Do you keep your young kids up later at Disney?

[sponica]

I actually thought this thread explains to me why we see so many children having meltdowns.

I remember my first trip (I was 18) and there were so many kids melting down....and their parents saying "we spent 398757753478593 dollars, YOU'RE STAYING".

Seriously, it's not worth it...it's so not worth it. Maybe if it's a once in a lifetime trip...but for those of us that go frequently enough, it's not worth the meltdown

 

[TammyLynn33]

No offence but you seem miffed you have no say in their bedtime .. I keep my kids up and obviously you kept yours up but to each their own..
this is def something you should address prior to going so there’s no drama while in vacation.
If you want the older children to go to the fireworks why don’t you simply ask to take them .. worst they can say is no ..

We are going to Disneyworld next month with 17 ppl - aged 81 down to 4 months. All of my grandkids (5 of them) are my two son’s children and I have very little (virtually no) say in decisions such as bedtime. The oldest two granddaughters are 5 1/2 and almost 5. They both have sisters that are 2 1/2ish. I believe that all of the kids will be put to bed by 7pm every day that they are there. They will never see the fireworks.

A little family history here - all of my adult children (who will be on this trip) went to Disneyworld with their grandparents when they were 5, and all stayed in the park until the fireworks almost every day of their trip.

Do you extend your kids bedtimes for a special occasion like this?

 

[stewart715]

Definitely depends on the kid. Our 2 year old was up every night until anywhere from 10pm to midnight out at the parks with a nap in the stroller middle of the day. Our 6 month old was with us too, he didn't really seem to care. Both of them loved HEA. Couldn't really imagine heading back to the hotel at 7pm every night...

But then again, if it really affected them, we probably wouldn't have much of a choice. So it really depends on your kid(s). I guess based on the responses we are lucky that the time they get in bed doesn't really seem to affect them the next day.

 

[GeezeLouise]

Probably been said before, but honestly this is a very personal thing. So many personal factors. Children are different. Some kids can handle staying up and will compensate later for it. Others won't.

Plus parents vary in patience and fortitude. It seems the best person to know is the parent. If you don't know, test it out at home. Go to a late event and then out the next day to a public place.

 

[quandrea]

Probably been said before, but honestly this is a very personal thing. So many personal factors. Children are different. Some kids can handle staying up and will compensate later for it. Others won't.

Plus parents vary in patience and fortitude. It seems the best person to know is the parent. If you don't know, test it out at home. Go to a late event and then out the next day to a public place.

This notion of patience and fortitude is a good one. I have twins (plus another child). The schedule literally helped get us through the day when they were younger. It meant I knew what to expect, as did they. If I veered off the schedule, I paid for days with unhappy, screeching babies. It just wasn’t worth it. My parents did not get it and it caused a huge rift.

When they were really little, we were treated to in stereo screaming from 5pm until 7:30 pm when it was bedtime. The witching hours. I didn’t want to be anywhere during that time but home, where at least I could be comfortable. Again, my parents didn’t get it, scheduling family dinners for 5pm and then complaining when I didn’t seem like I was having a good time.

 

[jo-jo]

I want to know which line you all stood in to get kids that went to bed a t 6:30 - 7 pm. Was it a special FP?

Even as newborns, my kids weren't sleeper. DD would take a 1 1/2 hr nap twice a day. I'd go to bed and DH would stay up with her. At three months she slept from 11 pm to 5 am. We considered that sleeping through the night. I was the crazy lady hanging diapers on the line at 6 am.

Now moving up to the grandkids. I think (ages 2 to 9)...they all have a bed time about 8 - 8:30. The 14 year old doesn't really have a bedtime.

I don't believe they stick to a real bedtime at disney. All the younger ones are stroller, car, floor nappers, so if they are tired, they will just zonk out.

I can only guess a lot of the kids at disney fall into this catagory. Or the late night hours would be ghost towns.


It seems important to you. I understand. We have a whole family trip coming up in Dec. It might be our last. In the past year, we've had some terrible life issues and DH wanted to make one more trip with all the grandkids.

 

[GeezeLouise]

This notion of patience and fortitude is a good one. I have twins (plus another child). The schedule literally helped get us through the day when they were younger. It meant I knew what to expect, as did they. If I veered off the schedule, I paid for days with unhappy, screeching babies. It just wasn’t worth it. My parents did not get it and it caused a huge rift.

When they were really little, we were treated to in stereo screaming from 5pm until 7:30 pm when it was bedtime. The witching hours. I didn’t want to be anywhere during that time but home, where at least I could be comfortable. Again, my parents didn’t get it, scheduling family dinners for 5pm and then complaining when I didn’t seem like I was having a good time.

IMO mothers of twins should be treated like patron saints until the children are 6. LOL! Ahh... grandparents. So much fun. They really don't remember. I love my in laws, but they NEVER listen to me that my kids need to eat early. They feed them too late, keep them up too late and wonder why it always ends with something getting thrown etc... I keep telling them food -serve food between 5-6:30 (done by seven), bed between 7:30 - 8. But nope. They really don't remember what children need. Now I tend to dump them on the grandparents and let them do their thing. When I get the story in the morning, I'm like - "told you so..." and around it goes.

I remember the witching hour! My kids were pretty good but even then the FUSSING. My younger was a biter. If we kept her out, she'd inevitably sink her teeth in another kid. It was like having a gremlin. But she was always right as rain the next day. My other can be great staying up and would never just sleep on the sofa while we chatted (as some kids do), but oh boy, we would pay for that one night out for DAYS.

 

[YesterDark]

I typically have to make sure my wife doesn't melt down by fireworks, not the kids. The kids just pass out.

 

[gtpoohbear]

On vacation, I don't really think about bedtimes as much as total hours of sleep. We don't hesitate to stay out late if it's what we want to do, but I make sure that our plans allow us to sleep in the next morning. I've found that it doesn't matter if the schedule is shifted, as long as they get the total hours of sleep they need. Mine are older now, but the same principle applied even when they were very young. And, we really are not that strict with bedtimes at home anyway. My 15yo DD goes to bed whenever she wants and has for many years (her fault if she's tired the next day!). I do try to get my 8yo DS to bed around 9pm, but if he's really involved in doing something, I'll push it as late as 10pm.

However, I really wouldn't try to fight them on this. If they want to stay in the room with the kids while they sleep, take advantage of some alone-time in the parks at night. ( I definitely wouldn't volunteer to be the stay-behind babysitter. Their choice, their burden.) It will probably be a welcome reprieve from the chaos of a large family trip with littles. Maybe they will even start to realize what they are missing out on and decide to bend the rules, but that probably won't happen if they are feeling pressured to do so - it has to be their idea

 

[sponica]

@jo-jo i dunno why mine is a sleeper she just is....or was. She's controlled by light cues now...so she's up at least 2 hours later than she should be. I know she's tired but she just can't fall asleep until she sees that it's dark outside.

It will be interesting to see how she fares next year when she's older.

 

[mcjaco]

On our last trip (boys were both 6), we rotated days. If we went at rope drop one morning, we'd leave early that day, hit the pool at the hotel and relax in the evening. Reverse the agenda the next day. Pool first thing in the morning, eat a late breakfast, and head to the parks and stay late.

 

[LSUmiss]

IMO mothers of twins should be treated like patron saints until the children are 6. LOL! Ahh... grandparents. So much fun. They really don't remember. I love my in laws, but they NEVER listen to me that my kids need to eat early. They feed them too late, keep them up too late and wonder why it always ends with something getting thrown etc... I keep telling them food -serve food between 5-6:30 (done by seven), bed between 7:30 - 8. But nope. They really don't remember what children need. Now I tend to dump them on the grandparents and let them do their thing. When I get the story in the morning, I'm like - "told you so..." and around it goes.

I remember the witching hour! My kids were pretty good but even then the FUSSING. My younger was a biter. If we kept her out, she'd inevitably sink her teeth in another kid. It was like having a gremlin. But she was always right as rain the next day. My other can be great staying up and would never just sleep on the sofa while we chatted (as some kids do), but oh boy, we would pay for that one night out for DAYS.

Some children are capable of being more flexible; however, most children do better on schedule & routine. Some need it or else, but everyone can benefit from it...including adults!

 

[LSUmiss]

@jo-jo i dunno why mine is a sleeper she just is....or was. She's controlled by light cues now...so she's up at least 2 hours later than she should be. I know she's tired but she just can't fall asleep until she sees that it's dark outside.

It will be interesting to see how she fares next year when she's older.

Mine has always been a sleeper & similar with light cues. I can’t put him to bed til it dark out so during daylight savings it’s an hr later. We also have his room as dark as possible with room darkening shades & drapes. That helps in the morning so he doesn’t wake up until it’s really sunny. If it’s early like before 7 am or overcast he’ll sleep. He’s been sleeping this way since 6 weeks old. I know everyone is different, but a lot of the ppl I know personally who claim their kids never slept well didn’t do anything conducive to sleeping.

 

[North of Mouse]

Had schedules (mostly, but allowed for exceptions) with our three at home, but away, especially places like Disney, there were no schedules - we loved (still do) winging it. They just passed out when tired.

 

[TeacupsForever]

I won't rehash what others have said about how it depends on the kids, the importance of schedules, etc. What I will throw out there is this:

Let the parents parent as they need to. Don't get in the way.

I'm strict about a lot of things related to eating and sleeping, even on vacation, because I know it will help my kids enjoy their experience more overall. There's nothing more frustrating than other relatives who make it difficult for my husband and I to stick with our parenting choices. Have an honest conversation with your sons/daughters-in-law before you go (without the kids present) and hash out the ground rules for bedtimes, naptimes, food/snacks, buying souvenneirs, etc. It will go so much more smoothly if you're all on the same page. Who knows? It might even open up a discussion where they're willing to let you take the older kids to fireworks one night while they stay at the hotel with the younger ones.

For our personal family experience with a 4 and 2 year old, I showed the kids the fireworks on YouTube one day and asked if they wanted to stay up to see them. They understood that it would mean cutting their evening swimming time short, as well as getting to the parks later the next day. And they both agreed that they had no interest in the nighttime shows whatsoever. (The little one was actually a bit afraid of them because of the noise.) For them, the priority was swimming, followed by having more fun on rides in the morning.

To each their own, but please respect whatever the parents decide is best.

 

[mysterywriterv]

It really depends on the kid and how they are feeling and what the day was like. If you were at the park from opening to close that is difficult for an adult, let alone a child. We always take breaks midday to go back to the resort for a rest in the room or to cool down at the pool. Also, if they are in a stroller, then they might just go to sleep. At least mine did. I have twin boys. Last year when we went, they were five. First night we were there at MK, one of them wanted to go back and go to sleep and the other wanted to stay for the fireworks. So my wife stayed with the one who wanted to watch the fireworks and I took the one back to the Poly and put him to bed. It really depends on the kid and what your day was like and what you have planned for the next day. If you are at MK all day long and you are planning to get up at 5:30 the next morning to rope drop Animal Kingdom, then staying through the fireworks at MK is probably a bad idea. But we planned when we were going to watch the fireworks just like anything else.

 

[rdaky]

wow. What a hot topic. LOL

We were just there last week and our youngest, who is 3, was out until 11-midnight every night. She had a blast.

 

[amberpi]

We’ve kept our 2.5yo at the time and then a 3 year old a few weeks ago up far later than usual. They don’t melt down at night (except for normal bedtime...lol), but there is no way on god green earth I wake up sleeping children. They are grumps of the first order if you wake them, but can hang late. This only works *for us* because they all whine and groan about the heat. Staying out late when the sun is down works for us. I am medically recommended to be inside or completely out of the sun, during the worst of the sun’s strength, so that also works. It’s really about what works for the kids in your party. Other kids wouldn’t work the way we do it. Getting our kids up early for ppo would be a flipping nightmare of a day.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I've only read the first page and this one, but I don't think my own DS saw the fireworks at Disney until he was seven. When he was little, he was up very early in the morning no matter what. (In fact, the later he was up at night, the earlier he got up in the morning!) There was no way we could have kept him up late and a) had a well-behaved child the next day, and b) gotten enough sleep ourselves. Trust the parents who spend every day with these kids to know them best. There is so much magic at Disney World besides the fireworks - you'll have a great time with or without those.

 

[ShirleyBelle]

We going next month with 5 kids age 5 and under, and we plan on keeping them up late. We’ve been to Disney twice in the last two years with our daughter when she was 2 and then 3 and kept her up late most evenings. We found she did very well, she’d nap in the stroller if she was super tired, or we’d go back to the hotel midday to rest. It worked well for us and we will be doing it again shortly.