What Time to have their 2nd Birthday Party?

We are trying to get plans together for the girls 2nd birthday party and I cannot decide on a time. There are going to be several toddlers there, and I am assuming most of them usually nap between 12-3. My first thought is to have the party start at 11, but maybe it would be better to do it after nap and start at 2?? The party is outside at a park, so we have to be done by sunset. What would you, or did you do?

 

My friend had her 2 yr. old's birthday party at 3pm-6pm. You have plenty of time until sunset. I would make it after nap time, so any time you think the majority would fall under, particularly the birthday girls .

 

I would do it after naptime.

 

I'm the odd one out on this one, I started their party at 1pm. ardon: My two seem to do pretty well without naps if there are others around to play with and keep them entertained. :good: We had some other kids their age and they did well too. I guess my thinking was that if the kid(s) were napping until 3, the guests would be late to the party because get them up, ready to go and time to get to the party :wacko: can take a bit.

 

We did all their parties in the morning for the first 3 years. Morning (say between 10:00 and noon) was by far the happiest time of day for our kids. And we knew that none of the other toddlers would be napping at that time. So you eat cake before lunch -- so what?

 

We had ours just after naptime and it was PERFECT timing for them. Until they stop napping (when they are 7, right? ), I think that will be the time we use.

 

During this time of year when the sun is out longer I vote After naptime If their birthday was during October - March I'd say before naptime.

We had our one year birthday party around 1100 and it was over by 1400. The girls woke up from their nap and everyone was here - had a Great time! And then around 1400 [2PM] all the kids were pooped and went home and took a nap. 6 kids and no melt-down = a good day

 

Great question Krystyn...mine nap from 1-4 (well DD does), so I am straddling the same decision, before or after nap. If I do it before nap, they won't sleep knowing family is here and after nap might be too late. Mine did skip a nap for their 1st birthday party and did great with it!

 

Their Birthday is October 6th!

I still don't know what I am going to do, but I think I am leaning towards after nap time. I would hate for them not to have a good party because they were tired!

 

I vote after nap. Make the time good for the b-day girls!!!

 

Another vote for after nap! Can you wear 'em out in the morning and put them down a little earlier? That's what we did with J&H's 2nd birthday. The party started at 3pm ... even though they usually nap 1-3. We put 'em down around 12pm that day ... and although they played and talked a bit, they did fall asleep before 1pm.

For us it just worked out better ... we tried to skip a nap at their first birthday, and they were SO crabby, we didn't want to do that again.

Good luck!

 

Hey Kyrstyn,
We're doing ours from 3-6pm. After naps just seems less stressful cuz then you're not worrying about THE nap. Ya know? FWIW: it will surely still be nice out in Oct. Ours is end of Sept and I'm positive it'll be nice maybe even 95 degrees like it was last year.