's happening and be less likely to tell thought the little kids may not get it. Though very small children have been known to discover the joys of masturbation. I don't even want to know how the Duggars deal with that if they ever caught it.

[bananacat]

The older girls go to the bedroom at the same time as the 2-4 year old ones probably because they're the ones who make sure the kids are ready for bed and actually go to sleep. They probably can stay up later, but if one of the little girls needs something, has a nightmare or is sick during the night I highly doubt Michelle ever hears about it, it's up to the older girls to deal with it. They probably also have to deal with little boys who need something at night too. So they might not want to go far.

I imagine not having to do any parenting at night (as if she ever did any during the day), is one of the reasons Michelle likes having 2 big rooms. That and the whole not exploring their body. If it was just a bunch of older girls, they'd all probably understand what's happening and be less likely to tell thought the little kids may not get it. Though very small children have been known to discover the joys of masturbation. I don't even want to know how the Duggars deal with that if they ever caught it.

I think you're right about pairing adults with babies so the parents don't have to do any work. Even though the Bateses have more rooms and only have a few kids in each, they still match them up weird. It's not grouped by age, but instead they match a teen or young adult with little kids. There's at least one adult or near-adult in each room. It's so weird IMO. If I were a 16 year-old, I'd be annoyed to share with a 13 year-old sis, but I could deal with it. But a 16 year-old sharing with a 4 year-old? I could not have handled that.

I agree about the masturbation thing too. I "discovered" it when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had no idea that was even a sexual thing until years later. I wonder how they would deal with that for the little kids who discover it before they even know what sex is. A kid who did that would probably get in a ton of trouble and not even understand why. I feel so bad for these kids.

[Aerial312]

I wonder if JD ever makes up an emergency tow call or stays out on one longer then he needs to just to be out of the house?

We saw that he got a middle of the night fire department page in the episode that Josie had a febrile seizure.

[Buba]

I think you're right about pairing adults with babies so the parents don't have to do any work. Even though the Bateses have more rooms and only have a few kids in each, they still match them up weird. It's not grouped by age, but instead they match a teen or young adult with little kids. There's at least one adult or near-adult in each room. It's so weird IMO. If I were a 16 year-old, I'd be annoyed to share with a 13 year-old sis, but I could deal with it. But a 16 year-old sharing with a 4 year-old? I could not have handled that.

I agree about the masturbation thing too. I "discovered" it when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had no idea that was even a sexual thing until years later. I wonder how they would deal with that for the little kids who discover it before they even know what sex is. A kid who did that would probably get in a ton of trouble and not even understand why. I feel so bad for these kids.

I feel bad for the kids, too. When I was 12, we had a special class during the Sunday school to talk about “purityâ€. I was told “the nice sensation we have when washing down there†was called masturbation and it was a sin. By the time I already knew it was a sexual thing but thought it was ok doing it. I remember feeling very ashamed after the class and I really stopped the whole thing during the time I attended this church.

I also wonder how Michelle would handle this situation... Out mother caught my sister doing it once, said “God doesn’t like thisâ€, shut the door and went to cry in her bedroom. They've never talked about that day again. And sis kept doing it, after making sure the door was locked :D

[Iamthatbean]

I think you're right about pairing adults with babies so the parents don't have to do any work. Even though the Bateses have more rooms and only have a few kids in each, they still match them up weird. It's not grouped by age, but instead they match a teen or young adult with little kids. There's at least one adult or near-adult in each room. It's so weird IMO. If I were a 16 year-old, I'd be annoyed to share with a 13 year-old sis, but I could deal with it. But a 16 year-old sharing with a 4 year-old? I could not have handled that.

I agree about the masturbation thing too. I "discovered" it when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had no idea that was even a sexual thing until years later. I wonder how they would deal with that for the little kids who discover it before they even know what sex is. A kid who did that would probably get in a ton of trouble and not even understand why. I feel so bad for these kids.

I remember a story my aunt told when her son was maybe 2. She was changing his diaper and he started playing with himself. She said she slapped his hand and started putting onesie, pants, overalls on backwards and then taping his hands together when she changed him. She said it was the only way she could rescue him from his "sin nature"

[sassyNoz47]

I'm not sure they even really have bedtimes.. I saw a episode and i think there was a photo posted here at one time. The older Duggars were all in the living room doing different things ans one by one the toddlers and preschoolers started dropping off to sleep just all over the place. floor, chairs , couch etc. anyone recall this it seemed like the photo was taken like at 11 pm or so people were snarking about having kids up so late. It seemed like something was said about they didn't have a real bedtime anymore but if a child was grouchy or acting out Michelle stated that , the child was probably tired and such child was sent to bed. It seems like as the "buddies went to bed they would carry which ever child was thier buddy up to bed with them. This might of been on the TWOP site I just thought it was here.

Also the"good bye room" is a totally new term for me..is it just a room they pass to leave? We have a room in the back of our house that is the length of the house. Its also where the washer /dryer ,storage and pantry are located. There is a door from the kitchen that seperates it and the actual back door is in this room, The owners called it a mud room which I also had never heard of before but we now call it that to.

[AudreyE]

I remember a story my aunt told when her son was maybe 2. She was changing his diaper and he started playing with himself. She said she slapped his hand and started putting onesie, pants, overalls on backwards and then taping his hands together when she changed him. She said it was the only way she could rescue him from his "sin nature"

[Witsec7]

WTF is it with them sleeping in street clothes? What about some nice frumpy nightgowns for the girls and pjs for the boys?