Does your LO nap when out and about?

nmaldo77 · June 2012

Since having my LO I don't go out much because I try to put her back down for her nap with in the 2 hour wakeful period. Then today, I had a family get together and took my LO with me. She woke up around 4pm and we headed to the cookout. At a quarter to 6, (when she should have been back down for her nap) she got fussy and I know she was sleepy. But I could not put her down for a nap. I was hoping she would just fall asleep in her carrier. But she didn't. She usually naps in a dark room with a noise machine.

So my question is, what do you guys do if you want to go out? Does your LO nap?

I ended up staying till about 8pm, she never napped and she cried the whole way home (about 40 mins). it was awful and now I am thinking, I can never go out again!

Any advice?

MollySm · June 2012

Lucia spent the day at Sea World and we went out to dinner and breakfast. She doesn't nap as well out as she does at home, but she does pretty well. The only thing that works for us is putting her in her stroller, which we have down so she can lay pretty flat. When she was newborn she would sleep in our Ergo, but then she got a little older and stopped doing that. I think laying down in our stroller is the closest thing to her crib.

We did have to do 1 full day out with it while she got used to it, but since then she's napped pretty well in it.

pinkshades05 · June 2012

Does she ever sleep anywhere else besides her room? Don't let this discourage you! It could be the new environment is very stimulating and that makes it hard to sleep. DD doesn't nap at my brother's house because they have three children and it gets very loud. So that means that I have a very cranky baby at the end of the day. But I feel that the more I get out of the house, the better DD does. Today we were out with a friend and DD was up for 3.5 hours (usually naps after 2 hours) before she passed out. While she fussed a little, it was mild and you could hardly notice that she was exhausted.

jju_stb_jju · June 2012

DS naps wherever we are at when he is tired, he will just fall asleep. I am not very set on having him only nap in his room or in a certain way, I just let him nap wherever we are and I always keep noise around so he gets used to it. He's fallen asleep during movies at the theatre, he will sleep in restaurants, wherever. Maybe try getting your lo used to noise or maybe new environments.

KatelynEA90 · June 2012

DD naps when we're out. Today we were out from noon until about 6:00. She slept in the car for a 40 minute drive and took two 1 hour naps at birthday parties. She does pretty good.

AnessaDaneen · June 2012

My DS has a very hard time napping when we go out unless it is a drive in the car, and he will scream for at least 10 minutes in the car seat before falling asleep. If we are at someone's house or shopping a nap is nearly impossible . . . After several nights of an overly exhausted and way too cranky boy we have decided it just may not be worth it to go out during his pm nap.

laura.noel · June 2012

He used to, but I think he is growing out of it- the world is much too interesting!

He sleeps well in the car, and in the stroller. He used to fall asleep if I was carrying him around in public, but we were at a picnic last week, and he did not do well at all. He finally did sleep for 45 minutes, but it took me an hour (and a feeding) to get him to do that.

HappyToBe2012 · June 2012

jju_stb_jju:
DS naps wherever we are at when he is tired, he will just fall asleep. I am not very set on having him only nap in his room or in a certain way, I just let him nap wherever we are and I always keep noise around so he gets used to it. He's fallen asleep during movies at the theatre, he will sleep in restaurants, wherever.

This. Occasionally I will have trouble getting DD to nap when we are out because she gets distracted by what's going on around her. If fhat's the case, I will hold her and throw a light blanket over her head until she falls asleep just to block her view of things.

lindsayandjamie · June 2012

jju_stb_jju:
DS naps wherever we are at when he is tired, he will just fall asleep. I am not very set on having him only nap in his room or in a certain way, I just let him nap wherever we are and I always keep noise around so he gets used to it. He's fallen asleep during movies at the theatre, he will sleep in restaurants, wherever. Maybe try getting your lo used to noise or maybe new environments.

This exactly. I think he actually naps better when we're out. He has been napping while we're out since 2 weeks old and I started taking him out with me. He has actually never napped in his crib but he does sleep there at night. During the day it's either his carseat, the swing, the bouncy chair, the Moby, or in my arms.

heymommy · June 2012

Yes, I made sure to keep LO on the go all day so that she would nap anywhere and in any position. I try not to use any crutches when sleeping in her crib..no sound machine etc.

bexram · June 2012

pinkshades05:

Does she ever sleep anywhere else besides her room? Don't let this discourage you! It could be the new environment is very stimulating and that makes it hard to sleep. DD doesn't nap at my brother's house because they have three children and it gets very loud. So that means that I have a very cranky baby at the end of the day. But I feel that the more I get out of the house, the better DD does. Today we were out with a friend and DD was up for 3.5 hours (usually naps after 2 hours) before she passed out. While she fussed a little, it was mild and you could hardly notice that she was exhausted.

Jude has gotten very good about falling asleep when he's tired when we're out. He doesn't necessarily nap better but he falls asleep much easier. He just kind of drifts off without any fussing or anything usually. Where as at home he sort of fights sleep and I have to work a little harder to get him down. Which is fine. I'd say just keep trying. I mean you can't NEVER go out she'll get used it eventually

aglenn · June 2012

laura.noel:
He used to, but I think he is growing out of it- the world is much too interesting!

This is us, too. He will catnap in the baby carrier enough to get him through, but he will be really tired by the time we get home. We have to get out anyway because DD can't be tied to baby's random nap schedule, so we just try to balance it all as best we can.

bikitybinx · June 2012

I'm like OP - I try to get her home in time for her next nap. This keeps me home a lot... I am afraid to take her out too long. I have had her out for longer than 2 hours and no, she does not sleep. She is so enthralled with everything going on around her that she can't relax enough to sleep. I sometimes regret not taking her out more.

Anyone have suggestions on how to fix this? Is it too late to fix at this point? Should I just start taking her out and see how it goes?

FormerlyKrista555 · June 2012

My first child was like that-- she wouldn't sleep anywhere but at home with her sound machine.

Well, it's definitey different with #2! Liam has a VERY loud big sister, so he's gotten very used to sleeping whenever and however he can get it. He's been known to fall asleep while I'm burping him sitting straight up. Poor guy.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If she's tired enough, she'll sleep. And if she misses a nap here or there, it's not the end of the world.

Try to remember that your baby crying in the car will not scar her for life. I know it's really hard to listen to her cry because you love her so much, but I promise you, if you can get her used to falling asleep in her carseat, you will be SO HAPPY.

Oh, and on a sidenote, my DD HATED her carseat. My son loves it. Every kid is different.

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