What do you do regarding naps & events/day trips?

[FAB mama]

Just wondering what works for other people…

What do you do if you are invited to an event (birthday party etc…) or plan a day trip (trip to the zoo or something) and part or all of it is during nap time? Do you avoid going, alter nap time or have LO sleep while you're out?

 

[RaspberryK]

He would sleep in the car onhthe journeyor in the pushchair at your lo age, now he's older he'll either skip the nap or nap on the way home in the car.
Xx

 

[steph.]

At 16 months I'd either time it so she slept in the car on the way there (she would need at least 30 minutes to get through the day), or put her to sleep in the pram. Once she got a little older (probably after 18 months), she started refusing to sleep in the pram and now will nap on the way home. Pretty much what raspberry said!

 

[scoobydrlp]

I try to plan it so that she'll sleep in the car. On friday LO and I will be driving over 2 hours to go to an indoor water park with a friend of mine and her boys. It's going to be an all day thing and I've been trying to figure out how to make it work. I think I'll try to wake her up earlier than usual in the morning, then leave the house around 9 and hope that 9-11 nap will be good enough to replace her usual 11:30-1:30 nap. Ha, good luck to me!

 

[staralfur]

I'd either adjust nap time or hope that she fell asleep, depending on the timing. I try not to skip stuff based on naps!

 

[SarahBear]

Well, it depends on drive time, event time, and how she's doing that day. I have taken her to an event and just walked out when I was trying to get her to sleep. Came back when she was asleep. My husband and I may alternate who misses various parts of things when we take her out. We get her to sleep in our mei tai style carrier, by the way. If possible, we may try to time travel time with sleep time. We also may try really hard to get her to sleep before we go. It really depends on various factors and our efforts may fail, but we don't simply avoid the event because of timing.

 

[lozzy21]

Sleep while we're out, if you let yourself get trapped by nap times you will never get anywhere. Especially if they are still napping at 3.5 like my DD.

 

[RachA]

I always tried not to miss an event. DS would always happily fall asleep in the car so we'd let him do that and even if he only had 30 min we'd be ok. DD wouldn't do this but even at your lo's age if she missed a nap it wasn't a big deal. If she started getting grouchy one of us would take her for a walk and then come back in when she was asleep.

 

[Mrs Mc]

We wouldnt miss an event because of naps, we just try and plan around like pp's.

We're lucky, and ours will sleep in the car and pram, so they either sleep on the way thee or back, and if they're really tired, they'll jyst nod off in pram.

 

[kosh]

Sleep while we're out, if you let yourself get trapped by nap times you will never get anywhere. Especially if they are still napping at 3.5 like my DD.

I wish I could but my LO will not sleep if we are out. He can go without a nap a day or two but not always so I have no option but planning things around naps

 

[AngelUK]

Same as kosh wave, Dominic might snooze in the car but Sebastian wouldn't, and not in the buggy either. So we plan things around the naps. But that isn't a problem usually as we don't have a social life any way lol

 

[KatieB]

With Alex the only place he naps is his cot. Never settles in buggy, rarely in carseat either. Total opposite to Louis who would normally only nap in buggy/carseat. For that reason, I try to plan around Alex's nap to avoid total meltdown!

 

[kosh]

With Alex the only place he naps is his cot. Never settles in buggy, rarely in carseat either. Total opposite to Louis who would normally only nap in buggy/carseat. For that reason, I try to plan around Alex's nap to avoid total meltdown!

so it's not that a) one of your LO only naps in his cot because you got him used to that, and b) is not that your second child had to get used to sleeping in a buggy because he had no option etc

people tend to think that babies won't sleep in a buggy/outside because their parents got them used to sleeping in a cot, but you are the perfect example to prove that that's not the case!

 

[KatieB]

With Alex the only place he naps is his cot. Never settles in buggy, rarely in carseat either. Total opposite to Louis who would normally only nap in buggy/carseat. For that reason, I try to plan around Alex's nap to avoid total meltdown!

so it's not that a) one of your LO only naps in his cot because you got him used to that, and b) is not that your second child had to get used to sleeping in a buggy because he had no option etc

people tend to think that babies won't sleep in a buggy/outside because their parents got them used to sleeping in a cot, but you are the perfect example to prove that that's not the case!

Yep! I have wished so many times he would sleep when out and about and used to have a bit of a cry about it in all honesty but if he's tired it's like he can't switch off from the external noise etc and just screams... cue the looks from strangers that are almost as bad as the screaming. Put him in his cot and he drifts off xx

 

[lau86]

I also plan around naps. If it's an 'event' eg a wedding, I wouldn't take him if it was over nap time. For a day trip we go early and he will nap in the car on the way back. Otherwise we just go out before/ after naps. I would love the freedom of not planning around the nap but he gets up at 6 so is a nightmare without the nap and trips are no fun anyway then

Eta my youngest has started to nap too and I often have a sleep myself if they both are so that's a bonus

 

[AngelUK]

It is definitely not because of their parents or both my twins would sleep in the car and buggy and not just Dominic.

 

[tommyg]

I've never been able to get DS to sleep in the cot during the day. TBH up until he was about 1 I'd be lucky to get him to sleep for 20mins a couple of times per day. Nursery got him to drop the morning 20min and have one decent sleep at lunchtime.
However I still could never get him to sleep in a cot during the day, only ever in the buggy or the car. Yes I've seen me wrap him up in the buggy and get my goretex on to go for a walk in the peeing rain to get him to sleep.

However back to the origional question i'd never plan around his naps, other than if I'm heading out I'd maybe try and time things so he'd go for a sleep and awakeup while we were there. And even now if he doesn't wake up I'll pop him in the buggy.

 

[jd83]

I try to plan for them to nap in the car on the way there, or on the way back if possible. Or if I can get them to nap a bit earlier in the day, sometimes I do that.

 

[Mrs HM]

My DS sleeps at 2pm every day so we try to organise visits and outings for the morning if possible. If it's an all day thing, we bring his pram and he'll sleep in it when he's ready. If it's a birthday party in the afternoon or somewhere he can run around, he'll miss his nap and play one until we strap him into his car seat and then he'll be out in minutes!

 

[Babybear85]

Actually sone children wontvnap when out and anyone who's nor had to deal with a child like that has no right to assume that I made my child that way...my eldest wouldn't nap at all full stop until nine months, he still will not fall asleep in the pram. But yo answer the op sometimes if my son doesn't sleep on the way there and is getting grunpyvwe jump back in the car halfway through the day out and head off for an ice cream or somewhere near long enough for him.to nap then head back places like the zoo can stamp your hand so I can just come back in. I don't think my eldest who is now 27 months has ever ever napped in the pram in face no he hasn't I used to walk and walk and walk with him but he would just scream blue murder so I hope to the person who near on blamed the parent for their child's personality I hope u never get in that situation blaming the parents is hardly helpful