Why do kids lie getting up early, while teens and adults - not?

[Marianna]

I was very interested when I came across Seth advice about sleep (e.g. use more night time for waking activities, take naps during the day, do not sleep more than 8 hours at a time).
I do take naps and do not sleep more than 8 hours most of the time and it works fine. After sleeping too long, I feel 'drugged' and my head is heavy.

I wonder, what happens with kids? At very early age, they are often up at 6 am, but as they get older - school and later, no one is getting up at 6 am. Is it because life is getting less fun? Or picking up family habits?

[Deb]

YES and YES!

Wow, what a great question and something I'd never thought about with regards to Seth. Doctors or other professionals (the official line of consciousness) tell us about what's the proper amount of sleep. Which as we know, medical advice is always contradicting itself.

My initial reaction is that babies and younger kids may be more natural in their sleep patterns, closer to what Seth says is normal. To me, what he says about sleeping and eating make  perfect sense in having a more consistent rhythm with meal and sleep schedules, rather than being on a set schedule with a big fasting/sleep period during the night. For the most part those schedules have been dictated by our society's work schedules, rather than the body's natural rhythms. New babies wake up every 2-3 hours because they are living on small amounts of milk and need to eat frequently. During growth spurts, they will wake up more often. So their physical needs are dictating their sleep cycles. Some mothers try to fit their sleep patterns around the baby's needs. But as the kids grow and they start eating solid (more lasting) foods, their natural sleep patterns are slowly sculpted to fit into what society deems is proper. Yet during certain growth periods, the body needs more sleep (and more food).

Since reading Seth's advice regarding sleeping and eating, I've noticed my body is evolving to match his advice without conscious effort on my part. It could just be my age too. I used to feel best with 9 hours of sleep, now I wake up after 4-5 hours, stay awake for about 2 hours, then sleep for maybe 1-2 more and awake very refreshed. While I can't nap, I sometimes will take maybe half an hour to close my eyes and have a sort of 'tween experience--somewhere between awake and sleep.

As far as little kids getting up earlier -- it's probably because we're told to put them to sleep so early! Reading the baby books, I was told young children need to be put to bed around 7-8 pm, which means they will be waking up much earlier than an adult or teen who goes to sleep much later. Docs will say kids need 11-12 hours of consecutive sleep. Maybe they're wrong?

And finally, adults I think tend to not want to get up and out of bed early because for most adults it means going to work. Kids have more freedom, spend much of their time having fun and are excited to begin their day.

I had a friend who I swear while she was living in Colorado she and her kids were in a Russian time zone (she had a Master's Degree in Russian literature). She had twins and home-schooled them. She and the kids would stay up all night, go to sleep at maybe 4-5 am, get up maybe 11 am. We had a lot of problems trying to get together for play dates and lunches. Both of her kids are brilliant, very academically advanced.

I'm going to continue to think about this, will update my post if I have any more to contribute.

[Marianna]

And finally, adults I think tend to not want to get up and out of bed early because for most adults it means going to work. Kids have more freedom, spend much of their time having fun and are excited to begin their day.

Yes, Deb, I sort of implied this too. Work... I do get up more readily if I have something exciting planned for the day. Or of it's just a 'free' day - I can do whatever i like and decide along the way (I have a long list of things to be done and I choose from it. sort of "what do I feel like doing?")
I do not force myself to switch to Seth suggestions, but I do see that I do 'function' better if I stay closer to them.