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Original poster

How to go on a day out?

21 replies

June628 · 07/09/2020 14:03

This seems like a ridiculous question but I need help to stop being a slave to baby’s naps.
Due to lockdown I haven’t really had to be out of the house for the whole day so I go out when baby isn’t napping and come back home for naps/ food etc but I’d like to be out for more of the day but not sure how as she doesn’t nap in pram/ car so that’s not really an option.
Her rough routine:
6:30 - awake, bf
7:30 - breakfast
8:30ish - nap, lasts anywhere between 30-80 mins followed by bf.
11:30/12- lunch
12:30 ish afternoon nap for around an hour, then bf
4:00 - bf
5:00 - dinner
6:30 - bf then bed around 7.
I can pretty much go out from 2:30/3 ish for the longest period of the day but I’d like to have a proper day out. I can bf anywhere obviously but have never fed her solids outside. If she doesn’t nap she becomes an overtired mess and I’m worried it’s a choice between that and a day out which won’t be very enjoyable if that happens.
Any wise ideas gratefully received!

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Grobagsforever · 07/09/2020 14:04

Naps in the buggy!

HandfulofDust · 07/09/2020 14:09

Like the PP I'd try and have her nap in the buggy, carrier or car seat. Solid food shouldn't be too difficult when out, since she still breastfeeds a lot I'm assuming she's quite young so she doesn't need a full cooked lunch. Just bring a box of snacks (crackers, sandwiches, fruit, cheese etc). Why not test out a day trip close to home so if she doesn't nap you can bail.

minipie · 07/09/2020 14:11

Have you tried a sling, will she nap in there?

If she won’t nap in buggy car or sling then basically you have to choose between day out and overtired baby, or happy baby and stay close to home.

It does get a lot easier as they get older and start dropping more naps or being a bit more flexible about when/where they happen.

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monkeyonthetable · 07/09/2020 14:12

My DC used to nap in the buggy. Just lower it to flattest position, make sure the temperature is right for them. Put the sun shade over them if you like to make it darker.
We went out for whole days. I'd spend her morning nap prepping the day (enough nappies, bibs and muslin cloths, snacks for you, food for her, etc) then when she wakes, BF and then head out for the day.
You can solid feed her in her buggy in upright position. Or on your lap on a park bench or in a cafe.

FizzingWhizzbee123 · 07/09/2020 14:13

I’m afraid I just became a slave to my baby’s naps! He also would not sleep in prams or car seats and we’d all regret it bitterly later if he hadn’t slept so days out weren’t fun anyway. It ended up being the less of two evils. It’s frustrating but I felt I had to put his naps first.

It did become a bit easier when he dropped the morning nap as he was so tired by lunchtime, it got a bit easier to get him to nap in the pushchair sometimes (although he’d often only do one sleep cycle and wake up crying). We used a Snoozeshade and white noise. It took me a long time to realise that, unlike other babies, movement made it harder for him to sleep. Parking up the buggy in a quiet corner was more effective for getting him down.

DS2 on the way and I know it’s be much hardly to schedule around his naps so praying this one will sleep on the go.

Original poster

June628 · 07/09/2020 14:17

Sorry I forgot to say she’s 7mo.
Won’t sleep in carrier either 😭
She used to nap in pram when she still fit in the carrycot then I worked hard to get her to sleep in her cot and now I’m stuck because she won’t nap in pram unless she’s hours overdue a nap then might do for half an hour or so.
I think a day out near home with the view that it might fail is the way forward.

@FizzingWhizzbee123 I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s a slave to naps! Congratulations on number 2 :)

OP posts:

Ihaveoflate · 07/09/2020 14:56

I'm a willing slave! I decided it's such a short time in her life really and it's really not a hardship for us. We just work around naps and do local activities.

OverTheRainbow88 · 07/09/2020 15:01

Can you try a snooze shade for the pram?

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 07/09/2020 15:01

Cut the am nap to 45mins, then get up and go out straight away. Lunch at 12, out, then into the buggy for a walk. hopefully a full tummy plus a shorter morning nap will encourage a sleep. Take whatever comforter she would usually have in her cot.

newsheadlines · 07/09/2020 20:11

mine never slept out...except at the nursery am afraid. He just couldn't switch off and the older he got the more he was able to fight them. Ended up just planning my day around his naps and didn't go too far away from the house.

Was very jealous of mums whose babies slept anywhere and was very relieved when he dropped his last nap at two. It's like i've got my life back...

Sewinginscotland · 07/09/2020 20:33

Another slave to naps here. He will have a 1.5-2 hour nap in his cot from 12.30. He won't sleep for longer than 45 minutes in the pram or carrier and then spends the rest of the day crying and cranky so the day out is ruined anyway. When he was younger, I would leave so he would have his morning nap in the car (now he's dropped his morning nap, I leave the house at 8 or so). Then do whatever we were up to, have lunch and set off again in time for his afternoon nap. I'm lucky in the way that I can transfer him from the car to the cot asleep.

For food, cafes are open now. Just take whatever you'd normally feed her in a coolbox and grab yourself a coffee. A lot of places are obliging with heating up baby food, but I always gave my son his cold.

ZooKeeper19 · 07/09/2020 20:59

@June628 don't strap her in the pram. Put the pram horizontal, let her sleep how she would at home (mine does on his side, belly...) and just make her cosy and comfy outside (whatever she uses for a nap - a dummy, blanket, comforter...). By not strapping her in, she might just take a nap in the pram.

Just take food with you in small containers, get some wet wipes and out you go :)

icebubbles · 07/09/2020 21:00

Snoozeshade is amazing for getting baby to nap on the move

tempnamechange98765 · 07/09/2020 21:05

Honestly I think if you want a good routine, then you usually have to just become a slave to the naps. She will drop to one nap probably after she turns 12 months, and then at least you can have mornings out/afternoons out.

My DS is 18 months and not a great napper all the time but I am still a slave to his post lunch time nap, although sometimes we'll try and time a 30+ mins car journey with a day out (rare though).

My older DC was the same (although he was a brilliant napper so I'd get a guaranteed 2 hours of peace!). It doesn't last forever.

fellrunner85 · 07/09/2020 21:09

As pps have said ... nap in the buggy, or in the carrier, or go without. Most babies get used to snoozing out and about if that's what they're used to.

It's only an issue with PFBs though...2nd and 3rd babies tend to get taken along with their elder brothers and sisters to the park/soft play/whatever so (at least based on my own kids, and those of my friends) end up being able to sleep on the go, and are much less fussy, as a result.

Babyboomtastic · 07/09/2020 21:21

My first would just nap anywhere - she didn't nap in her cot until she was nearly 2 because at home she'd usually nap in the buggy, often the garden.

My second struggles a lot more to nap on the go. When she was on 2 (or more) naps a day, I'd make sure one was : protected' ie usually at home, and the other/s would just be in the go, and if they were short, well at least she had one decent nap.

Now she's on one nap a day, I try to make sure she gets a few protected naps a week, and not more than 2 bad naps in a row by being in buggy/sling. She naps well in the car, so often we'll time going somewhere for just before nap time, and she'll have an early nap, and one of us will sit in the car and wait, whilst the other takes the toddler out, or if by ourselves, gives her the tablet to play with. It's not great tbh. Then she's awake by about 1, we are at our destination, and we try to make a good afternoon of it. That said, tomorrow were out all day from early, so it'll be sling or nothing... But then a decent nap the day after.

Abouttimemum · 07/09/2020 21:32

DS also never napped on the move ever until he dropped to one nap and now he’s so exhausted by 11.30 than he’ll nod off in the car and ‘sometimes if I’m really lucky’ in the buggy, but he’ll only have 30 minutes.
So unless I really have to be out all day (rare) then i make sure I’m home for his nap. I honestly would far rather be at home with my feet up having a brew and doing something for myself for 2 hours than be ANYWHERE else at all so I don’t feel like a slave lol. It’s positively luxurious.

OhToBeASeahorse · 07/09/2020 22:14

Another routine slave here!

I was so resentful for so long but then accepted that this is the baby I was given, it's my job to make it work for him.

One thing that did help was capping his morning nap to an hour when he was 8 months or so then gradually shortening it. That way at least I had fixed times and I could plan around them.

OhToBeASeahorse · 07/09/2020 22:23

P.s. it isnt a ridiculous question - its just the thing that no one mentions!! In my head we were soing day trips by now but DS is w and he sleeps best at home, plus I get some downtime!

surreygirl1987 · 07/09/2020 23:23

I was a slave don't son's naps and still am almost 2 years old!! To be fair he would sleep in the car and maybe the buggy but it's just not worth it... I'd rather have the benefit of 2 hours to myself at home! Only on special occasions like family holidays do we nap him out and about.

Original poster

June628 · 08/09/2020 04:05

Thanks everyone! It’s good to know I’m not the only one! So far I really haven’t minded it at all and enjoy the downtime. I only started thinking about it because it’s DH’s birthday soon and I’ve been looking at nice days out which seemed like a logistical nightmare!
I will look into a snooze shade, I hadn’t heard of that before!

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