Toddler Bed Time

[Brittney Cornwell]

For those who have toddlers with a bed time, do you push it back for Disney and how late? My 2 year old typically sleeps at 730 everynight but I would love to attempt to keep her up at least a night or two of our trip. How does this work for you all?

 

[dieumeye]

When our daughters were that little (youngest is 4 now), we just dealt with going to bed early. Our main concern was that keeping them up much later would cause crankiness the next day that would be more trouble than missing out on a couple extra hours the night before.

Although, there are times you just do what you have to do and power through whatever happens!

If you want to stay up, I say stay up. But if your little one gets cranky to the point that you aren’t enjoying staying up, that’s when you call it a night.

 

[roctavia]

Unfortunately it does really depend on the child, but if you can plan it so the late night is followed by a sleep in morning/ break nap in the afternoon kind of day, it will give you more options.

Our kids were awesome when we did WDW, we went when my youngest was just a few months shy of 3, and she caught a cold... but she was a trooper, wanting to stay until close some nights. We did have one morning meltdown partway through... but was a combo of her being sick, staying up late and then I left with our oldest early to sign up for Jedi training, so she was mad Mommy was gone in addition to the other stuff... but she and dad took an extra little nap and made it to the parks by noon and she powered through the rest of the day (and trip) happy as can be.

There is so much going on, some kids aren't as affected by changes to the sleep schedule since they get distracted out of the crankiness. Just bring lots of snacks!

 

[EmJ]

I’d do a couple trial runs of this at home before attempting it at Disney. Plan a full day of activities like eating out, visiting the zoo, and going to the park, then try keeping her up a couple hours past her bedtime and see how it goes, both that night and the next day.

My son is five this month and he still can’t stay up past his bedtime. Paradoxically, he becomes a hyperactive mess about a half hour after needing to be in bed, and it becomes so much harder for him to go to sleep. And then no matter when he goes to sleep—8 pm or midnight—he’s up at 6 am. Dealing with a wired, hyper kid at night and an overtired, whiney puddle the next day just isn’t worth it to us, especially somewhere like Disney where he’s already going to be on sensory overload. But all kids are different and yours might be able to handle it better than mine.

 

[Version 6]

On trips with kids, mornings are gold. In fact, if getting them out of the room and in the park right at rope drop, means getting them to bed at or close to their normal bed time, then i would do that.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

My 6 and 9 year old kids also go to bed at 730 every night, lol! My plan is to do two park days in a row and then have a rest day. Last time we were at WDW we had 8pm fireworks one day which worked out well. My kids do not "sleep in" even on vacation.

 

[CastAStone]

No. On the night that we did to do fireworks we slept in the next day and only went to the parks after nap.

My kids may be different from your kids, but mine are miserable to be around when they are overtired. I’d rather do less and be happy doing it.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

As other posters have said, it really depends on the child. And also on the length of the trip and how hard the trip is on the child. Oldest was better at staying up late and power napping in the parks, so we could be more flexible with bed times from an earlier age. Youngest was not a flexible napper and we had to be strict about bed times. It just made for a happier child and a happier trip for everyone.

 

[Mamato4boys]

My youngest two are 4 and 6 (special needs kiddo), and the last time we went they were 2 and 4. We kept them to their normal bedtime and plan to do the same this trip. When my older boys were little, they were fine staying out past their bedtime for a couple of hours, but it just doesn't go over well with our younger two. They need the routine and the down time.

My husband and I alternate going back to the hotel to put the little guys to bed while the other one stays with the teenagers and has fun. It works out really nicely for everyone.

 

[Brett Wyman]

We always make sure to leave the parks in time to ensure a normal bed time. That works best for our family but everyone’s is different. We usually will have one “late night”, MVMCP/Fireworks party or similar, on each trip where we don’t plan anything the next morning.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Our kids are 4&5 with special needs, including sensory processing disorder. We must stick to their sleep schedule. We also adjust it for the time change. They cannot sleep in.

We are going this summer specifically to take advantage of quiet mornings. I will actually try to get them to bed really early (shouldn’t be too hard after flying!) to take advantage of early park quiet time.

 

[Cfiiitz]

We did three days with a 20 month old and we were luckily able to push her sleep schedule. She woke up at her regular time every morning (730 mst so 630 pst) and we were able to get to park at open. Around noon one of us would come back to the hotel room (we were at Fairfield Inn) and nap for 2 hours or so. We’d be back at the park by 3pm and stayed until close every night. At her bed time I would put her in the carrier and she would usually fall asleep. One night she fell asleep while we were watching Fantasmic (like, how??) and once she was out I’d transfer her to the stroller and she’s sleep until we left. We’d get up the next morning and do it all over again.
I know what works for my kid. Eg. Naps are important and she will fall asleep in the carrier. So we did that. I felt lucky that we were able to make it work with long days. My advice is to stay close by and bring whatever sleeping tools you will need (for us that was the carrier).
I agree with the advice above - mornings at Disney are the best best best. If you have to choose one I would suggest getting up early is more important than staying up late.
Good luck!

 

[erinlizc]

We did three days with a 20 month old and we were luckily able to push her sleep schedule. She woke up at her regular time every morning (730 mst so 630 pst) and we were able to get to park at open. Around noon one of us would come back to the hotel room (we were at Fairfield Inn) and nap for 2 hours or so. We’d be back at the park by 3pm and stayed until close every night. At her bed time I would put her in the carrier and she would usually fall asleep. One night she fell asleep while we were watching Fantasmic (like, how??) and once she was out I’d transfer her to the stroller and she’s sleep until we left. We’d get up the next morning and do it all over again.
I know what works for my kid. Eg. Naps are important and she will fall asleep in the carrier. So we did that. I felt lucky that we were able to make it work with long days. My advice is to stay close by and bring whatever sleeping tools you will need (for us that was the carrier).
I agree with the advice above - mornings at Disney are the best best best. If you have to choose one I would suggest getting up early is more important than staying up late.
Good luck!

My son will be 19 months when we go this December. It's obviously a long way off so I will learn a lot about him in the meantime, but what were some of your kiddo's favorite things at that age? We will be there from 12/5-12/12 with my husband, my parents and my brother and his gf. We are planning an MK day with everyone and then I'm hoping for at least 1 more day with the kiddo (probably AK). Then hubs and I will do HS on our own so he can experience Galaxies Edge. I am torn because I know my mom wants to go to Epcot but I feel like it will be such a construction mess and I know my kid would love AK and there will be a lot to just walk around and see w/o having to wait in lines there.