Child ill from excitement advice?

[GreeneryGrass]

DS is 3 and it's his first year really understanding Santa, presents and everything exciting that comes with Christmas. He could barely sleep last night and was so excitable he completely overheated and started to feel quite unwell (sleeping now and totally fine as of now!).
Does anyone have advice for Christmas Eve night?
He was so excited last night to the point of making himself ill that I worry how he'll be tonight - do any seasoned pros with excitable kids have any advice!? I just want him to have a lovely time without running himself down bless him.

(Extra Q - grandparents are over today to present swap and I know would love to see him open his gifts. Do we let him then it spreads out the gift opening so maybe doesn't put so much pressure on Christmas Day, or are we setting ourselves up to fail with him having them early?)

You keep the environment calm and don't hype it up too much. Stick to routine which hopefully involves a good run around the park in the fresh air. No presents before Christmas day and don't let him see them. 4.30 crib service to help teach what christmas is all about.

You will have to be very firm about routine with your parents. It isn't about them and if they want to see presents opened, they can pop round first thing on Christmas morning or stay the night and ds csn wske them up to spread the joy with his stocking at 4am (ish).--

I have one like this. Keep Xmas Eve as low key as possible, get plenty of fresh air if possible. So breakfast, then straight to the park/bike ride for at least an hour. Remind without judging that going to sleep is important or Santa can’t come. I would allow at least one grandparent pres to be opened I think, either one he chooses or they can choose.
we always find a swim
quite good for getting people to sleep. Keep food quite low key/plqin. I would consider something like a carol service & also talk about what will happen at bedtime - brandy and mince pie on a plate for Santa then a bath then go to say goodnight, then teeth and stories in bed. Santa doesn’t come to little joys that don’t brush, their breath is too bad!
anticipate an early start /much putting back to bed. Make Christmas Day qlso contai. Fresh air.. go slow with the gifts and potentially save some for he following days - I’ve made ours last 3 days before because they were so overwhelmed.
good luck!

Yeah I agree with spending most of the day outside. We'll do a bike ride in the morning, then back for lunch, then beach for a couple of hours. I'd definitely open grandparent gifts, will take the edge off the anticipation. Then around half an hour before bed we do stockings on sofas, food out for Santa and reindeers and then stories bath and bed. Kids are 2yo and 4yo.

We also quite often do a walk round the block before bed, look at the lights, chat about them etc. mine are *much^ older & still navigating this. You will find some things don’t work. Also do allow him to be a bit excited - it’s just making sure everyone gets a sleep and yes that they don’t throw up. Also make sure you get outside at least for. Hit on Christmas Day. Just to check do you have other adults about to help? Try to make sure you split the time so you all get to spend some time with him.

A nice long boring walk should do it.

was so excitable he completely overheated and started to feel quite unwell

I'm not sure this is how the body works. More likely he has caught a cold or some other virus (and the discomfort from that is contributing to him being a bit hyper).

There's a lot going round at the moment

Spread the presents out so if grandparents give gifts today, of course you let him open them in front of them. They should be part of the excitement.

I wouldnt discount out the fact that he isn't actually unwell. There is a lot going around at the moment, we have had unprecedented amounts of illness at work and my GP told me last week they had to close as 27 members of staff were off sick 🤯

On Christmas eve we generally have a day out - zoo, aquarium, big museum etc they're all virtually empty on Christmas eve (our DC is autistic so it's ideal!). This year, due to work it's a trip to the huge softplay where the online booking suggests only 8 tickets have been sold, followed by the beach.

i’d also consider reducing the present opening - not everything needs to be wrapped, or a surprise. It does get better with age.

Thanks all for the advice! He's up and about and totally fine bless him. This always happens, birthdays, exciting planned days at nursery, anything special he just gets so excited it runs him down - I'm honestly not sure how it works but it's honestly every time there's something special planned 😅 then he's fine after!

Great grandparents are over this morning (they used to come Christmas morning but it was too overwhelming for my 3 year old) (we have a baby too by the way, blissfully unaware of anything!) so instead they come today so I'd feel awful if they missed him opening his presents - I'm thinking we do what a commenter said and I'll let him open these and we'll just spread out the present opening over a little while as to hopefully not overwhelm him. Then DH is going to take him for a walk as I help Santa change the beds and pop out their little Christmas Eve boxes ( pyjamas, bubble bath, cuddly toy and book).
Then a light tea, bath and bed whilst we understand it'll be a struggle to sleep but I'll be sure to brief him on the need to sleep so Santa can visit!

Thanks all once again 😊

This was my first thought.

It’s possible he has a bug as well, but I can tell you it is also possible for some kids to get so excited they become unwell - I have one! It’s a bit of a challenge sometimes & sometimes have had to cancel things in case it wasn’t just an excited puke, but we’re figuring it out.

Agree with all the PP about fresh air and exercise.

Mine is now 9 and has been like it since she was 4. When she was 7, she woke up at 5am every day in December due to the anticipation of her advent calendar 🥴

Most years are not that bad, but last night, she didn't go to sleep until 10.30 and woke up just after 5.30 😴 She will however now read in her room for a bit if she wakes early. We are planning to go out in a bit for a morning of fresh air, then a quieter afternoon. And hope that she had a better night's sleep tonight.

I would also suggest letting him open GP presents today, will remove some of the anticipation. We let DD (and her brother) open the remainder of their advent calendars a few days ago for the same reason.

I did used to think all DC were like this about Christmas, but we usually have to wake DD's brother on Christmas morning 😅

(DD is AuDHD by the way so I think this is a big contributory factor).

Exercise and fresh air, then more exercise and fresh air then......just tire him out physically so he sleeps well

A walk to church for a crib service is a nice late afternoon activity and then you can extend the walk home so you’re running into tea and bedtime. Get him to help with a few little jobs - wash veg for tea tomorrow, wrapping gifts for family (I find relatives don’t mind slightly chaotic wrapping that a toddler has “helped” with!) that sort of thing?

I definitely had one that got overexcited, she is 12 now and still really loves Christmas rituals and traditions, I promise it’s really lovely once they get a bit bigger and can regulate their emotions a bit more, plus she is now my very enthusiastic elf for Christmas jobs!

My two can get so excited they’re unwell so I feel your pain. Letting him open his grandparents gifts will help distract him and make tomorrow a bit less overwhelming. I’d also echo getting some time in the fresh air, I also would pop mine in the bath for a while because the sensory impact of water was calming for them. He’ll be ok though, just look forward to him needing a good sleep once the adrenaline wears off.