Parents Too many hours at the gym for a 3 year old?

[Gym_Mom'12]

My daughter started gymnastics almost a year ago with a mommy and me class,then it snowballed into moving up several times and now right after she turned three years old she started training for TOPS. They do 20 hours a week. She enjoys gymnastics a lot, has big dreams and likes going but I am worried. She gets in trouble almost every day for not being focused the entire 4hours but I can't help but question how focused my daughter is supposed to be?? She doesn't run lose,she does almost everything that is asked of her but sometimes she will just sit down and watch what's going on around her,especially when the coach is working with the other girls (who are 2-3 years older than her) because she doesn't have the mind set her to train on her own and correct herself. I know nothing about gymnastics and I am not the kind of parent who pushes her child to be at the gym. She handles this all better than me. Are these hours normal for kids that age?? I love her gym and her coach is super nice and I want to trust the process so badly but lately I've been a nervous wreck about this.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

You are kidding, right?

 

[Gym_Mom'12]

No. I am dead serious. They train 20 hours a week

 

[claudidoll]

Really? That seems super extreme. What do they have her doing? If she is there 20 hrs a week it can't be good for a little body

 

[Gym_Mom'12]

They do TOPS training. Mainly conditioning, strength stuff, stretching,working on TOPS skills.

 

[HoldThePhone]

I really hope this is a troll post. If not then I really feel bad for your 3 year old. If you have to ask if a 3 year old is training to much at 20 hrs a week, I hate to think of what lies in her future. She should be having fun right now, no 3 year old has big gym goals and understands what that means. If her coaches really think having her there that long is a good thing, I'm sad for her.

 

[alsmom]

I can't imagine why a three year old would be training TOPS 20 hours a week...or at all for that matter.

 

[HoldThePhone]

Also, her little body has not even developed enough to safely train so of that stuff!

 

[Gym_Mom'12]

I promise this isn't a troll post. I am really just trying to figure out if I am over reacting but it looks like I am not.

 

[bogwoppit]

The issue is not the gym, it is you allowing your 3 year old to train 20 hours a week.

At what point does a parent just say "you must be nuts, no way is a preschooler training 20 hours".

Give me the gyms name by PM and I will look in to them. If this is for real they are nuts too.

 

[IreneKa]

3 years old? 4 hours in a row? focused?
These 3 things just don't go together in one sentence for me. Be it any activity, not just gymnastics. But especially gymnastics, since it puts so much pressure on their little bodies.

 

[needcoffee]

This is possibly the most bizarre thing I've read on here yet. 20 hours a week at 3yo?????? WTF????

 

[gymdog]

Not overreacting. I have never, ever seen anything like this before because I thought hearing about 5-6 year olds in these hours was extreme. My first instinct was to think you were kidding or trying to stir up reactions here too. is there some other advanced class you can move her to that's just a few hours a week?

Edit: the issue is the gym, if they are professionals they should know better about development and USAG standards.

 

[skschlag]

Yes, that is way too much. 3 year olds just are not wired to follow directions for that long, so her being in trouble is no surprise to me. And, like someone said, she is too young to do many of the skills, bridges being the main one that comes to mind.

 

[Gym_Mom'12]

I'm not trying to stir up anything and I don't want to put the gym in bad light. They've been wonderful to her and she's always loved it. She just started this program this month and that's when I started freaking out. I know I will have to talk to her coach but I don't like confrontation. I don't want to come off as a parent who's trying to tell the coach what to do. I honestly don't know anything about gymnastics so I had no platform to ask about this. I'm sorry if this came off as something fake. I'll have to approach her coach this week. She is still going in with a smile every morning and I don't know how. What's the best way to approach a coach and not come off harsh or attacking ?

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Why is 20 hours a week wrong for a 3 year
old? Let me count the ways...
1. No 3 year old can focus on anything for 20 hours a week - that is why they don't go to school
2. They have small developing bodies. This is why they do baby gym and do not train like Olympians preparing for 2016
3. They need to be learning other stuff, like how to talk properly and count and read. Not how to do BHSBHS
4. There is no need for them to train 20 hours at 3 - why wear out the joints that early?
etc. etc. etc. If your 3 year old is really training for 20 hours a week then you need to read through a bunch of posts on CB about ages, training hours and injuries, then go to your gym and ask them what they are doing.

 

[Gym proud]

Trusting the process is important- BUT when a gym is putting your child in danger- shame on them. If this is real it's the most horrific thing I have ever heard. Their little bodies are changing so fast.
"It's not how many hours you put it. It's how much you put into those hours."
As a coach and parent of a young gymnast I would tell you honestly that this gym does not train healthy, happy athletes. Please take from them that your child has great potential and is probably very talented at a young age. Use the resources from people on here to help you find a gym where your young gymnast can be successful for as long as she wants to!

Good luck to you!!!

 

[needcoffee]

Honestly? I would just leave and look for somewhere else. Any gym who thinks its cool for a 3yo to train 20 hours a week has very questionable morals and not somewhere I'd want my kid.

 

[Gym_Mom'12]

Thank you so much. I'll sit down with her coach this week and calmly explain my concerns. Maybe there is a way to wait a couple more years before moving her back up on this class. I don't want her to lose her fun for this. For all I care she can play in a foam pit at the gym twice a week. thank you for the input, I really appreciate it. Sorry again if this seemed like a post to stir things up

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Well, personally I think she's way behind the game at this point. If she's not at LEAST doing her BHS before age 2, she's clearly never going to amount to anything in the gymnastics world. If they're not having her work Giants and fulls at this point, you might as well just hang it up and go to cheer.

Seriously, as many others have said, a 3yos body is simply not developmentally ready for hard training, and any coach who puts a toddler in that program is irresponsible and ignorant at BEST. Take her to a different gym and put her in a normal preschool class, stat.