School Run, Naps, Grrrr (v long)

[NotQuiteCockney]

Today was my first try at the afternoon school run. It went a bit wrong.

I pick DS2 (nearly 2) up from the co-op at 1:15. I have to get DS1 from his school at 3:15 (I thought someone said 3:20, but something like this). The two are, of course, a long way apart. I do not drive, and anyway, it probably wouldn't help, as I live in London.

My plan was to walk from the co-op to the school, so DS2 could have a lovely nap on the way. It didn't work out that way. He doesn't like being in the pram, he wanted to walk (or better still, be carried). He was in and out of the pram a lot, and when he was in the pram, he was too busy looking at the lorries etc to sleep.

We were fine for time, although I did give up after a while, shove him in the pram and walk on. But I think he still needs his afternoon nap - without it, I'm going to have to find some more time for nighttime sleep for him, and I don't know where that will come from!

So, I have a wide range of ideas to try, to help him sleep more. I bet there are options I'm not considering though, so I'd like suggestions.
I can:

• keep trying the walk + sleep, figuring he'll get the idea eventually
• have a better suncover sort of arrangement, so it's a bit dark (I had a blanket but he objected to it, shocker)
• encourage him to walk at the start, to wear him out, then throw him in pram, and let him cry himself to sleep a bit
• put him right in the pram, and walk around in circles in the park for a while, until he's asleep, then walk to the school
• give him boob before the pram (I gave him a sippy cup of milk instead, as I'd rather not bf in public).
• give up on a nap in the pram, bike him home, put him to sleep here for one cycle, then put him on the bike and bike to school. I would rather bike than take public transit back from school, so this has some appeal ...

Are there options or tricks I'm not considering, that I should be? I guess I could give up on naps entirely (I'll have to eventually) and take him out for adventures or swimming or something.

how will ds1 get back from school if you are on the bike?

I had this problem and it drove me mad! I ended up biking a lot but although the weather may be OK for a few more weeks, I'm not sure whether you would find biking so appealing if it's freezing cold with icy wind??!!

I would probably bike in the meantime. When the weather turns, I would prob do the let him walk a bit then shove him in buggy scenario and hope he gets the hang of it!

Whoops, meant to put it in "other subjects", sorry!

I can carry both kids on the bike, it gets us some funny looks, but it's fine, really. (When my lovely neighbour gets tired of taking DS1 to school every day in the morning I will have to bike him in, anyway.)

And I haven't noticed any actual weather in London, really, biking year-round for years. I'm probably just inattentive to these things, but the weather is rarely severe enough that you can't bike.

I think I'll probably keep trying the walk, to at least see if it's viable. And then maybe alternate between biking and walking, depending on other factors.

I didn't really enjoy the tube today, which makes biking more tempting. Of course I could always bring DS1's likeabike and let him ride home on that ...

I think I'm going to give up on walking. I don't actually enjoy the tube or bus, so why would I want to get on it every day? (I've only used public transport on a daily basis in Montreal in winter. And that was only because they closed the pedestrian bits of the bridge over the St Lawrence, rather than keeping it clear of snow.)

Hmm, Monday was the walking catastrophe. Tuesday, DH picked DS1 up (hurrah! but won't be a regular thing). Wednesday, I biked to get DS1, which was fine, except DS2 was annoyed about being woken, and about not going on the tube. I might mix methods, I guess.