Those of you with 5 yr olds - how do your holiday evenings work out?

[rookiemater]

We are off to Portugal next Sunday, yay!

Just wondering about the evenings, up to now DH has insisted we bring the buggy with us just in case we are out late at a restaurant and DS wants to snooze. It has been nice because sometimes DS would fall asleep and it means we could linger for an extra drink or go for a walk along the promenade.

I now feel that DS is far too old for the buggy at 5, but he doesn't cope well with being up late - past 8-9 for many evenings, say 1 in 3.

I guess we will just have to eat early most evenings and then watch a DVD or drink a glass of wine on the terrace, we have an appartment with separate living room so we can do that. We have had babysitters before but they are expensive, and as DS can cope with being up reasonably late and we enjoy being with him then it seems a bit unnecessary.

Any body have any good suggestions or advice on how they do evenings abroad?

We tend to alternate cooking and eating out. From that age though, on nights out we always stay out later than that. If we're going out at night, I try to fit a bit of a siesta in the afternoon - if dd won't sleep, she is normally happy to sit and quietly watch a dvd in her room for an hour or so. Then we go for a stroll, eat about 7 or 8 and then see if there is a playground, roundabout etc for a little while. Then get a drink whilst she has an ice cream or something. Then go home. We tend to do Eurocamp style places where there is a band on, or baby disco.

The nights we stay in we normally eat about 7 and then play it by ear. Last year (dd was 6) there were a few kids about so we sat on the terrace with a glass of wine whilst they played in the "road" between the mobile homes. Bed by 9 or ten. Dd will sleep late so seems to manage the late nights without getting grumpy.

That's a good suggestion about the afternoon nap, although DH will probably think its code for something else
DS used to get up reasonably late, but not these days and does get grumpy if up for more than 2 nights on the trot, but then so do I.

rookie - to me that is part of the fun

Definitely do the afternoon siesta, there is now way you will be able to stay out in the evenings if you don't. Even if your DS doesn't actually sleep, the down time will help. And if he does sleep the you and your DH have time to yoursleves

We are going to take a buggy ofr our 4½ year old as we are renting an apartment that is bout 15 minutes walk from the town (we are going to Portugal too), and I think she will get tired.

We normally go to Turkey where there is a 2 hour time difference, which helps but Portugal is on the same time as the UK.

Buggy? For a 5 yr old? . Unless he has some SN i would say deffo no to that.
We normally go out and eat by 7pm, then have a wander, then back to hotel for mini disco bout 9 ish where he has a dance and run about. Its been this way since he was 3.5. Ds2 is headi g the same way, but normally conks out bout 9ish, hes 18 months.
I find mine sleep later on hols, late to bed, dark curtains and normally sleep in

I feel the same way about the buggy mosschops, hence the reason for the thread.

It's just that some children seem better equiped to cope with late evenings, when we were in Sardinia when DS was 4 all the rest of them flocked to the kiddie disco and loved being up whereas DS just wanted to go to his bed.We had a babysitter one night and she was horrified that we didn't want her to take DS out for the evenings entertainment, whilst all DS wanted was to sleep at 8.00pm.

He's a year bigger. He might surprise you this year.

We were in Portugal at half term with my 5yo. We don't even have a buggy any more! We have always moved her on to a 10pm-9/10am sleep routine when on holiday. Works great, she comes out for a lovely dinner with us and we get a lie in the next morning.

Fingers crossed portofino, I'm actually getting round to the afternoon nap way of thinking might not be a bad idea on so many levels

Just got back from Spain today and found buggy very useful to cart handluggage round on in lieu of a trolley and can go right to plane doors even on Ryanair for free! None of the kids went in it though...

I like it

I find lugging the buggy around a pain and then it sat uselessly in the appartment until we went on our evening out.
Naturally the minute DS saw it he plonked his bottom in it and refused to walk anywhere, plus I had forgotten how much of a hassle buggies actually are.
No surreee I may put it in our bin to stop DH sneaking it in at the last minute.

DS was 5 when we first took him abroad. We would go out and eat about 7pm - all done by 8.30 / 9ish and go back to the villa and spend the rest of the evening there, have couple of glasses of vino on the terrace etc after he went to bed.

I wouldn't take a buggy, not for a 5 yo and also, when you have kids, you have to expect to have a different sort of holiday don't you?