Bedtime routine at Disney..how do you get your little ones to wind down for the night

[JUJU814]

Hi! I have a 4 and 6 year old and am wondering if you would share your little night time routines to help your little ones unwind and be fresh and ready for the next day?

Do you do anything special?

At home, my kids usually have their tubby by 8pm and are in bed by then..earlier during the school year. I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get them in bed by 9, but I really want them to get to see Wishes at least one night from the marina at our resort.

Most importantly I want to make sure they get to unwind and are feeling well for the next morning to get up and go.

Tips??

Julie

 

[mrstomrice]

We're here now! DS 4 is handling it well, He just passes out after a long day! Last night we did Wishes and were back to Pop by 11 or so. He fell asleep on the way to the bus in the stroller and woke up briefly in the hotel room. We were at MK at 7:35 am too! He has not napped mid day at all. Today is a down day after 3 busy park days. I am the only one awake yet!
DS almost 2 is having a harder time, but yours are older.
A nice quiet walk after a shower seemed to work for us the other night with DS2. Good luck!

 

[kids1617]

The first thing we did when we got back to the resort every night was the kids got a quick bath to get clean and fresh for night time. We only did one late night for spectro and wishes but all the other days we were up and out in the morning so we would get back to the room around 9ish. This really helped the kids not be too tired. After their quick baths we let them play in the beds w/ their Mr. Potato head parts and my son would sometimes play w/ his cars that he brought from home.
The quick bath as soon as we got back really helped them relax though.

 

[dzorn]

Shower Jammies and a Disney Movie.

Denise in MI

 

[nanceliz]

Bath and then a Disney movie
it worked for mine when they were little. They were already tired from the parks and just needed mental wind down.
They would watch Disney movies at bedtime some at home, so we just brought their favorites with us.
Worked like a charm

 

[momtomatthew]

We try to stick with our bedtime ritual for DS4. We do a bath and then read books and tuck him in. I bring his white-noise sound machine from home (he's already reminding me to take it in September!) to help with some of the odd hotel noises. But, basically he's so tired from the day that he is more than ready to go to sleep and it's not a problem.

 

[weloveprincesses]

We totally did away with bedtime routine at Disney, instead it was always the "who can carry the passed out toddler the farthest" routine between dh and I. They always crashed easily, luckily for us, because they were so exhausted from a fun day at the parks!!!

The first couple of times I brought books and such, then realized what a waste it was to pack them. Ha.

Good luck!! Hope you have fun!
Maggi

 

[ScotsMinnie]

I must admit that by the time I got our littles ones home they were so exhausted they crashed out! I always took some jammies with me to change into before getting into the car just in case. We just did baths in the morning instead!

I sometimes think that on holiday it doesn't matter if the routine is not stuck to. They get back into the swing soon enough after getting home.

 

[bookmama]

I'm such a bad auntie,

we let the babies go until they collaspe. There have been many times when they rock out in the strollers and wecarry them back to the room at night

 

[everylastbreath]

Never had any issue getting ANYONE to sleep at Disney, everyone passes out..... old, young, doesn't matter.

 

[NotUrsula]

We take PJ's and toothbrushes into the park, and we change them before the fireworks. That way when they pass out on the way back to the resort, it's just a matter of putting them straight to bed.

 

[lclark0621]

My DS (who will be 5 for our upcomming trip which is his 4th trip) usually just crashes at the end of the night when we get back to the hotel (like DH & myself after a day in the parks).

All of us would much rather be in the park at night rather then early in the morning.

So we stay out late & sleep in (usually hitting the parks around 10am or so). We go back to the hotel for a mid day break & then stay at the parks at night.

If DS is up for it, he takes a shower at night (we dont use the tub in hotels, only showers), or first thing in the morning.

 

[pjzkent]

I agree with OP. We also do better in the parks at night than trying to get there early in the AM. We are in Colorado, and the 2 hour time differnece helps too. 10 pm at Disney is only 8 pm to my kids bodies (6 and 4). We typically let them wake up on their own in the mornings, and stay out in the evenings when it is cooler, and then come home and do pjs and teeth and go to bed. Also, they tend to pass out from exhaustion by the time we get home, especially if we have ridden the Disney buses.

 

[bzzymom]

DD gets a bath, DS gets a shower. Then, is is lights out, and I put on the channel that lists each park and facts while playing disney music. The kids like having music when they sleep. DH hates this, so he goes to the hotel bar and sits down and has a beer and then stops at the food court and gets me a wine cooler to bring back to the room. The kids are asleep by the time he gets back.

 

[JUJU814]

Do the hotels have Disney movies that you can watch on their TVs? or do you have to pay for them?

I'm hoping we have a nice room / view so we can sit out on the balcony with a glass of wine or something while the kids chill out.

Truth be told, I'll probably pass out right along with the kids! LOL

Julie

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Never had any issue getting ANYONE to sleep at Disney, everyone passes out..... old, young, doesn't matter.

That's exactly what I was going to say! I have NEVER had to get my kids to wind down to get ready for bed at Disney. By the time we get back to the room everyone, including me and my husband, are begging to get in the bed!

 

[christa112]

Our routine is dragging our tired butts to the hotel room, getting our pajamas and dropping on our beds!!! LOL

 

[I'mAlittleBitGoofy]

Wind down? My kids are passed out on the bus ride back. No need to do anything, just carry them to the room, slip on the jammies and put them in bed!

 

[JUJU814]

Well my daughter will probably pass out but my son has ADHD and a mood disorder and it's pretty tough to get him to wind down sometimes. I'm giving a lot of thought to creative ways to have "fun" low key evenings because keeping him out late is simply not an option. He'll have a meltdown on the bus or something and I don't want to contribute to that if I can help it, and I don't want to have to put any other Disney guests through it if I can help it either!

I will feel him out, but am anticipating early evenings which are likely in his best interest. This is going to sound really dumb, but it didn't occur to me that maybe an after dinner swim in the pool would be a good precurser to getting ready for bed. DUH!

Julie

 

[dancin'girl]

We also had to go sit out on the balcony while our DD settled into sleep. When we were in the room she just couldn't settle down - we distracted her too much. We tried to keep the routine the same and got back to our room pretty early - by 8 or 9 the latest. We were able to watch the fireworks from the beach at our resort (Poly) and DD already had pjs on and such. We also brought a little music machine that came with our Graco Pack n' Play. It plays classical music and nature sounds and is small and portable. We played that and dimmed the lights...off to dreamland!