Joanna Fortune: My mother-in-law disagrees with my relaxed parenting approach, is she right?

Your mother-in-law’s firm ideas about how children should be raised suggest a pattern of observation and unsolicited feedback.

My mother-in-law has very firm ideas about how children should be raised. She often boasts how she used to have her children in bed by 7pm every evening, including the weekends. I’ve a more relaxed approach to parenting and have no fixed bedtime but aim for 9pm. She thinks this is far too late and mentions it every time she visits. My primary school children are getting between 10 and 11 hours of sleep a night. Is this enough?

Broadly speaking, pre-schoolers should get ten to 13 hours of sleep per night, and school-aged children need nine to 12 hours of sleep. So, if your children get between ten and 11 hours of sleep, it may well be enough.