Would this be too much for your young kids ?

[toomuchfu]

I'm aware they're all different etc etc.

But I am just talking to my mum and how things were when I was little and what we would get up to on holiday and how we would behave vs how it is with my kids..

So I will outline a couple of days as an example

1. Get up after around 9 hours sleep ( kids are 2 and 4 ). Go to the beach until around 1 pm. From around 10 am. Then have a sit down lunch until around 2pm. Go home, 2 year old naps for a couple of hours and 4 year old goes in the pool. Go out to dinner at 8 or 9ish. Sit down dinner for at least an hour. Then go to a fun fair and let them go on trampoline, ferris wheel etc.. then home and in bed at around 11 pm.

1. Another day, get up after 9ish hours of sleep. Play at home and have lunch at 1, set off on 1.5 hour car journey. Kids nap in the car. Arrive at destination, go to friends house for 45 minutes . Wake kids to go into house. Then stop at hotel for 30 minutes, then go to buy some food at supermarket, then go to buy kids clothes at shop,then onto another stop and then a two hour meal. After meal at around 10 pm, go to an another place for a drink with kids. Then go home and kids in bed by midnight.

1. Kids up after 9 hours sleep. Off into the car to have breakfast at cafe, then quick play at playground and onto 30 minute journey ti have lunch at relatives house for two hours. The straight back to the car and journey home for 1.5 hours. Then just home time and bed.

I didn't cover bath time and story time but it's also I there.

Don't you think that this is A LOT for kids this age? Especially a 2 year old? And you'd naturally expect there to be some tears and tantrums with this kind of schedule ? My mum says my parents did even more with us and we just slotted in and didn't complain......

Kids that age need 11-13 hours sleep. If they are napping for 2 hours through the day 9hrs at night might be ok but in the heat they often need to sleep more. I think you are keeping them up too late honestly. And I never subscribed to 7pm bedtimes but midnight for 2 year olds is asking for trouble.

On 9hrs sleep every night I’d imagine that isn’t enough.
on holiday we were regularly out til gone midnight if not later but youngest would sleep at least 10hrs (and nap through the day too so total 12hrs I’d say!)
breakfast 10.30ish, pool/out, lunch 2.30/3 then pool/out and about, back by 6 for showers, dinner somewhere around 7.30/8 and then out. Whether that be beach, funfair, entertainment, bar whatever.
if he was particularly tired or any of us were we’d be back in the room by 4 to chill for a while.
This was when he was aged 3 & 4 and prior to holiday had dropped naps and slept 10hrs a night. The heat had him needing an extra 2hrs, never mind enjoying himself as much as he was!

Sounds very similar to our holidays when dc we're similar ages.

it seems quite full on yeh. My 4 year old son would not sit still for an hour meal and also has meltdowns daily so I don’t know how your mum expects kids that age to not have them especially if busy like that

Definitely too much

They are very young for that. Would need to be a loooooong nap for the little one, and I wouldn't be wanting the 4 yo to need a nap so personally I'd say yes too much. Maybe let the little one nap at the beach in a pop up tent or something so you 3 can all stay out having fun, but bring the bedtime to a more normal time.

Heats a factor too. I don't know your circumstances, but it was common to holiday in England when I was young, this year everyone's in Turkey! Massive climate difference.