Crazy early for kids party?!

[sofedupandtiredofthis]

9.30am on a Sunday morning.

Thoughts on whether this is a reasonable time or too early for a kids party?

I beg to differ, my 3 year old will happily sleep in til 9.30. No way would I be heading off to a party!

No way parents of kids that age are getting a lie so wear them out before nap sounds like a good plan to me

At that age I would have hated an afternoon slot as my child slept from 1-3 ish so and then needs dinner.

@sofedupandtiredofthis There's no time that suits all at this age so just go with what suits you

I had a 10am party for my child's 3rd birthday on a Sunday. It was perfect, at that age they can only manage 2 hours before they crash. It meant everyone could get on with their day afterwards. We also found at that age they were in a better mood in the mornings versus afternoon parties that start at 3pm when they get cranky and tired close to the witching hours.

Dd has had a few this time… I had the same reaction as you 😂 luckily she’s older now so it’s sleepovers with pickups at about 11… so I still get my lie ins.
whenever we hosted party’s I’d all ways do them between 11-1 so it’s right around lunch time and also still enough time to do something else in the day.

I mean all the 2 year olds I knew were early risers. They are often fresher in a morning and most soft plays with give exclusive access at that time. Unless there is a major drip feed and you all live hours away it’s completely fine. Also it’s an invite just don’t go if you don’t fancy it.

It's an automatic no for a birthday party that's held before 10am on a weekend.

Fine definitely.

My toddler has all her energy in the morning. So by that time she's ready for soft play or park or a walk etc!

This might be minutely more palatable for very little children who do still nap in the afternoon.

Less so for those aged 3 (ish) and up who don't. Mine will be exhausted and need a nap, that they wouldn't usually have, after two hours of early rushing about....which then means they won't go to bed properly later. Or they'll be tired and difficult for the rest of the day.

I would still hate it regardless of age, because as PP says, this is one of two days where you don't have to be up rushing for work/school/the standard week. We also like to relax, have a cooked breakfast, enjoy our day. It's also pot luck that it's not a week where our church has our family service, or we'd have to choose between two things that our DC wouldn't want to miss.

It's a properly crap time, mainly defended by those who have also had parties at this crap time. I've never come across it until now.

I didn’t even think about 10am! Is 10am ok?! I guess actually it’ll be 955

I wouldn’t have a problem with this but we’re up from 7am anyway. Depends on your routine I guess but I wouldn’t say that was unreasonable. Was expecting you to say much earlier when I read the title.

I have 3 under 5 and none of mine eat before 9 really. Might have bits and bobs but breakfast is between 9-11.
what time do other children eat?

My eldest had her 8th birthday party at 0930 on a Sunday.

It was in Lush, before the shop opened at 1100. It was excellent. All but 1 invitee came along.

Mine are up from 6am so breakfast is at 7ish. What time do you have lunch?

Mine have breakfast at 7, always have. In the week we need to be out of the house by 8:30.

I'd prefer 10 because I'm slow to start, but I'm sure most of the young kids I know are up around 6am. I'm lucky that mine sleeps later (7.30/8am), so even 9.30 would be manageable if it was local

Far too early.

People don't want to rush around and get up early at the weekend!

Before 7.30/8 as people need to be out the door to nursery and work etc. Surely yours will have to eat breakfast earlier and get up earlier soon as the eldest will be in school shortly and breakfast at 9 won't be feasible.

Completely reasonable, some will still be having lunchtime sleep. They will be nice and fresh.

Looking back on when my kids were small, I had no hesitation in having early kids parties or taking my own to others but I think it probably was usually 10am not 9:30am. We were always awake early so it was a relief to have something planned. I think if I had older kids as well as a little one it might feel worse, or for those fortunate enough not to have kids awake by 6am. As a one-off I don’t see a problem. It’s a party so likely to be enjoyable and at soft play at least the parent can generally have s coffee and chat while they watch the kids.

But surely this is just the start of it. DS had sports in the morning @ the weekend ery regularly throughout school. Kick offs at 9 or 10 are completely common place. He wasn't so tired he could do his homework afterwards,I would look at the DCs' diet if an activity between 9-12 is soooo exhausting for them TBH.

My two swim on a Sunday morning at that time and I pay £45 a month each for them to go so I'd be missing that party!

Same. I pay £60 a month for my DC to swim and I'd have to miss a lesson for the party (usually swims at 11am and party is 9.30-11.30) . I won't get that money back either for the missed lesson. So that's another thing to consider.

In terms of nap, it's hit and miss - mine sometimes naps and sometimes doesn't, she's in the phase of starting to drop the nap (she's almost 3). So I don't really need to factor a nap time in, however no doubt she'll crash on the way back from the party in the car and have a little snooze. Means I can sort her lunch when we get home, so may not be too bad after all!

To be fair in my experience most 2-3 year olds won't have weekend commitments such as swimming etc but equally for those children who do have weekend clubs the person hosting the party is unlikely to ever be able to find a time which works for everyone invited. If it doesn't work for you then decline I'm sure the parents won't mind but you're likely to find quite a lot of parties going forward will clash with hobbies, it's pretty common when they get to primary age.

My 3 year old sleeps in on weekends so I'd begrudge having to wake her up. Would do it anyway but would be a bit annoying to lose the gentle start to Sunday!