Parents Late Night Meet, Young Child

[LucysMom]

DD's meet this weekend went 2 hours later into the night than her bedtime. After the first 2 events, she melted. What can I do to prevent this in the future? How do I prepare her (coffee?.... LOL)
Thanks!

 

[bookworm]

DD's meet this weekend went 2 hours later into the night than her bedtime. After the first 2 events, she melted. What can I do to prevent this in the future? How do I prepare her (coffee?.... LOL)
Thanks!

How old is she? and what is "2 hours later than her bedtime?" Per USAG regs, meets can't end later than 10 pm if that helps, but usually the little ones aren't in the last sessions.

 

[LucysMom]

She is an 8 y/o XS level and we had to travel to another timezone. The meet did end before 10pm local time. She goes to bed 8:00-8:30, sometimes earlier by her own choosing. She is an early riser and early to bed kid.

 

[sce]

Not sure you can completely prevent the meltdown for a meet so long after bed time. I would try to see if she can nap or at least lay down for a few hours in the afternoon, if she has a late meet again. As she gets older, she will gt more resilient with such changes.

 

[bookworm]

Well if she's in a last session like that, that 's pretty much when they end...I'm surprised you traveled to another time zone this early but I guess I'd try have her go to bed late and get up later if it comes up again...my youngest was always a "in bed by 7:30 kid" before she started gymnastics but her practices since level 4 have ended at 8 or later so we broke that cycle early, and she adjusted....I'm guessing she doesn't practice late either?

 

[Committed]

I've never had an issue with my 7yo (L4) competing late, but she gets hyped up with competition. Also, we don't get home from practice and eat dinner until 8pm 3x a week.

Perhaps you should have her take it easy the day of a comp. and try to get her to nap midday.

 

[MaryA]

It's so hard when you travel for a meet. You think, "well, since we came all the way here, we should really see x, y, and z." But sometimes just hanging out in the hotel room (ask for a late checkout if you're leaving that day) watching a movie or whatever can be the best bet. Of course, you do want them to have the experience of traveling too... It's not all about the meet. So maybe a happy medium... some sight seeing in the morning and maybe a movie in the hotel room after lunch or something. Also make sure she's well fed.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Next time adjust her sleeping hours a week prior.

 

[MaryA]

Next time adjust her sleeping hours a week prior.

I'm sure going to school late every day for a week would go over great with her teachers...

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I'm sure going to school late every day for a week would go over great with her teachers...

==

The op is asking "What can I do to prevent this in the future"?
Well, the internal clock of this little one is already set and needs to be adjusted.
I never said bring her to school late..... The OP said, "She is an early riser and early to bed kid", so staying up an hour later will help her to be more alert at the meet that weekend. Even if she usually gets up at 6 am, that is more than 8 1/2 hours of sleep a night and she will probably sleep in extra (time permitting).....
It's a pretty common practice.

 

[twinmomma]

==

The op is asking "What can I do to prevent this in the future"?
Well, the internal clock of this little one is already set and needs to be adjusted.
I never said bring her to school late..... The OP said, "She is an early riser and early to bed kid", so staying up an hour later will help her to be more alert at the meet that weekend. Even if she usually gets up at 6 am, that is more than 8 1/2 hours of sleep a night and she will probably sleep in extra (time permitting).....
It's a pretty common practice.

This is a ridiculously awful idea. My daughter is in the gym until 6:30. We get home at 7, and I have to feed her and she has to finish her homework. We have her in bed by 8:30 or 9. She MUST get up at 6:45 in order to be at school on time. I'd LOVE to have coachP over to wake her after putting her in bed an hour later every night.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

I'd LOVE to have coachP over to wake her after putting her in bed an hour later every night.

Me too! We already have to use a trained wake-up dog in our house - he goes into the kids rooms and prods them with his nose, or licks them if they really won't wake up, then they pat him and at that point they can't claim they're still asleep. Works brilliantly!

 

[oplei]

Watching your child on the beam an hour or so past her regular bedtime is painful. Hopefully you won't end up with to many of those late start times but they happen. One little mistake gets magnified when a child is tired and the whole meet can seem to spiral out of control with nothing you can do. Followed by exhausted tears due to low scores for the ride home. Been there. My only suggestion is to make sure she eats a late supper before the meet. In my house supper is usually 5 or 5:30 because of an early bed time but if I either pushed back supper to closer to the start time or gave her a decent snack before her warm up time things seem to run more smoothly. The food seemed to help perk her up and kept her going. Also, as hard as it is as one of the above posters mentioned try to have a "boring" day. Calm activities (which I know are hard with a hyped up gymnast!). And make sure she gets plenty of sleep in the nights leading up to the meet.

 

[gasrgoose]

This is a ridiculously awful idea. My daughter is in the gym until 6:30. We get home at 7, and I have to feed her and she has to finish her homework. We have her in bed by 8:30 or 9. She MUST get up at 6:45 in order to be at school on time. I'd LOVE to have coachP over to wake her after putting her in bed an hour later every night.

Coach P wasn't referring to your child.

If the kid goes to bed early and gets up early it's feasible that these could be shifted without changing the school schedule. Also most of our meets (except elite qualifiers) are on weekends so stay up a little later Thursday night, stay up later Friday night and sleep late Saturday and take a nap. As our kids have matured they have increased their ability to be flexible on the sleep patterns. It takes practice and will make life much easier once it's learned. We have multiple kids in different activities and becoming flexible wasn't an option. But we always try to make up sleep when we can. Kids that are regularly sleep deprived usually have trouble performing in school, gymnastics or other activities.

 

[sce]

Coach P wasn't referring to your child.

If the kid goes to bed early and gets up early it's feasible that these could be shifted without changing the school schedule. Also most of our meets (except elite qualifiers) are on weekends so stay up a little later Thursday night, stay up later Friday night and sleep late Saturday and take a nap. As our kids have matured they have increased their ability to be flexible on the sleep patterns. It takes practice and will make life much easier once it's learned. We have multiple kids in different activities and becoming flexible wasn't an option. But we always try to make up sleep when we can. Kids that are regularly sleep deprived usually have trouble performing in school, gymnastics or other activities.

This would totally work for my kids, but I know some kids still wake at the same time regardless. I think planning in a rest time in the afternoon that day of the meet, would be a big help for a kid who is used to an earlier bedtime.

 

[kaloss]

Last season, dd had a meet that started at 5:30 on a Friday evening, 4 hours away, after a field trip! She scored her personal best on 2 events and didn't medal. The poor child crumpled into a heap of tears on our way to the car. I don't have any advice for you, but I know how hard it can be!

 

[twinmomma]

Coach P wasn't referring to your child.

If the kid goes to bed early and gets up early it's feasible that these could be shifted without changing the school schedule. Also most of our meets (except elite qualifiers) are on weekends so stay up a little later Thursday night, stay up later Friday night and sleep late Saturday and take a nap. As our kids have matured they have increased their ability to be flexible on the sleep patterns. It takes practice and will make life much easier once it's learned. We have multiple kids in different activities and becoming flexible wasn't an option. But we always try to make up sleep when we can. Kids that are regularly sleep deprived usually have trouble performing in school, gymnastics or other activities.

That was unnecessary. I'm well aware he wasn't referring to MY child. The point was that his comment wasn't even helpful, for ANY child.
Honestly the bigger issue for me is why meet directors schedule session so late in the day/evening. Either cap the meet so you don't have so many kids, or use some common sense and put the higher levels later as they generally have the older girls who can handle the later session times. DD's first meet was over 2 hours away and didn't end until 9pm. ON A SUNDAY. It was ridiculous to have 7 and 8 year old L3s out until midnight on a school night. My daughter was a wreck and she wasn't the only one. Sometimes we need to remember they are still CHILDREN.

 

[skschlag]

I know with the boys, they don't put the upper levels at the end of the day because they don't want them throwing the big skills when tired, as they can more easily get injured... I know our 9s and 10s are frequently the middle of the day.

It is hard when meets end late like that. We have all been there. It stinks. But it is one of the things that we deal with. I know our family has dealt with it in gymnastics, swim meets, scout events, and school events.

 

[gasrgoose]

That was unnecessary. I'm well aware he wasn't referring to MY child. The point was that his comment wasn't even helpful, for ANY child.
Honestly the bigger issue for me is why meet directors schedule session so late in the day/evening. Either cap the meet so you don't have so many kids, or use some common sense and put the higher levels later as they generally have the older girls who can handle the later session times. DD's first meet was over 2 hours away and didn't end until 9pm. ON A SUNDAY. It was ridiculous to have 7 and 8 year old L3s out until midnight on a school night. My daughter was a wreck and she wasn't the only one. Sometimes we need to remember they are still CHILDREN.

I believe Coach P's post was helpful.

Our kids were on strict sleep schedules, it was a carry over from having multiple kids close in age when they were babies and toddlers. We continued with that idea until activity schedules started interfering. That's when we taught the kids how to flexible with their sleep patterns. It wasn't easy, it didn't always work and there were still plenty of tears. Sometimes we skipped activities or didn't join one because of the schedule. But staying on a strict sleeps pattern will allow the kid to be very well rested...... not only because of the sleep but also because you will participate in very few activities. Everyone is busy and schedules are crazy. You have to decide what's more important and there's not a right answer.

I admire the OP for attempting to address the issue.

 

[profmom]

I'd druther a 5 PM report time than a 7:30 AM one. Just sayin'.

I think adjusting the sleep schedule starting 3-4 days out is a fine idea as long as the child is already getting up earlier than necessary for school. After all, most people in the US aside from you Arizonans adjust our kids' clocks by an hour in each direction twice a year and no one seems to suffer tremendously from it. If that doesn't work, give the kid a cup of coffee or a Coke at around 4 PM unless your kid is already doing a lot of caffeinated beverages, in which case you may need to apply more caffeine. And keep in mind that they will get used to this aspect of the sport as well. A day of mild sleep deprivation won't do any harm.

As bad as this situation is, it's not as bad as the "yay, let's do a wild birthday party sleepover with the team" and have everyone troop off to practice in the morning.