Is 6 yo too young to have a sleepover?

[jennifer293]

My DD6 has came up with this bright idea that she would like 4 of her little friends from school to comeover for a night and have a sleepover. I have never been one much on keeping other people's kids and not real sure if I am even ready for something like this. DH thinks it is a great idea and is all for it and even willing to help out with games and such. I didn't get to do this stuff as a child and he did so I guess that is why he is so GUNG HO about it...LOL I am dreading the clean-up afterwards..hahaha

So do you think she is too young, and do you think the kids are out of the "getting scared and want MOMMA" phase? I live in the country so having a parent come get their child in the middle of the night would be a LONG DRIVE!!!

I was thinking we could rent movies, eat pizza and popcorn, play board games, and decorate pillowcases (so they can keep them to remember it)

We have a HUGE playhouse outside that they can play in and we have a trampoline and swingset to play on.

What do you guys think? Should we do it? Oh and would you let your DD do it if she was invited to something like this at the age of 6?


TIA!!!

Jennifer

 

[LPNmom]

My daughter has had a sleepover party since she was 7, I think they are a great idea as long as you keep the number of kids to a minium. We usually invite about 4 kids to our house. My husband usually puts the tent up in the living room for the kids to sleep in. We fill the top of the tent with balloons. The games we play are pigs in a blanket, and flashlight hide and go seek outside after dark. We also made the pillow cases the last birthday and the turned out so cute! We have also let our daughter attend birthday party sleepovers at their friends as long as I know the child and the parents personally, which is the rule on any parties that my daughters attend. I would be glad to give you any more ideas!

 

[jennifer293]

Well 3 of the girls..their mothers work at DD's school and I am a substitute so they all know me pretty well. Then there is one little girl who I have had in class 2 years in a row and she knows me pretty good, but I have never met her mom, so I am not sure she would get to come.

Did you have a problem with the girls wanting to call their moms every 5 minutes. I mean I don't care if they do... I just don't want the mother to feel unsecure like I am not taking care of her kid..LOL

 

[OhioFamily]

We started having friends sleeping over this year too. All the girls are six years old and quite a few times they wanted to go home when bedtime came. Thank goodness they were all neighbors so walking them home was no problem. I think some girls just aren't ready at six for an overnight stay.

 

[bgirl29]

I know my 6 year old dd would never make it over night at a friends house. I would talk to some of your daughter's friends moms to see how they feel about it before making too many plans. I think a year or two at this age can make a big difference in their rediness to be away from home all night.

Have fun with whatever party you decide...it is amazing how fast this time with the kids is flying by.

 

[powellrj]

I know my DD at 6 wasn't ready for an overnight sleepover with friends. A friend of hers would have "slumber parties" with a difference. The girls would go to her house in PJs and slippers with sleeping bags and have popcorn and pizza and watch a movie and play games, but they would go home before bedtime. DD always had fun!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I would not let my child go to a sleepover at age 6. Everyone is different but I would not be comfortable with it. I would talk to the Moms first to see what their take is on it. I like the idea of coming over in pajamas to watch movies etc. and then going home. Let us know what you decide.

 

[flortlebap]

I had my first sleepover when I was 4! I didn't sleep anywhere else until I was around 8, though.

Just do what you're comfortable with.

 

[LPNmom]

Well 3 of the girls..their mothers work at DD's school and I am a substitute so they all know me pretty well. Then there is one little girl who I have had in class 2 years in a row and she knows me pretty good, but I have never met her mom, so I am not sure she would get to come.

Did you have a problem with the girls wanting to call their moms every 5 minutes. I mean I don't care if they do... I just don't want the mother to feel unsecure like I am not taking care of her kid..LOL

I have never had a problem with kids having to call their parents during the party, maybe I just get lucky! The girls that we invite are all really comforable with my family and coming over to our house. I hope your daughter has a great birthday, what ever you decide to do!

 

[jnordan]

Well, my daughter just turned 4 last week, and her best little buddy (will be 4 next month) just slept over last night! It wasn't really a "sleepover", in that I was actually babysitting, since it was the little girl's parent's anniversary and they wanted a night out! But actually, she did fine! Both of them were still asleep at 8pm (4-year old bedtimes! -- It was actually about an hour later than usual for my little one!), but we had pizza, they took a bath, I painted their finger nails and read them a bedtime story, and then gave them a flashlight to play with until they were ready to go to sleep. My daughter is already asking when she can sleep over at the other girl's house!

 

[Hannathy]

My son went to a sleepover birthday when he was 6. There were7 little boys and they had a blast. The mom said they were all conked out by 11:30 and slept all night. No one even mentioned calling home! I'd invite them and see what they say. I think kids are more used to being away from Mom now than years ago. With a girl you are just starting they love to sleep over!

 

[jennifer293]

I have to sub on Monday so I think I will go by the 3 moms rooms and see what they think about it before I mention much more to DD. It is not a birthday sleepover so maybe they will let them if they don't have to worry about bringing a gift..

She has never slept away from our house with anyone but grandparents and that has been few and far between. SO I can understand if they say NO..I am a very protective mom too!!

She has a responsibility chart and she has a goal of points to get by the end of the week and she has asked for her monthly goal to be the sleepover so we are looking at possibly the 2nd or 3rd weekend in October before this happens...if it does at all!!

Thanks for all the advice thus far!!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

I know my DD at 6 wasn't ready for an overnight sleepover with friends. A friend of hers would have "slumber parties" with a difference. The girls would go to her house in PJs and slippers with sleeping bags and have popcorn and pizza and watch a movie and play games, but they would go home before bedtime. DD always had fun!

We did this for my older daughter when she was that age. And then eventually the girls were given the option to stay or go and some would stay the whole night while some would leave around 11:00.

Now, my 6 year old has been sleeping over and having sleep overs with 1 or 2 of her good friends since she was 4. Only 1 at a time though. We are considering doing the "pretend" sleep over for her school friends for her birthday this year.

Lisa

 

[sameyeyam]

I say go for it and have fun!! DD, now 14 has been having sleepovers since she was about 4 and loves them. Of course now she plays the music way too loud, they are on the phone all night talking to boys & staying up until 2am! So enjoy, it's a fun part of watching her grow up!

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

I don't even want to think of my baby sleeping at my mom's house. LOL! I had sleepovers when I was little. Probably started in the 2nd grade. I don't remember any of the girls wanting to go home. On the other hand, I didn't like sleeping out until I was a bit older. In middle school, I had A LOT of sleepovers, probably drove my mom nuts. I know we drove one mother nuts, she used to sleep on the couch and yell at us to be quiet. lol.

 

[minkydog]

Ask their moms if they think their kids can make it through the night They'll know. At 6, my DD could not have done it. In fact, her best friend used to come over and "spend the night" and I cant tell you how many time I would end up walking her to meet her mom at midnight down at the end of the street We finally just stopped asking. The only thing you might want to keep in mind is that if one girl decides she's had enough, it can spread very quickly to all the others. If it were me, I'd probably either start with only 1 friend or invite them all,but have their parents pick them up by 9:30p

 

[sskem96]

My girls have been having slumber parties since preschool. Usually just one kid at a time at that age, but 3 or 4 at a time since kindergarden.

For dd9's 8th b-day, we got a hotel suite and had me plus 6 kids. I always put on the invitation something like, if you daughter is not comfortable spending the night, she is still welcome to join the party til 10pm.

One of dd9's friends always got picked up at 10pm from every sleep over, she just wasn't ready, but the night of the hotel party, she stayed and had a blast. Now she and my daughter are totally attached at the hip! If my daughter's not at their house, then their daughter's at my house. Now I just have to hope dd7 finds a best friend soon so she'll leave the other 2 alone once in a while!

 

[amberdansmom]

My daughter's first slumber party was for her 6th birthday. They say you should have no more then 1 child per year of her age. Counting her. We ended up with 4 that slept over. that's 3 extra girls and then my daughter. We loved it. It was perfect. She had another the next year and had 3 girls stay over with her. It's a blast.

 

[jennifer293]

Well I talked to the mothers of the girls today and they all felt like it would be fine. All of the girls had been going to sleepovers since they were 4 or 5 and none of them had ever asked to go home. So, we are gonna go ahead with it and probably have it around the 2nd or 3rd week in October!! DD is so excited about it. We are going to make little invitations on the computer and start thinking of fun things they can do to keep them occupied.

Thanks for all your comments and advice. I will be sure to post and let you know how it went once it is over..LOL I may need a day or so to rest afterward though.

 

[amberdansmom]

Well, for my DD's party, they played "BRATZ TWISTER" "TWISTER MOVES" (which they loved and made up their own rules) Ate Pizza and Popcorn, watched DVDs, played with makeup and hair, Pillow fights (of course), listened to music and danced, and had a fashion show after the make up and hair to show it off along with the pjs.