7-year-old still always seems tired even 3 months after surgery for obstructive sleep apnea

My daughter (7) had her adenoids and tonsils out at the beginning of August. Surgeon said they were massive and almost completely blocking her airway. Since then, the results have honestly been amazing. Her voice changed, she sleeps so quietly, she doesn’t mouth breathe—I was so grateful!However she still seems tired pretty often. Granted it is MUCH better. After about 3pm, she used to just kinda act like a little drunk person. We had to stop all after-school things (like piano lessons, which she loved) because she’d fall asleep on the way to them and then just not get much out of them.Now, she can do gymnastics at 5 in the afternoon once a week and still hold a pretty good conversation at dinner later.However, I think she’s still struggling. Her eyes seem so droopy. And you can just tell in her behaviors that she’s just tired.Likewise, on Saturdays she’ll sleep more but by 1-2 pm she’s acting exhausted. This past Saturday I put her in my bed around that time and she ended up sleeping for 3 hours. (No naps on school nights though or she won’t fall asleep easily.)Two things I’m thinking:1.) She just needs more sleep than most kids. That’s okay.2.) She’s going to be catching up on a 6+ year sleep deficit for awhile, so I just need to keep being patient.I know kids her age need 10-12 hours of sleep per night, so I work hard to make sure she gets that. We have a strict bedtime routine.If the routine goes how it’s meant to go, we’re usually eating dinner by 5:45pm, she’s in the bath by 6:15pm (every other night), we’re reading by 6:45-7pm, and she’s asleep by 7:30. I wake her up for school at 6:30am and she has until about 7:40 to dress and eat before we leave.But it can be a bit frustrating because so many of her classmates don’t have bedtimes until 8:30 or so.Say there’s a school function, like a music concert, that starts at 6.I notice that she’s just so tired by then. And after the concert, we might get home at 7:30. If she still needs dinner (because we had to make it to the school on time for the concert) or a snack (because, maybe, she was given dinner at 5:30 or so before leaving to a 6pm concert, but didn’t eat much, and is now home again and hungry), or a bath, then she might not be asleep until 8:30-9pm.This doesn’t seem like such an issue for other kids her age, but if she is asleep any later than 7:30, the next day it’s so hard to wake her up. (It’s hard to wake her up even if she falls asleep by then.) She’s also got these circles under her eyes at school or after school, still. She never seems “awake.”I feel like we miss out on so much sometimes because of it.Honestly, I’m sure lots of her classmates whose bedtimes are at 8:30 or so are tired too. I don’t know that she’s alone.I also know that our culture (U.S.) isn’t particularly conducive to anyone getting the recommended amount of sleep.I’m just wondering if anyone else struggles with this? Do you just keep working to maintain early bedtimes? Do you have issues when there are school events or community events in the early evenings?Edit: Just adding that she doesn’t have at behavioral problems at school. She’s one of the quiet kids and always brings home really good marks. Teachers love her to bits. It’s just after school that I feel like she seems so exhausted. (I also think she may just be introverted and drained from engaging with people daily.) via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2Ol2kit