Toddler naps when out

[Klouise777]

What does everyone else do for naps when out. Lo 15 months has one nap around 1130 for 2 hours and I try to accommodate this as much as possible. He rarely sleeps in a pushchair, and if he does it's only short distances. Want to go out, only very short car journey but I'm getting fed up of staying in for his naps and then rushing around in the afternoon!? Love to hear what others do. We have a strict bed at 7pm here which I never ever alter as he used to be a terrible night sleeper and now sleeps through, thanks

I've tried various things, I've come to the conclusion that the only way to get a quality nap is at home. So I now just plan around it. It's tricky with my older DS at nursery in the afternoons though as he starts around half an hour after DD (18months) wants to nap, I either delay her nap and accept she's grumpy or if there's a grandparent around ask them to drop him off. IMO it's worth it for a couple of hours of child free time in the afternoon!

I had a strict nighttime routine but during the days I did not stay in. If my kids slept in the push chair so what - I was able to get stuff done. In fact I think my son thought the key in the door was his alarm clock - he’d sleep peacefully then as soon as I got home hoping I’d have time for a quiet cup of tea then key in door and boom! Wide awake!

It's frustrating isn't it. He's much happier if he naps properly in the day but some days I just wanna go out for lunch and meet with friends at lunch time and Im like can we meet at 230 lol!! Also lo hates the pushchair full stop. If we do leave the house he just won't sleep. I also want don't want him to rely on sleep in the house all the time incase we go away or anything as he starts getting older

Typical lol!! He was like this as a baby in the car seat. Me hoping for a quick drink and loo break was normally a no go!

Have you tried a snooze shade (I think that’s what they are called) my little one will sleep about half an hour in the pram but if the shade is on she can do about an hour and a half!

We used to do most days nap properly at home & then have occasional days when we went out. It's a pain but honestly for me it was worth it to get full sleep at night & no early waking up.

We've never had a strict routine.

Dd will nap in the car on the way home.

If there's food/distraction etc then she can stay awake longer than at home.

If she naps later we just move her bedtime back a bit if needed

The only way either of my kids would take a decent nap (and therefore me get a child free break) was in their cot.

Obviously we have some days where we’re doing a full day out and my youngest has to get what sleep she can in the buggy or the car. But that’s usually 45 min max, rather than 2 hours at home. Doesn’t seem to do her any harm for the odd day, but several days of it and she’s an overtired mess.

So I basically plan my day around nap time. It is annoying, but then I love the break and the better sleep at night so it’s massively in my interests to do so. It’s not for that long, my eldest had dropped his nap fully by 2.5 and oh how I missed it

Like PP, most naps are at home in his cot but the odd day out doesn't make too much difference - my DS coped super well on holiday and we just let him nap as and when he wanted. I actually like the reliability of knowing I'll get a decent 1.5-2hr chunk of time to myself every day now.

Mine's not a toddler yet, but will only do a decent nap in his cot. For my sanity, I make sure we're home over lunchtime. Can you do a transfer? I meet friends for lunch at 12, then drive home at 1. He falls asleep in the car, then I transfer him into his cot.

We generally do naps at home in the cot, DD will nap for a couple of hours at home as it's much more comfortable - black out blinds, quiet room, remove restrictive clothing etc. On occasional days out, we go out for the day and use a snoozeshade on the buggy but she will only nap for 40 min - 1 hr 20. It's usually noise that wakes her up - no way to stop that when we're out and about. During the week we do baby classes in the mornings and then go home for lunch and a nap. I like having the time to prep dinner, deal with laundry/housework/admin (or sometimes I get some nap time too!). Then we do a second trip in the afternoon, to something less structured like the park, museum or gallery. So we do get out and about a lot, but just structured around her nap times.

We occasionally sacrifice the nap, but generally we are sticklers and stuck to the nap routine. He eats at 2 30pm and nap is at 3.30-5.30 generally. His bed time is at 9.30 as I like a lie in. 😁