Letting Baby Stay Up/bringing Baby to a Sporting Event

I am a big proponent of "flexible" schedules. With my three children, they had regular nap and bedtimes, but there were times, for a variety of reasons, when the nap was skipped or taken somewhere else or bedtime was delayed. We were not a family to rush home for naps/bedtime. My kids did great with it and quickly learned to adjust. It didn't happen every day or even weekend, but it did happen enough that they dealt with it just fine. That's not to say we didn't have a crabby child on occasion - when that happened, we did the best we could in helping everyone cope.

At 15 months my little guy loved watching Hockey. We would seek out games to take him to he loved it so much.

I also remember that going off schedule with my older one was not good. He would wake up earlier the later he would go to bed and be tired for days.

My second child was much more forgiving about that and staying up late was not a issue.

I would give it a try. It's worth trying it once. Then you will know.

Trust me, I am a schedule mom too. I had twin babies, and that is the only way to survive, but it just is not possible to keep the schedule every single day. Things do come up and it is actually a good idea to break routine once in a while so they learn to adjust to different situations. I remember it sometimes being a couple days trying to get the schedule back, and usually adjusting the next days sleep a little helps. If she is up late let her sleep a little later and expect the nap to be a little later, but wake her at her normal wake up time. You may have a fussy evening, but she should be ready at her normal time for bedtime or even a little early.

I don't think going off schedule is that big of a deal as thinking she will be entertained for the two hours just watching. She most likely will get bored and you'll end up walking her around or trying your best to keep her entertained.
I vote on finding a babysitter and going on your own.
I think probably around the age of 3 or 4 is when I would start taking her.

I don't think it's a bad idea to take her along to a game , especially as it is a big part of your family , but I do think she may be a little young at the moment , after 30 mins she will more than likely be grumpy and not sit still , and you will therefore end up doing what you don't want to do and walk her around. I say enjoy this night out with your hubby and look forward to the times to come when you can go to games with your daughter.

My kids have always tolerated interruptions in their schedules very well. They are good sleepers, but if they're out late on occasion, it seems to work fine. Be prepared that crankiness IS a possibility, but she may be so excited by what she's seeing that it's not a problem! Just don't expect her to sleep later the next morning. That unfortunately has never worked for us!

I say give it a try and see what happens.
My kids are 10 years apart so my son went everywhere from the time he was an infant, sports games, school plays and school musical concerts, company picnics.....he was at a funeral at 2 weeks and a wedding at 3 months old. (Both very close family members). He was just raised doing things like that. He did get sqirmy at the wedding because he wanted to nurse so I took him out.
He was a pretty mellow baby, very used to travelling, noise didn't bother him and he'd sleep anywhere.

I guess you just never know how your little one will do until you try.
She may really love it. Bring snacks and something for her to drink, have her clap for daddy. You'll know if it's just too much for her and you can try again another time. She may sleep through the whole thing......

Best wishes and let us know if you take her and how she does.

Mine would never sit for that long at that age...... Would you guys even enjoy your date night????

Take her! We've been taking our girls to hockey games since they were each around 10 months old. They were really into people watching more than hockey watching, but they both did really well. Take lots of snacks and a few toys and books just in case, but you'll never know how she'll do if you don't try! Relax and have fun!

Your baby girl sounds JUST LIKE my baby boy, except he is only 8 months now. But, since about 5 months he has been sleeping through the night from around 7pm to 7:30a. We have tried keeping him up later on "special" occasions like holidays and he DOES NOT do well. He gets progressively crankier from about half an hour before bedtime until we finally put him to bed. However, I have lots of friends whose babies do just fine staying up later. Every baby is different. I definitely think you should give it a try, however, you might want to try something a little less stimulating than a hockey game for your first time keeping her up past bedtime or I guess you just have to be willing to leave the game quite a bit early if she is not doing well with it. The sleep book I have used (Dr. Weissbluth) says if you keep a regular schedule the majority of the time, your baby will recover just fine from those rare special occasions when you keep them up later, so you're probably fine. Have fun!

We've never had a strict schedule for our kids - we have a general schedule, but never have been extremely regimented.

I'd personally say yes, take her to the games, get her exposed to something her father (and mother) really enjoy. At 16 months, she's beginning to understand much more about the world around her.

Our kids are in day care, too, and do have a consistent schedule there. We try on the weekends to stick with it (nap at noon-2pm), but we can't always do it, and they really seem to accommodate the differences well (our kids are 2 and 3.5).

You may be surprised - if she's so scheduled, she may be able to block out the hoopla of the hockey and stick to her schedule while you get to enjoy the time with your husband.

Good luck!

Getting off schedule will be Ok but taking her to the game is a bit iffy. I have 4 kids and at that age (since they can walk) they want to wander around. Even my 3 year old can not sit still for 2 hours to watch a movie much less a sporting event. It all depends on how your little is: active or passive. Another thing to think of is since she is on a schedule and used to going to bed at a certain time, she may fall asleep at the event (if she can sleep through all the noise like my kids) and you will be lugging a sleeping kid around.

Take her! I am big on schedules, but realized with my second one that they adjust better than we think.
You know your child best, but I think it's worth it to see how she does, it could be a great family activity. You can always leave early if you need to!

When my son was two, he was sleeping 14 hours a day, so it felt like we never got to do the fun stuff. His sleep pattern was absolutely crucial, but I would change it up every once in a while or else I might have died of boredom. Was it hard on him, maybe a little. Probably harder on the daycare workers ;-) I am a big sports fanatic and was absolutely shocked that my two year old would sit in a seat (or lap) for 3 - 4 hours to watch baseball games. We went to hockey, football, you name it. He did just fine. Your daughter might surprise you.
Have fun!
S.

I think it really depends on how your child reacts to going off-schedule or getting tired. Since you've never delayed bedtime, what happens if nap gets interrupted or started late or skipped altogether? Or what about really busy days like holidays when she gets tired earlier than usual? Does she get super cranky and cry, or just look tired, or get hyper, or just get a little quick to temper? My son stays in a perfectly good mood if something is going on but will get upset quicker if someone takes his toy, or something like that. Some kids get unbearably cranky and throw fits. If your daughter is more good-natured about being sleepy, I think you could do it. The game will be exciting and fun and keep her ocupied if she is the easy going type. If she is the tantrum type I would say no. Maybe you could try a trial run first before chancing the big game, and do something late that is fun but not a paid event. Like if there is live music in a park or something. Good luck, that could be a lot of fun!

j

Well, you'll never know unless you try. =0) Give it a shot and see how she does. Take some fun stuff with ya to keep her occupied with. Maybe some good activities she could do while sitting in your lap. Lots of little snacks. She may LOVE it and it'll become your favorite family activity. =0)

My advice is to try something "lower stakes" first - like a casual dinner out. If she does okay, then try the game. But if you're going to be stressed out about her being off her schedule, then it won't be fun for you and it will be a waste. My older daughter _needed_ her sleep. We'd pay for a week if she missed her nap or went to bed to late. My younger son is very flexible. My family sometimes gave me a hard time about sticking so closely to my daughter's schedule, but if we were out too late I'd be worried about how she was going to wake up at 3am, and so it wasn't fun anyway.

I think it's great that you want to take your daughter, and I think it's great to save the money on the sitter. The only other thing to consider is whether you'd consider it a "savings" if you both had to leave the game early to take home a cranky baby. If the tickets are cheap, that would be fine with me, but if we had shelled out some dough for the tix, I would be annoyed (with myself, for taking my own kid!). Good luck with your decision.