Is it common for young kids to not have fun at sleepovers?

Question

My 7 year old had a sleep over the other day with a friend and he came home early saying he "kind of had fun". I thought he would have a blast but he said he never wants to spend the night at friends' houses again. He never gave a real reason. Just said he was bored some of the time. Its been like this before at a differnt friends house. FIrst I thought it was the friend but now maybe its my son with the problem

Answer 1

definately he may be shy or very attached to you just give him some

time and check w him about why he wasn't comfortable:make him

communicate w you this is very important

Answer 2

Your son is probably like me, I like having 3-5 close friends and no more than that. I hate sleeping at other people's houses too. I have a bed for a reason, so I can sleep in it. I hang out with them, but sleeping at their houses just isn't fun, you usually get dragged into something you find boring; everytime you go to sleep over. Don't worry about it

Answer 3

I think sometimes kids get uncomfortable at others homes. My kids have spent alot of time at cousins and so I think that they do ok, but if your's doesnt, or is scared of the dark or uncomfortable around adults, then that could be why.

Just be understanding, and he might warm up to the idea.

Answer 4

he might might miss his mom and dad i'm 14 and miss them some

Answer 5

I have a kindergartener and an 8 year old daughter. My daughter went to a sleepover with her best friend and she came home doing the same thing. Finally she let me have a talk with her, she said she missed me and my husband (her dad) so we tried to have her friend come over for the sleepover and she had to go home because she woke up at 10 pm and started crying

Answer 6

If your bored, or you consider your life boring or uninspiring, it's because you've made no attempt to gain knowledge or information that will inspire you.

Answer 7

perfectly,my daughter would never sleep over ,and her daughter came home early once,dont worry it soon passes

Answer 8

Omg I had the same problem as a kid, I never had fun at a friends house, with me I always felt left out even when I was the center of attention. I always couldn't wait to get home, and it was always i had "kinda fun" or "a little bit of fun", or it "was okay". I noticed the problem by myself though, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I thought at first I just wasn't a people person, or that I just wasn't capable of having fun with other people.

I never had therapy for it, I always just found I never had much in common with my best friends, sometimes what I found is that some of my friends were just the opposite of me, it took me a while to grow out of it. You should ask your child what things he likes to do with his friends, if he says only one or two things or nothing at all he probably doesn't have much in common.

It CAN be classified as a disorder, but I never beleived in that, sometimes the child just needs to have time at home find out more about themselves before theyre ready to have fun with others. I spent so much time in my younger years trying to find what I liked and when I finally did I always loved to go over to my friends houses from then on.

Trust me therapy can give you all different answers to your sons behaviour but the truth is sometimes children just don't like what the other kids are doing. So find out what your son likes and what he does with his friends. Find out why he just had "kind of fun". He will eventually grow out of it but it's better if he gets over it now, it's hard to have a childhood when there's not much interaction with other people so find out more. I hope he finally has fun, good luck =]  

Answer 9

I think it's common. They probably just didn't do anything super-exciting so it was fun but not, you know, water park or Six Flags fun lol. He probably missed you and at 7 it can still be scary to sleep at someone else's house- a lot of kids feel unsafe in new situations. So if your son was scared he might be thinking that it was ok but not worth feeling how he did at night so he doesn't want to do it again. Especially if he's shy. When I was a kid I was very shy and always felt uncomfortable at other people's houses because they would do things differently than we did and I wasn't sure if I was doing things "right". I don't think it's a problem at all, just a preference.  

Answer 10

HE PROBABLY IS REALLY ATTACHED TO YOU

OR IF THERE WAS OTHER KIDS HIS FRIENDS MAY HAVE NOT BEEN FOCUSING ON HIM..ALOT

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 11

He might have missed you guys, or maybe he got singled out, if there was more than one kid and was the odd one out. Perhaps the family did things differently than your family and he wasn't used to the change in structure or rules.

Answer 12

when i was little i never used to enjoy sleepovers. i used to miss my mam and dad. and also, sometimes the other kids make no effort to do anything fun...they just sit on their playstation or whatever leavig your child bored.

Maybe ou should have one of his friends at yours and keep them entertained with games, a movie, popcorn and maybe make pizzas or something, to make him enjoy sleepovers again?  

Answer 13

it depends. is he suffering from separation anxiety? is the friend ignoring him? or maybe he just doesn't get excited about things like that.

Answer 14

My small son misses his computer and his playstation when he goes to a friend without them. My older son is picky about the food. They both prefer friends to come and stay but never staying over. Try to call his friends first. He is only seven. Why should  there be a problem if he missed his house, his room or you.?

Answer 15

He probably misses you!

I remember that I used to HATE sleepovers because I was away from my dad. But I grew out of it as I got older.

Just let your son warm up to the idea of sleepovers and for now have his friends spend the night at your house/apartment/condo.

Good luck!

Answer 16

If your son has not slept over at other peoples houses very  often, this could be the case.  young children can be shy when they don't often spend the night away from home.  tell him it's just one night away from home, and he will see you the next day.

Also ask him what he likes to do and find some fun activitites during a sleepover.  He probably just didnt do a whole lot.  Or you could have the sleep over at your house so you could coordinate the activities and he would not be away.  This will get him into having sleepovers.