Do you keep your young kids up later at Disney?

[twinprincesses09]

We first went went my girls were 5. We rope droped most days, then closed the parks most nights. Even a 12am EMH at MK. A few nights they were tired so we didn't stay as late as we had planned and had early nights. We did take midday breaks for pool time and short naps- which I think we needed more than them. But mine have always been night owls. During the school year, we have a pretty strict bedtime, but not until 9pm. On summer breaks, it's usually just trying to get them in bed by the time we are ready to go to bed.

That said, it really is up to the parents to determine the kids bedtimes even on vacation. They know the kids best and what they can handle.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Yes. We are on no schedule when on vacation.

 

[traveler000mkl]

Few years back with 5 and 3, we did stay late and no breaks. We mostly started between 8:30-10am (so no crazy RD's) and out of 6 park days, stayed through for 3 night time shows. My little one fell asleep in stroller/arms around dinner time a few times and woke up again later. 5yr fell asleep once for the entire week on the bus back from MK fireworks, but then he had trouble going to bed afterwards. He is just one of those kids who doesn't sleep alot!

On our upcoming trip, we are going to alternate late nights and early nights during our 6 park days, with late arrival to park days the days the day after late nights.. We will see how it goes!!

 

[Tallis]

No bedtimes for my kids or grandchildren on vacation. Then again, we are not rope droppers. We often don't even go to the parks until the afternoon. We leave when the kids are tired, be it early or late.

 

[LSUmiss]

No, kids are not as able to be flexible in their sleep schedules. If only all that soothed Baby Sally's morning grouchies was a latte. Nope they cry and scream and make it miserable for everyone, including the poor strangers who happen to be near.

Including themselves. DS does not tolerate schedule changes well so I always feel bad when he’s miserable.

 

[tinkerjo]

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?

I didn’t read all the replies but I could have wrote this same post 3 years ago. We were doing a large family trip and granted my grandchildren were much younger (19 months and 6 months) but their parents sent them to bed every night about 6:30-7:00 (for them it was because they were lazy and withhold naps so cranky babies would go to bed early and they could have “me time”) we paid for their Disney trip and tried to explain that WE were not going back to the room that early ( I am not a free babysitter, I still had DS8 too) and they may want to try and give the boys naps to prepare. Oh boy, that started it!!! BUT long story short, they never came back to the resort early either. They allowed them to nap in the stroller. Your grandchildren, especially the older two, should be able to stay up at least a couple nights. Maybe they would allow you to take them to fireworks one night. The little one can always sleep in the stroller. I know a lot of kids thrive on routine, but sometimes you have to be flexible. My kids had to learn to go with the punches from an early age, especially the younger ones since they were spaced so far apart. Good luck, I know your pain
ETA- before I get flamed, not all people who put their kids to bed early are lazy, nor am I saying her family is. I know my DIL and son and know they were just being lazy

 

[unrequited23]

[QUOTE="laxfanmom, post: 60633734, member: 64121]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.
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?[/QUOTE]
Bedtime is the parents decision unless the grandparents are watching the grandkids.
You could always offer to take the grandkids to Disney by yourself like your sons grandparents did and give them a childfree break. Then you would be in charge of bedtime.

 

[LSUmiss]

I don't think it's so much a strict bedtime as my kid has a magic window in which she can easily go to bed. You push it, she ends up overtired and WILL NOT SLEEP and we all suffer the next day....

But she put herself on a 6/630 bedtime schedule....at 4 months old. Believe me I didn't complain

Mine is similar. He won’t sleep in anything but a comfortable crib (no pack n play) so no stroller except for naps. If we go past his usually bedtime, he will have a serious meltdown & then not be able to sleep well. He’s still a baby & sleeps 12 hours a night & has since he was 6 weeks old so I don’t mess with that!! It might change as he gets older. But l, I also don’t push him to the point of being miserable for my entertainment.

 

[tinkerjo]

I think you are being a little rough on OP here. Maybe the parents don’t want a child free break. I personally never needed a “break” and did not want to be away from my kids. All OP is asking for is a chance to take her grandchildren to watch fireworks. I don't Think that’s too much to request if the child is capable of staying up that late. If not, she may be carrying a very tired 5 1/2 year old out of the parks and wished she hadn’t tried. Maybe the parents have a good reason, I don’t know, but it’s worth a conversation

 

[buzznina]

Been going since our 1st DD was 6 months old and we tried to stick to the schedule of going back for naps but after 3 fail attempts and it causing everyone to be unhappy, we just stayed at the park and our DD would fall asleep in the stroller BTW; we did get to watch the fire works during that trip. It all depends on the family and children, we had no problem keeping them up late, BUT we made sure we let them sleep in the next morning and get their sleep. We also made sure we brought a stroller(s), the last trip we used it our youngest was 7 and it makes a BIG difference since they can hop in and we can keep moving and they get to rest their little legs. If we had to stop and take a break every time they got tired it would have made the day feel 10 times longer. We can say they never had any melt downs and i'm talking about leaving the park at close and even with night EMH. We also take our time when we are in the parks and do not just keep running from point A to point B all the time.

 

[LSUmiss]

I didn’t read all the replies but I could have wrote this same post 3 years ago. We were doing a large family trip and granted my grandchildren were much younger (19 months and 6 months) but their parents sent them to bed every night about 6:30-7:00 (for them it was because they were lazy and withhold naps so cranky babies would go to bed early and they could have “me time”) we paid for their Disney trip and tried to explain that WE were not going back to the room that early ( I am not a free babysitter, I still had DS8 too) and they may want to try and give the boys naps to prepare. Oh boy, that started it!!! BUT long story short, they never came back to the resort early either. They allowed them to nap in the stroller. Your grandchildren, especially the older two, should be able to stay up at least a couple nights. Maybe they would allow you to take them to fireworks one night. The little one can always sleep in the stroller. I know a lot of kids thrive on routine, but sometimes you have to be flexible. My kids had to learn to go with the punches from an early age, especially the younger ones since they were spaced so far apart. Good luck, I know your pain
ETA- before I get flamed, not all people who put their kids to bed early are lazy, nor am I saying her family is. I know my DIL and son and know they were just being lazy

I don’t know your situation, of course, but I know my kid best & resent anyone who thinks otherwise b/c they also had a kid once or twice. I don’t mean you, but ppl I know personally who offer unsolicited advice. I agree sometimes you have to be flexible, but imo, being flexible for some other adult’s benefit which makes my child miserable is not that.

 

[ElenaRN]

I haven't read through all responses so sorry if I repeat.

We have very early school night bedtimes. 7-730 for both my 8 & 5 yo. This may stretch to 8 when it stays light out later in the spring. Weekends we are more lenient.

We don't have bedtimes at Disney. Some days we are out later than others. It's never been an issue for our kids.

 

[linzjane88]

We don't stick to bedtimes but do alter plans if we sense a meltdown coming.

My cousin could keep her kid out til whenever in the parks and he would crash in the stroller when he was done. I think he had that thing til he was 8 . My DD11 has always kept herself to bedtime and if we push it much past 9 we know we are on borrowed time. It's an almost guarantee that if she is in a park late there will be tears (in the form of inconsolable, hysterical, 'ugly cry') whereas my DD7 will catch random naps wherever and keep on going as long as we do.

Hopefully everyone will be flexible on your trip. It would be a shame to force kids that are having a great time out of the parks to go to an early bedtime. Then again I can also see myself getting irritated if I had others in our group pressuring to keep the kids out late when I KNOW how badly it will end. That's what's nice about bigger groups though. Maybe the parents can bring the littles back for bedtime and let the older kids stay out for an evening with grandparents.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

My kids (9 and 3) have never had a bedtime earlier than 10. We do mostly stick to it on weekdays during the school year, but on weekends, summers, and vacations it varies depending on what we're doing. We took them to Disney when they were 7 and almost 2 and they didn't go to bed until between 11 and 1230 every night. Two nights actually (after EMH and MNSSHP), it was closer to 2 am. We don't do rope drop as my kids have never been early risers, though we still did get to the parks between 10 and 11am. The toddler, who at the time no longer took regular naps, fell asleep daily in the stroller mid-afternoon for about 2 hours.

My kids have always been pretty flexible with schedules and I guess I've lucked out in that regard. I'm a little surprised by the number of people who seem to adhere to 6-7pm bedtimes as that seems so early to me, but I do understand and respect that every family (and every kid) is different.

OP, if it's really important to you to have the grandkids see the fireworks, suggest to the parents to maybe see how the kids do staying later. They may be amenable to trying it, or they may explain their reasons why they don't want to. I wouldn't force the issue though. Ultimately, they are the parents and the decision is theirs, regardless of whether or not you agree with it.

 

[unrequited23]

I agree I was rough on the OP, but the complaint that she, as a grandparent, had no say in her grandchildren's bedtimes really rubbed me the wrong way. Then she stated when she was a parent she let her children go on a trip with just their grandparents and they all stayed up late to watch fireworks as a justification to have her wishes trump those of the parents.

 

[MrsDuck]

Nope. My little guy is 18 mo. We are very strict about bedtime for everyone's sake!

 

[sponica]

Mine is similar. He won’t sleep in anything but a comfortable crib (no pack n play) so no stroller except for naps. If we go past his usually bedtime, he will have a serious meltdown & then not be able to sleep well. He’s still a baby & sleeps 12 hours a night & has since he was 6 weeks old so I don’t mess with that!! It might change as he gets older. But l, I also don’t push him to the point of being miserable for my entertainment.

I factored in her early bedtime when we went last year (she was 20 months old) and sort of gauged how she was doing every day. We stayed in the parks most days until about 7/730ish, so I think we were back in the room by 8ish. Considering she wakes up at 6/630 most mornings I was pretty impressed. I could tell by day 4 she was exhausted, she napped in her stroller for 2 to 3 hours (including through lunch at Tiffins).

 

[NickC]

We let them stay up if we are out and having fun. But, often times, we are in bed before the fireworks.

 

[TreeFalls]

We have gone both ways. Fireworks is not a must-do, some kids are also really scared of them.

 

[MainMom]

I agree I was rough on the OP, but the complaint that she, as a grandparent, had no say in her grandchildren's bedtimes really rubbed me the wrong way. Then she stated when she was a parent she let her children go on a trip with just their grandparents and they all stayed up late to watch fireworks as a justification to have her wishes trump those of the parents.

I didn’t get that at all from the OP. I took it as this is what she did with her kids, is this what most parents do today. Parenting styles change and this board is a place to ask for advice.

OP-I kept my kids up for parades and fireworks. We also took afternoon naps. They are now 17 & 13 and we still do not stay in a park all day & take afternoon breaks. Who knows how they will want to do WDW with their kids someday.