Parents Early morning meets

[jm_gymmom]

So far in DD’s short gym career, we’ve avoided the dreaded 8 a.m. start…until this weekend (and again the Sunday of time change the following weekend ). My kid is SO NOT a morning person. Like no matter how early I send her to bed, she just is not with it in the mornings if she’s woke up before 8 a.m. School mornings are dreadful. Both meets require us to be there at 7:45 and are 30 minutes away. With hair, making sure she gets a good breakfast, etc., she’s going to have to get up earlier than a school day. Any tips from those who’ve been there on how I can make this the easiest for all of us and help her be functioning for her meet?

 

[gymnastics<3]

Morning meets are tough for sure. I would say make sure you lay her leo and warm ups out the night before. Also try to have an easy to make/not time consuming but still healthy breakfast (like avocado toast, oatmeal, etc.). When you wake her up, reminding her about the meet might get her going and excited. Try to get everything ready for her (water bottle, snack, gym bag) so you can head out the door whenever she‘s ready.

 

[gymgal]

I wouldn't worry about it. She likely will be very excited for the meet and wake up just fine. My dd was never a morning person but on meet day the excitement and nerves took over. Eating was an issue though because she didn't like to eat right before meets. As she became a teen, she really began hating them though due to not having enough time to warm up her body, ease out all the aches that become a part of being a gymnast.

Good luck to her!!

 

[Carly]

I've done the braid part of my dd's hair the night before the meet a few times. Then in the morning we just put the rest up. It held up better than I thought it would overnight. Maybe try it ahead of time and see if it still looks good.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

I do her hair the night before. I have her shower and put Got2b styling gel in it and then braid it. I then spray back any flyaways the next morning with the Got2b hairspray. It makes the next morning much easier.

 

[gymgal]

to add to the hair bit - if she doesn't already have one, you can get asleep cap to help protect the hair-do overnight, especially if you child moves around a lot

 

[txgymfan]

Definitely get everything possible ready the night before, bags packed and double checked ( both hers and yours); breakfast ready, let her eat in the car if possible; have her plan what to listen to on the way, if could be energetic music or a fun podcast, whatever will be fun and she would look forward to hearing.

 

[jm_gymmom]

I've done the braid part of my dd's hair the night before the meet a few times. Then in the morning we just put the rest up. It held up better than I thought it would overnight. Maybe try it ahead of time and see if it still looks good.

Totally planned on doing this too! She’s left her hair up after meets before and it still looks decent the next morning. With a little extra gel, I think we can make it happen!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

As much as you can the night before. Teeth and dress in am. Food in car. Then it is what it is

 

[MuggleMom]

My DD hates the 8am start time too. Just found out her session for state is 8am Its like 45 min away and honestly I think I am going to get a hotel room next to the meet so save time in the am. The more you can do the night before the better. My kid actually needs more time to actually wake up in the am so we don't necessarily wait till the last minute to wake up I get her up a little bit earlier so she can sit and watch TV and wake up before we have to get going and get moving. I would ask her would she like to wait till the last minute to get up or does she need more time to actually get her brain going...include her in making the plan.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

Every single meet we’ve had this season has been 8 am and 3 of them have been Friday at 8 am. My kid isn’t a morning person either lol.

Make sure everything is packed and ready to go. Personally I recommend waking her up earlier than you need to - 1) it takes my kid like 20 minutes of fighting sometimes to get out of bed and then she’s really stressed out that she’s late, 2) it gives enough time for them to wake up and want to eat.

If you wait till last minute, they realize they’re hungry during warm ups. My kid needs like an hour of awake time to realize she’s actually hungry, and then she’s HANGRY.

 

[Mish]

There is nothing in my opinion to make this good. Our last two meets are Friday at 8 am. My daughter is not a morning person. Like everyone said, give ample time to wake up, my daughter is not a bounce out of bed person. Keep everything as stress free as possible. This is usually related to hair, so keep simple as possible. Know what she is going to eat and eat it in the car. Make sure they drink water (a struggle here) so their muscles get hydrated. Say some prayers and good luck!! Oh, don't talk too much because that will be annoying lol.

 

[mommyof1]

If both parents are attending, one can drive while the other sits in the back seat with the gymmie and does her hair. We have done this a number of times.

For early morning sessions with a 1 - 2 hour drive, we learned through experience that everyone got more sleep and was less stressed if we did not get a hotel room and just got up early and drove in the morning. YMMV.

 

[Coach Kate]

For early morning sessions with a 1 - 2 hour drive, we learned through experience that everyone got more sleep and was less stressed if we did not get a hotel room and just got up early and drove in the morning. YMMV.

Yes to the get up early and drive! When I was an athlete, we only stayed in a hotel if it was several hours away (3-4+), but so many of my athletes stay over even for drives that are less than an hour if it's the 8am session. I know I always sleep way better in my own bed! Even as a coach, most of the time my boss asks me if I want to spend a night, I decline. I would much rather sleep in my bed with my husband and then get up early and drive.

Now, in two weeks, we have a meet 2 hours away but I have the late night session Friday AND the early morning Saturday. But the gym is only 3 miles from my in laws' house where I sleep like a rock, so I got really lucky there!

 

[Deleted member 26368]

Ah, yes, we have two meets coming up on back-to-back weekends with 7:30 AM report times. Already had one or two earlier this season. Now, my DD and I are morning people, so getting up isn't the issue. However, making sure everyone is prepped (i.e., hair) and packed is essential. And, as mentioned, making sure she eats & drinks water early in the AM can be challenging. She typically doesn't eat much in the morning before meets, which drives me nuts, but I understand it's because she's excited.

As far as overnight hotel vs. early AM drive, I'll be testing these out in the coming weeks. We're doing an overnight stay for one meet, but I probably won't for the other (both meets are 60-90 min. away). I personally HATE sleeping in hotels - I'm a notoriously light sleeper. DD thinks sleeping in a "new" bed is...fun?!??

 

[Carly]

We almost always get a hotel if its an 8am session and is over an hour away, especially if we have to leave even earlier if there could be traffic or bad weather. I don't sleep well in hotel rooms but my dd can sleep anywhere so that works for us. She is the one that needs the rest. I'm fine with being a little tired.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

If it's an hour away, we wouldn't get a hotel room - the time it takes them to fall asleep in a new fun place, plus the weird noises at night in every single freakin hotel, and still needing to get up early anyway isn't worth it. Our 8 am meets are all 3-4 hours away and my husband still wanted to just get up at 4 am and start driving but over an hour, hour and a half, drive when we need to be there by 7.30 am is my personal limit

 

[doublestrike]

We did the hotel thing for 8 am meets since they were seldom close to our home. Once you reach the higher levels, 8 am meets become rare until states/regionals/nationals. One of the biggest beefs you'll hear is getting the first session at nationals with a time change mixed in (ie., PST to EST).

 

[Deleted member 26368]

If it's an hour away, we wouldn't get a hotel room - the time it takes them to fall asleep in a new fun place, plus the weird noises at night in every single freakin hotel, and still needing to get up early anyway isn't worth it. Our 8 am meets are all 3-4 hours away and my husband still wanted to just get up at 4 am and start driving but over an hour, hour and a half, drive when we need to be there by 7.30 am is my personal limit

AMEN to the bolded above! I have yet to stay in a gymnastics trip hotel room that wasn't apparently built next to some boiler or ice machine or noisy pipe. And I *always* forget my earplugs, of course.

 

[Janneke]

At our upcoming competition the first group starts at 7:15 am....! Definitely not looking forward to times like those, but we lucked out and drew the 10:30 straw. I can definitely recommend g2b glued. If you use enough it will be rock hard and there will not be much to tidy up in the morning. Little miss has managed to get a second night of sleep out of it, but it definitely needed some work (bit of water spray and a brush) the second morning.