Changing kids regular schedules??

[ancestry]

We are going to WDW at the end of June with our 6 year old twins. By the end of June they will be three months shy of turning 7. This is the first time since they have been born that we are taking a family vacation with them. It will be me, DH, and the twins. Our older children are not coming with us as they have been to Disney many times before.

During our normal home schedule the twins are usually in bed between 7:00 and 7:30 PM each evening because we all are up at 5:30 AM as our older teenagers have to be our the door by 6:30 AM to catch their school bus.

I am trying to come up with some type of schedule for us at Disney, primarily because of the need for dining reservations since we are are on the deluxe dining plan. I am having a lot of difficulty in doing this. We want them to be able to experience some of the night time activities - the fireworks, illuminations, etc. but these activities take place way after their normal bed times.

They haven't taken naps since they were around 2 1/2 years of age. Despite that I still try occassionally on weekends to get them to nap but they will not nap for me. I'm thinking that the excitement of Disney may completely eliminate any chance or hope at all of ever getting them to nap during the day.

The big unknown factor for me, is not knowing what to expect regarding the children's sleeping patterns when on vacation. I don't want to over plan and have to wake them up because of a schedule but I also don't want to be sitting around the room waiting for a 9:00 AM breakfast reservation if they end up waking up at 6:00 AM. Nor do I want to have us all excited to do a late dinner or to watch illuminations to have one of them fall a sleep at the dining table.

They will still be in school up until the day that we leave so I can't work on changing their sleeping patterns before we leave.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for this age group? Any thoughts on what normally happens when their regular schedules get affected?

How do I plan when I have no idea how they are going to handle the additional excitment and activity? I don't know if they are going to run themselves out and want to sleep more or if they will be so excited that they will want to keep going and doing.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

What was their schedule like during the summer or over Christmas break when the older kids weren't in school? Did they stay up later and sleep in a bit, or were they up at 5:30am and sleeping by 7:30pm? What happens at home if you keep them up past their normal bedtime, do they sleep in or do they still get up at the same early time? If they are adaptable at home, I'd say they would adapt at WDW. If they are rigid in their routine at home, then I'd say thew will be rigid at WDW.

I have one DD that won't change her sleep schedule for anything at home. We tried at WDW and it haunted us! My other DD is pretty adaptable and can adjust to a change in bedtime and wake up routines ... she will nap at WDW if she's tired, sleep in if she went to bed late, etc. We have decided, for the time being, to forego any evening activities at WDW b/c my one DD just can't stay up that late without turning into a whiny, crying, screaming mess ... and she's up by 6:00am no matter what time she goes to bed. Tired, grumpy kids don't make happy memories.

 

[MJAJmom]

First of all, congrats on taking your first trip. It will be so exciting for your twins!!!

I went in october with my DS3 and DS6. DS6 usually goes to bed between 7:30-8pm and wakes up between 6:30-7am. No naps. Because I had DS3, we planned to take a midday nap each day. We were up every morning at 7am for an early bfast ADR, early morning EMHs. We did rope drop every day. We were back at the hotel by 2pm and both boys napped for 1.5-2hours each day. We stayed out each night until 8:30 or 9pm. One night for MNSSHP we were out until 10pm.

With all the walking at the parks and the overstimulation, they will need some rest time. That can be either be sleeping later, napping midday or early bedtime. Since your twins are up early, I would plan for early character meals and rope drop. Maybe come back for a swim or some quiet time. Then start up again at dinnertime and see how long they can make it at the parks for the night.

You know how much sleep they need to feel good and how far you can push them without getting overly cranky. Keep an eye on them each day and judge when it's time to leave. Don't push it too hard or you'll pay for it with meltdowns!!

Have a fabulous trip!

 

[ancestry]

Tired, grumpy kids don't make happy memories.

Very good point! One that I will need to keep reminding myself. <grin>

For the most part, at home they stick to their regular schedule even during the break periods of the school year, primarily because *we* put them to bed at their regular time.

We have winter break coming up soon and spring break in two months. I will try to pay closer attention to how they behave during these break periods. Instead of putting them to bed, I may try to let them stay up a few extra hours and see what happens. I may even try to take them out for a later evening to a movie or dinner and watch how they react.

Thanks for asking your questions. They helped me come up with a way to create a few scenarios to see how they might react when at Disney.

 

[ancestry]

Thanks MJAJmom. That sounds like a good plan as well and was pretty close to what I originally was thinking of doing (early morning, later nights with naps during the afternoon). I was just afraid that we would come back to the hotel room only to discover that the children would refuse to nap for us.

 

[mjkacmom]

Thanks MJAJmom. That sounds like a good plan as well and was pretty close to what I originally was thinking of doing (early morning, later nights with naps during the afternoon). I was just afraid that we would come back to the hotel room only to discover that the children would refuse to nap for us.

We came back every day for naps, and even my twins, who were 4, wouldn't nap. It was still nice to have some downtime.

 

[TwoRoos]

I was just afraid that we would come back to the hotel room only to discover that the children would refuse to nap for us.

Even if they won't take a nap, they'll at least be in a quiet room where they can rest and have some downtime. You could close the curtains to make the room dark. Or maybe you could have them lay in the bed and read or play quietly with small toys. I do this even at home if my kids are fighting me about naps. I tell them that they don't have to sleep but they do have to lay quietly (with books or quiet toys). Sometimes just telling them that they don't HAVE to sleep removes all the pressure and they end up going to sleep anyway.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Perditamarie]

My kids are also hardwired to wake up at 6am no matter what time they go to sleep.....the crabbiness factor just increases if they were up late. We stick to normal bedtimes, or one late night, followed by a day at the pool so the pace is relaxed.

If your kids are crabby if they don't get enough sleep, I wouldn't plan on late nights...you will pay the next day!!!

 

[tricia]

My older DS turns into a complete BEAR if he does not get enough sleep or we vary too much from the regular schedule. We vacation with our children every year and try to keep him as much to his normal schedule as possible. (It is getting better now as he is 11 and can control his crankiness a bit.) At Disney this means that on an 8 - 10 day trip we do probably 2 evening activities, say fantasmic on day 3 and Illuminations on day 6. This spreads it out a bit. On the other nights we book ADRs for around 5:30 or so. Eat Dinner, head back to the resort for a quick swim and then off to bed.

On a shorter trip I might be able to push them a bit more, but it is just not worth the hassle. We get plenty of touring the parks done between rope drop and our dinner ADR.

 

[mumto3girls]

My two oldest are no longer nappers, but they do nap at WDW. They are 8 and 5 and haven't napped at home since around the time they turned 3. There is so much to see and do and they are running around so much they get exhausted. If you think they aren't going to sleep you could try to take them for a bit of a swim first--that always wears mine out. It does take more time away from the parks but might be worth it if you want to extend your evening hours. The kids love the pool anyway.

I will add that my 8 year old doesn't always sleep, sometimes it's just a rest, but that helps.