Early morning practice - how many hours of sleep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s insane OP. Kids need sufficient sleep. This is parenting 101.

Then why do do many parents let their kids have phones in their room and be up till midnight? I'm with you, by the way. But I think there are a lot of sleep deprived kids out there walking around due to TiK Tok and texting, maybe 2 days a week of early sports practice isn't that bad? Especially before HS when homework demands ramp up.

even when homework ramps up in HS morning practice is still nice because kids come home from school and can do homework right away vs going to practice and staying up late to do homework.

Not suggesting morning practice works for all kids and families. Some people are more morning people and some prefer staying up late.

I posted about my kids choosing morning swim practice and it works for him. He is a kid who needs exercise and thrives on movement. Starting his day in the pool is good for him. He is also very disciplined about getting to bed early and is a kid who will say he is tired at 7:30pm and go to bed.

[Anonymous]

Your problem is that your schedule lacks consistency. Waking up super early 2 mornings a week is going to be really hard even if you try to go to bed early the night before. If you really want to make practice mornings easier you need to get up earlier (and go to bed earlies) every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why educated parents are choosing this schedule for their children.

I’ll bite. I’m an attorney and my husband is a physician. We think it builds great discipline. It makes the kids goal focused and keeps them out of trouble. They get the recommended amount of sleep for their ages and they are doing well in sports and school.

You have zero common sense.

[Anonymous]

I was a swimmer. I never, ever got used to those 2-3 day a week morning practices. I cursed the alarm clock every. single. time. As PPs are saying it is really hard on your body when you change up your sleep schedule. It's very hard to go to bed early enough the night before morning practice if you go to bed later on other nights. The PP talking about a 7 pm bedtime is crazy. That is not realistic. Just accept that your child will be sleep deprived. I remember falling asleep during class in HS. I'm not saying no one should do morning practice, but don't kid yourself that it doesn't take its toll.

Parents also really need to think about what they're saying when they say their kid has a main sport and the other one is "for fun". It should all be fun at 11!! Stop professionalizing youth sports. They may not have fun every moment of practice but the overall reason for doing it should be enjoyment. If you are sending your kids to morning practice, really listen to them and check in with them and make sure it's something they really want to be doing for themselves not because they think it will disappoint you if they want to quit. It's really hard being the one who has to not only get up, but get wet and work hard at that hour. I was very driven so it was all me pushing myself past my hate for early mornings. But there were definitely some kids who felt like they didn't have a choice because of their parents. So just keep the lines of communication open with your kids and make sure they feel comfortable telling you if they feel like it's not something they want to be doing. It's even harder in HS when your friends are hanging out doing other stuff and you "always" have swim practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a lot more difficult when it is only 1-2 days a week because you don't get into a routine of naturally going to bed earlier.

My son will be swimming at 4:30 am in a few weeks. We are hoping he will get at least 9 hours of sleep. In bed by 7pm and up at 4:15am.

I am sure I will also be in bed by 8

We

I’m sorry, but someone needs to say it.

This is child abuse.

Pure and simple.

And what if the child chose this? It was 100% my child’s choice to switch to morning practice this coming year.

Our swim club has hundreds of kids who swim in the morning. My kid could have done afternoon but he wanted to do mornings.
He is a kid who will put himself to bed early when he is tired and none of us ever go to bed late. He will still get enough sleep just shifting it earlier.

So many kids who don’t do morning sports don’t get enough sleep. How many kids do you know whose parents let time go to bed whenever they want. We have friends whose middle school kids go to be at 10 or 11 and need to be up at 6am. Is this also abuse?

You're. The. Adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a lot more difficult when it is only 1-2 days a week because you don't get into a routine of naturally going to bed earlier.

My son will be swimming at 4:30 am in a few weeks. We are hoping he will get at least 9 hours of sleep. In bed by 7pm and up at 4:15am.

I am sure I will also be in bed by 8

We

I’m sorry, but someone needs to say it.

This is child abuse.

Pure and simple.

And what if the child chose this? It was 100% my child’s choice to switch to morning practice this coming year.

Our swim club has hundreds of kids who swim in the morning. My kid could have done afternoon but he wanted to do mornings.
He is a kid who will put himself to bed early when he is tired and none of us ever go to bed late. He will still get enough sleep just shifting it earlier.

So many kids who don’t do morning sports don’t get enough sleep. How many kids do you know whose parents let time go to bed whenever they want. We have friends whose middle school kids go to be at 10 or 11 and need to be up at 6am. Is this also abuse?

You're. The. Adult.

This. If my kid could choose, they would do morning swim, and pack every evening with as many sports as they could. Adults have to say no. At the very least adults have to present palatable options for kids to choose between

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a lot more difficult when it is only 1-2 days a week because you don't get into a routine of naturally going to bed earlier.

My son will be swimming at 4:30 am in a few weeks. We are hoping he will get at least 9 hours of sleep. In bed by 7pm and up at 4:15am.

I am sure I will also be in bed by 8

We

I’m sorry, but someone needs to say it.

This is child abuse.

Pure and simple.

And what if the child chose this? It was 100% my child’s choice to switch to morning practice this coming year.

Our swim club has hundreds of kids who swim in the morning. My kid could have done afternoon but he wanted to do mornings.
He is a kid who will put himself to bed early when he is tired and none of us ever go to bed late. He will still get enough sleep just shifting it earlier.

So many kids who don’t do morning sports don’t get enough sleep. How many kids do you know whose parents let time go to bed whenever they want. We have friends whose middle school kids go to be at 10 or 11 and need to be up at 6am. Is this also abuse?

You're. The. Adult.

Correct and I know my family and child better than you do. My kid is capable of doing morning practice and still getting more than enough (9+ hours) sleep.

Life is not one size fits all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a lot more difficult when it is only 1-2 days a week because you don't get into a routine of naturally going to bed earlier.

My son will be swimming at 4:30 am in a few weeks. We are hoping he will get at least 9 hours of sleep. In bed by 7pm and up at 4:15am.

I am sure I will also be in bed by 8

We

I’m sorry, but someone needs to say it.

This is child abuse.

Pure and simple.

And what if the child chose this? It was 100% my child’s choice to switch to morning practice this coming year.

Our swim club has hundreds of kids who swim in the morning. My kid could have done afternoon but he wanted to do mornings.
He is a kid who will put himself to bed early when he is tired and none of us ever go to bed late. He will still get enough sleep just shifting it earlier.

So many kids who don’t do morning sports don’t get enough sleep. How many kids do you know whose parents let time go to bed whenever they want. We have friends whose middle school kids go to be at 10 or 11 and need to be up at 6am. Is this also abuse?

You're. The. Adult.

Correct and I know my family and child better than you do. My kid is capable of doing morning practice and still getting more than enough (9+ hours) sleep.

Life is not one size fits all.

Right? I did this growing up and as an adult I still get up and run at 5 am before getting kids out the door and heading to work. It has helped me manage ADHD all my life.

[Anonymous]

You’re better off creating a schedule where they wake up same time daily, so if they aren’t swimming have them out running. It’ll take a couple weeks but their body will adjust.

[Anonymous]

Jeez, what is it with this crazy sports obsession that makes parents throw their elementary school children out of bed at 4am?!

We should just make college free for everyone so that desperate families don't have to play this ridiculous sports scholarship lottery anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why educated parents are choosing this schedule for their children.

I’ll bite. I’m an attorney and my husband is a physician. We think it builds great discipline. It makes the kids goal focused and keeps them out of trouble. They get the recommended amount of sleep for their ages and they are doing well in sports and school.

You have zero common sense.

Completely disagree - but I will add my kids are older teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, what is it with this crazy sports obsession that makes parents throw their elementary school children out of bed at 4am?!

We should just make college free for everyone so that desperate families don't have to play this ridiculous sports scholarship lottery anymore.

Young figure skaters get up at 4-5:30 am to be on the ice before school and there are no scholarships for figure skaters. Obviously their parents are motivated by other things, like feeding their passion, and teaching discipline, work ethic and time management skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a lot more difficult when it is only 1-2 days a week because you don't get into a routine of naturally going to bed earlier.

My son will be swimming at 4:30 am in a few weeks. We are hoping he will get at least 9 hours of sleep. In bed by 7pm and up at 4:15am.

I am sure I will also be in bed by 8

We

I’m sorry, but someone needs to say it.

This is child abuse.

Pure and simple.

And what if the child chose this? It was 100% my child’s choice to switch to morning practice this coming year.

Our swim club has hundreds of kids who swim in the morning. My kid could have done afternoon but he wanted to do mornings.
He is a kid who will put himself to bed early when he is tired and none of us ever go to bed late. He will still get enough sleep just shifting it earlier.

So many kids who don’t do morning sports don’t get enough sleep. How many kids do you know whose parents let time go to bed whenever they want. We have friends whose middle school kids go to be at 10 or 11 and need to be up at 6am. Is this also abuse?

You're. The. Adult.

Correct and I know my family and child better than you do. My kid is capable of doing morning practice and still getting more than enough (9+ hours) sleep.

Life is not one size fits all.

Right? I did this growing up and as an adult I still get up and run at 5 am before getting kids out the door and heading to work. It has helped me manage ADHD all my life.

Mom of the early morning swimmer and I am also a morning person who works out a 5am. Even as a kid I was the first one out of bed every morning.

Now I will say if my kid was still refusing to go to bed early and wanted to stay up until 10pm then I absolutely would not have agreed to early morning practice. I also have another child who is not a morning person and I would never even consider morning practice for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, what is it with this crazy sports obsession that makes parents throw their elementary school children out of bed at 4am?!

We should just make college free for everyone so that desperate families don't have to play this ridiculous sports scholarship lottery anymore.

Young figure skaters get up at 4-5:30 am to be on the ice before school and there are no scholarships for figure skaters. Obviously their parents are motivated by other things, like feeding their passion, and teaching discipline, work ethic and time management skills.

That only makes it worse. That sounds like overweight middle age parents projecting their own missed ambitions onto their kids. And there are so many other ways of teaching your kids about discipline and good work ethics without damaging their sleep patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, what is it with this crazy sports obsession that makes parents throw their elementary school children out of bed at 4am?!

We should just make college free for everyone so that desperate families don't have to play this ridiculous sports scholarship lottery anymore.

Young figure skaters get up at 4-5:30 am to be on the ice before school and there are no scholarships for figure skaters. Obviously their parents are motivated by other things, like feeding their passion, and teaching discipline, work ethic and time management skills.

That only makes it worse. That sounds like overweight middle age parents projecting their own missed ambitions onto their kids. And there are so many other ways of teaching your kids about discipline and good work ethics without damaging their sleep patterns.

I don’t see this damaging sleep patterns for teens 13+. Thanks