Can your 5-6 month old nap while you're out and about?

[BlingyGal]

My daughter can no longer sleep 'on the go', at least not easily. Yet I have friends with 5-6 months old babies who are out and about ALL DAY and their babies just nap when needed. They're able to go to the gym, then lunch then playtime with their babies. Mine would be freaking out, not sleeping and probably not eating very well if I did that (I tried once and it disrupted her sleep for the rest of the day once we were home). Is it just a case of each baby is different? Am I just too uptight about my baby's sleep schedule?

 

[SarahBear]

It affects my baby, but he can get by just fine and make up the sleep in a later and longer nap, but he doesn't freak out. He also nurses just fine when out and about.

My first baby, on the other hand, would not nurse when out and about past about 4 months. I had an interview out of town when she was about 8 or 9 months old and we drove down, I had the interview, we spent the night, and then we drove back. My husband was with us. I think she nursed fine in bed and she took a bottle, but one of the days we were gone she refused to nurse, I figured she'd nurse eventually... no such luck! I had to pump and give her a bottle. As far as naps go, it has always been our routine to get her to sleep for naps by putting her in the carrier and walking around with her. That's still the case at 3 years old. We are, however, able to put her down once asleep. She has, however, gone through stages where napping was extremely difficult no matter what. I recall a time like that at 4 months and about 8 months. I'm sure there were other times as well. When we took her on vacation at 19 months (month long vacation, so 20 months by the time we got back), she had to nap on the go and did just fine with it.

It really depends on the kid as well as the routine you set up with them.

 

[Rainbow82]

DS can nap in his pram if we are moving for example walking round town and he can nap in the car if it's a long journey but if we are out and about we are normally in and out of the car or with friends etc and he will maybe nap for 20 mins or so then not go back to sleep. It really screws him up for the rest of the day. If we are at home he naps 10-12 and at least an hour sometimes two in the afternoon, going down about 3. So basically if we are out he doesn't nap properly just 20-30 mins then it's impossible to get him back to sleep and he is cranky and whingey for the rest of the day. He's six months on Tuesday if that's any help.

 

[BlingyGal]

Thanks Rainbow. Yeah, my LO was horrendous yesterday when we got home and tried napping. So much crying. And the naps were both super short 20-25 minutes. I felt so bad for pushing her limits.

My LO is six months on Friday Can't believe how time has flown.

 

[Indi84]

All babies are different!
Mine would have freaked out, he only EVER napped in his cot from 4 months. He is three and has still never fallen asleep on the floor, couch, my bed etc like some of my friends children do! He is a brilliant sleeper, just in his bed! Force him to go without a nap e.g.stay out all day and meltdown city would happen.
I have one friend who goes everywhere with hers in a sling and he just sleeps all day in it.

 

[Zephram]

My DS1 never napped on the go until he was past 18 months when he started sleeping in his car seat. When he was a baby we never went anywhere unless it was between nap times.

DS2 doesn't have quite that luxury as DS1 is in preschool two days per week, so we have to do the school run whether DS2 is due a nap or not, but I've started to notice him sleeping less while out and about and he is only 3.5 months. He's also starting to not want to breastfeed if something is going on, so it seems like he's going the way of his brother. Since he's the second kid and he has to be dragged around sometimes, he'll just have to make do some days. If he won't sleep when out he can go to bed early as we can't stop doing things so he can nap properly. It's a real luxury being able to work around naps with your first child.

 

[Lemonade]

All babies are different!
Mine would have freaked out, he only EVER napped in his cot from 4 months. He is three and has still never fallen asleep on the floor, couch, my bed etc like some of my friends children do! He is a brilliant sleeper, just in his bed! Force him to go without a nap e.g.stay out all day and meltdown city would happen.

This is my LO exactly too. Occasionally she will fall asleep on a long car journey for maybe 30 minutes, but that's it. I always see pictures on FB of people's children falling asleep in their highchair, while playing etc and she has NEVER done that. She won't even sleep in my arms anymore!

 

[Button#]

Mine does in the sling. She's not got much choice as we have to take DS to preschool at her nap time.

 

[d_b]

DD will often sleep in the stroller and occasionally the car seat. However it's kind of hit and miss and she might cry the entire time we're out instead. She used to sleep great while being worn in the carrier but that stopped around 4 months.

 

[MindUtopia]

I do think every baby is different, but I also think they get used to what they get used to, so their normal is what you make normal for them. I almost never stayed at home all day, except for maybe when my daughter was really little. So for that reason, the only place to nap was when we were always on the go and that just became what's normal. I also never planned activities around nap times. If there was something to go to, she napped in the car on the way there or she napped in the pushchair as I got a coffee and we took a walk around town after. I don't think she has ever really napped in her cot during the day, though she did sometimes nap in her swing when she was really little and sometimes we would lie down together for a nap during the day. But it was never like we were at home at 11am and she was put down in her cot because it was "naptime". She just slept as and when needed wherever we happened to be, which was rarely at home. And that's just what she was used to. As a result, it was always really easy to go anywhere with her because even as a toddler, she'd sleep in the car on the way there or if the time she happened to need a nap was around lunch time, we could put her in her pushchair, push her around a couple minutes, and then she'd sleep while we sat down at the pub and had lunch with family. In that sense, it was great, because it never interfered with us going anywhere and we never needed to be home for naptimes. The downside is that she was so rarely at home for a nap that it was hard to get her to sleep at home when we happened to be home for a nap. She was just used to sleeping in the car, or in the pushchair or in the carrier when we were out for a long afternoon walk. So that was a little bit annoying too! But they just get used to whatever their normal is, so if it's going to be more convenient that your LO sleep when you're out rather than at home, I'd just try to get them used to that. It might not happen right away, but in time, it will get easier.

 

[Zeri]

Yes- mine used to sleep in the carrier for about an hour at a time, while I walked around and ran errands.

 

[dom85]

My little boy actually sleeps better when we're not at home and is less fussy. He doesn't sleep much in the car anymore but if we're out shopping or at other peoples houses he will sleep fine.

 

[JumpingIn]

It must be in the Ergo and I must stand and jiggle and rock and there needs to be background noise, but under those circumstanceshe can sometimes manage 25 minutes. He's sometimes better out in public than at home

 

[k4th]

My dd was like you describe OP. I had to be precious about her sleep time or else she was miserable. Ds is similar.

We were saved by trying a snooze shade on the buggy. It worked wonders & whilst it didn't fix all our out & about issues - it certainly extended naps so she was happier and I could be out & about at nap time. I'd highly recommend it!! She stopped waking as soon as we stopped walking/went into a shop/went into a friends house etc.

Jumpingin -

 

[rwhite]

Mine is now 7 months, but did and still does sleep while we're out (unless of course we are visiting someone, but if we are shopping etc she is fine), usually because she is in the carrier and close to me