Hey visitors: Put your kids to bed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to read all the responses, but staying at someone else's house is so overstimulating that my kids can't calm down enough to go to sleep at their usual bedtime. It also doesn't help when the adults watch a movie or television with the volume cranked up, or give them gifts, or games the kids are not used to, or if they are seeing people they haven't seen in a long time. Combine that with a long car or plane ride, or jet lag, and it's a recipe for a screwed up bedtime (especially if they took a nap earlier). So before you start judging other parents, realize you don't know the whole story. You sound like you're the one that needs a proper bed time so you won't be so cranky.

-You are in charge of helping your kids manage an "overstimulating" environment. For example, if you start an hour before actual-in-bedtime with a bath routine, stories and quiet time with only nuclear family, you're helping them to transition from "visit mode" into "normal bedtime mode"

-You are in charge of bringing a white noise machine, asking for a fan, and asking other people in the household to be quiet if they are watching TV too loudly, talking too loudly, etc. You can help ensure the environment is better for sleep by advocating for what your children need.

-A screwed-up bedtime is understandable. OP and others are not talking about parents who are actually parenting, and are just having a hard time because of circumstances. We are talking about "vacation mode" parents who don't take steps to put their kids to bed/help them navigate the tricky environment AT ALL, and let them just run wild in an overtired state while they check out and do their own thing.

So before YOU start judging a whole thread...maybe READ IT.

[Anonymous]

Eh. I generally feel annoyed by things that relatives do when we have to travel - playing blaringly loud television, insisting on ridiculous political conversations that no one wants to have, having lunch at 11 am. Issues with people's kids are just part and parcel of the experience.

[Anonymous]

My child (21 months) goes to bed 9:30-10pm and wake up 8-8:30am. My Brother-in-law's kids (1 and 3 years old) go to bed around 7pm and wake up 5-6 am. This is the kids' normal routine vacation or no vacation. With naps, all the kids get enough sleep so I do not believe there is a "right time" to send a child to bed.

If your problem is that this parent is not supervising his/her child and you have to do it, then address that. If you think the kids are not getting enough sleep, then address that (not the bed time). If you want adult time, then invite adults only but once you invite a family be prepared all you might get is a family time.