OT Having Kids During A Year-round Sport

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Apr 14, 2017
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Hey all,

I’m getting married in the spring and then after a year I’ll probably start thinking about kids. I’ve been turning over a timeline in my head about when the best time to have kids would be during a year-round sport, but cannot really figure it out given all the factors I’m trying to accomodate. Namely:

1. Cannot be in third trimester during early February for Nationals since we fly to Florida;

2. Do not want to have just given birth during that time either (read: don’t really want to travel anywhere within the first four months);

3. Do not want to be heavily pregnant in the summer.

Which... pretty much makes the entire year a no-go.

And this is all assuming that starting a family will even follow my timetable, which who knows if it will.

So to those of you who’ve had kids during your coaching season, how’d you do it? What would you have done differently?
 

Hahaha yes, I did.

I was a gym owner then, but my daughter was born Worlds weekend 2014. I am one of those people that did totally fine being pregnant-I wasn't sick or anything too miserable. We had our last competition at the end of March, and I remember it was a 15-16 hour day but I made it.

I moved to school cheer after selling my gym, dipping my toes in all star again and figuring out I needed more flexibility for my family. My son was born December of 2017. I skipped our normal December comp, and got an assistant coach just in case. We had a local competition in November, and another local comp in January. We went to State in February, and he came with me.

In all honestly, it's easy when they are little. They sleep, you can put them in a carrier and it's NBD. You will also have tons of parents totally willing to hold a baby and help out when needed. It's when they are 2 that they are a complete PITA, and a nightmare to bring to competitions.

If you are a planner, I'd go spring when your season is "over" and you aren't totally deep into stuff. Cheer was my way to get away and have a sense of being my old, normal self after having kids and it was much needed. If it's the beginning of the season, just a couple of hours away each week can be amazing.

My daughter is 5, and she is now at the point where it's fun to bring her to competitions. Thankfully, my assistant coach also has a 5 year old daughter so they hang out and play with the girls. My team loves on them and keeps them both entertained, and my kids just don't remember a life without cheer at this point. I've been at my school since she turned one, so it's just a part of our life at this point.

Message me if you have any other questions!
 
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