If your kids wake up at the crack of dawn when visiting...

[Anonymous]

We split the difference. I will keep my kids quiet or out of the house/condo for 1 hour or until 7:30am whichever is shorter.

After that, this is the price of having us come. If people can’t deal, they can stay somewhere else or we will go back to traveling w them when the youngest is 4 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- It's a struggle to leave the house in the morning. Do you keep a suitcase near the door and change in the family room? Changing 3 kids plus myself into clothes, hats, coats, shoes and diapers is really loud. The baby especially sings and is noisy, which would wake the whole house. Being able to watch TV in the mornings would help, but not really since the baby doesn't watch it.

And sorry about saying the baby was bad. Baby isn't bad, just had a bad time sleeping.

This is a really rural area. They don't have hotel suites, just gross Motel 8 style hotels.

I was just curious how everyone handles this. My kids can't be the only ones up at dawn.

We just make noise. It’s life w little kids.

[Anonymous]

Your kids are the absolute worst ages to travel with. Honestly, out of all my friends with 3 kids under 5, the only ones who do not hate travel are the ones who have enough money to travel with help (nanny/au pair), rent big hotel suites or 5+ bedroom rental houses.

My advice is either accept that it will suck and push through, or limit travel until the baby is 4 and the others are 7 and 8. Also, you can travel and leave the baby at home with a grandparent or caregiver for some trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your family sounds pretty selfish. My siblings get up early, make coffee and enjoy time with their nieces/nephews! Often we are pushed back to bed to relax and parents/siblings cover the kids.

This is impressive! Do your siblings have their own kids?

Be grateful you have such a helpful and engaged family - this is not the norm.

This happens on both sides, so I wasn’t even aware people stress about this with family. Grandparents are literally fighting to get the kids to come wake them up instead of us. On one side siblings don’t have kids, but are super engaged aunts/uncles. On the other they do, so everyone is up together. Grandparents usually send the parents back to bed with coffee and wrangle breakfast with the kids even if it’s 5am. If they didn’t want us there we wouldn’t visit, but they do.

My point, is if it’s too stressful OP, don’t go!! Do what works best for you and your kids (which doesn’t involve shoving iPads in their faces at 6am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your family sounds pretty selfish. My siblings get up early, make coffee and enjoy time with their nieces/nephews! Often we are pushed back to bed to relax and parents/siblings cover the kids.

This! What's the point of visiting these people if they don't want to interact with your young children, OP?

Staying home is your best option, but if you feel you MUST go, then get your own Airbnb or something. This doesn't sound like any fun. Plus, saying your "baby was really bad over Thanksgiving" is kind of a rough indictment for a 1-year-old.

you are nuts. Grandma does not have to get up at 5 or 6 to prove their love.

Thanks for weighing in, Grandma. Sounds like you're grouchy and it's time for your nap.

Wench people like to sleep in. Even people who live their family. Hey a dumb A litmus test.

Grandma, we told you that mixing medications with your midrange Chardonnay was a bad idea! You're slurring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your family sounds pretty selfish. My siblings get up early, make coffee and enjoy time with their nieces/nephews! Often we are pushed back to bed to relax and parents/siblings cover the kids.

Yeah, presumably working adults not wanting to get up at 5:30 AM over the holidays is the height of selfishness. Absolutely.

[Anonymous]

Tell everyone the night before to put a sound machine video on YouTube so they won’t get disturbed in the morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell everyone the night before to put a sound machine video on YouTube so they won’t get disturbed in the morning.

Or just don’t go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the kids wake up, have clothes/coats ready to go, dress them quickly and head out the door to a kid friendly breakfast place. (local diner, donut place, even McDonalds whatever it takes). Then find a nearby park with a playground. Run them around the playground for a while.

That should take care of enough time to return home around 10am. The kids get a morning snack while everyone else has breakfast and regale the relatives with how the playground climber is different than the one by your house.

When mine were young and up- their grandfather and I usually dealt with the situation. He cooked bacon etc, I walked dogs, TV on in kitchen maybe, while he cooked I after dogs occassionally loaded up 1 or more in the car and went for a freshly baked box of doughnuts. Child or children that went returned to house with the box ike local heroes.

If visiting or staying with people who object to adaptions for first pets then children reduce the visits. Why mention pets? If a potential GP or inlaw or GP or relative sits the dog and leaves the house for the day never bothering with an am walk [or pm before bed] what logically will happen when there are children? Neglect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- It's a struggle to leave the house in the morning. Do you keep a suitcase near the door and change in the family room? Changing 3 kids plus myself into clothes, hats, coats, shoes and diapers is really loud. The baby especially sings and is noisy, which would wake the whole house. Being able to watch TV in the mornings would help, but not really since the baby doesn't watch it.

And sorry about saying the baby was bad. Baby isn't bad, just had a bad time sleeping.

This is a really rural area. They don't have hotel suites, just gross Motel 8 style hotels.

I was just curious how everyone handles this. My kids can't be the only ones up at dawn.

I only had one kid but my parents were tolerant and most of in-laws were as well. My sister in law expected my son to be quit - even though she never was willing to be quiet when my son went to bed. I basically refused to go on family vacations when she would be there. Mostly because I was afraid I would tell her off. As my son got older I could appease him with an iPad for a bit to stay quiet.

Why would you need to change in the family room? Are you saying your husband does not let you keep the kids in your room? Or you do not even have a room?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your family sounds pretty selfish. My siblings get up early, make coffee and enjoy time with their nieces/nephews! Often we are pushed back to bed to relax and parents/siblings cover the kids.

No. Having little kids doesn’t mean you get to wake everyone else first thing in the morning on vacation. Feed them and take them outside or else get a hotel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are 4, 3, and 1. They usually wake up at 7am when we're home, but when we travel they start waking at 6-6:30. Baby was really bad over Thanksgiving and was up at 5:30. At home, we let them talk, whine and play in their cribs until 7:30.

What do you do when you're at other people's homes? I try plying my kids with food and staying in a different section of the house, but it's hard. They're LOUD. Inlaws house has an awful floorplan where all the bedrooms are together on one side and the TV backs up to the bedrooms (so we can't use it). Or we have stayed in big AirBnBs (with my entire family) and it's the same issue. The rest of the family, particularly our siblings, want to sleep until 10am and then eat a big breakfast. My kids won't sit for breakfast either because they've already eaten hours ago. There's usually snow outside, so I can't go outside walking with the kids without making a huge racket and they don't want to run errands or play outside without breakfast.

The lack of sleep I get and the annoyance of trying to keep kids quiet all morning really ruins trips for me. Am I missing something? Hotels sound even worse with all of us in the same room and nothing to do until things open.

We watch something on a labtop. But when our youngest was one, he wouldn’t stay quiet for two hours even with screens. So we would just change diapers and leave the house - walk around parking lots, explore coffee shops, etc. One parent would go each day and the other would sleep in. We sometimes had to drive 30-40 minutes to find something open but we had nothing but time to kill.

We would return at eight am and have the run of the public areas of the house. That’s all the sleeping in you get on a family trip with young kids - sorry hungover uncles!

Nope. That’s not a rule. Sorry, lazy parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I ever have grandkids I will get up with them and let the parents sleep. I'm a natural early riser and so was my grandpa. He and I used to make pancakes together, it was the best.

+1 this is my parents. It makes so much sense and they love spending time together. Having grandkids or niece/nephews that age should be viewed as a treat, not a disruption.

Not at the crack of dawn on vacation. No. They’re your “treat,” so take responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you are being more sensitive than neccessary? Kids make noise. Preferably not at 530am, but 100% definitely before 10am. Lay clothes out the night before and hustle the kids in to the car. Adults can go back to sleep after your 15 minutes of loudness getting kids out the door. Drive to a restaurant or play zone. Put the winter clothes in the car the night before and bundle them once you're out the door and find a place to walk around outside. Then when you get home they can take warm baths and eat 2nd breakfast.

I would aim to keep the kids quiet until 730 but would feel zero guilt after that. Anyone who complains is not worth your time.

I remember my mom putting out plastic spoons with cereal when we stayed with my grandparents because apparently the metal spoons were too loud.... 30 years later I'm still kind of offended by that! A grown adult should accept that little kids are noisy and plan for it. They can wear earplugs.

Wow. You’re next level entitled. Absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your family sounds pretty selfish. My siblings get up early, make coffee and enjoy time with their nieces/nephews! Often we are pushed back to bed to relax and parents/siblings cover the kids.

This! What's the point of visiting these people if they don't want to interact with your young children, OP?

Staying home is your best option, but if you feel you MUST go, then get your own Airbnb or something. This doesn't sound like any fun. Plus, saying your "baby was really bad over Thanksgiving" is kind of a rough indictment for a 1-year-old.

you are nuts. Grandma does not have to get up at 5 or 6 to prove their love.

Thanks for weighing in, Grandma. Sounds like you're grouchy and it's time for your nap.

I’m a mom and I agree with them, but please, keep showing your rear end with your pithy wannabe wit. It’s such a good look.