Toddler nap transfer from car to cot

[DisneyGirl2387]

My 17 month old DS always used to be easily transferable from car seat to cot and would nap for 2 hours (give or take). It was so amazing as it meant we could attend groups/meet friends and he would fall asleep on the way back and then I would carry him in and pop him in his cot and get on with the million jobs that there is to do!!

Now however he wakes up every time i attempt to move him. Sometimes as soon as I turn the engine off and sometimes when I open the door. It doesn't matter how long I've been driving he still wakes up. I can't afford the petrol to drive him around for an hour.

Today I went to the shop with my Mum and DS. I raced around as fast as I could to try and get him home for nap time so he wouldn't fall sleep in the car. Of course he fell asleep in the car and then woke up when I tried to move him. It meant today he has only napped for 20 mins as I then tried him in the cot and then the pram but no luck!!!! This has happened about 5 times in a row now.

So now I feel like my nap plan has gone to pot. Have I got to race home for every nap time? How do you manage it with groups etc? I don't want to be cot nap trapped but I feel so on the back foot when he hasn't napped. I find it so difficult and he is then over tired. He also doesn't sleep well at night but I always consoled myself with the fact that he is a good napper.

I was going to book onto an outdoor group tomorrow but it is until 11am and I didn't want another day of him falling asleep in the car as the house is a mess!!!

Any tips? Thoughts? Advice for a FTM. Thank you! X

DS1 (now 3.5) was never able to be moved from the place he fell asleep. Even as a tiny baby, carrying the car seat in from the car to the house and him not waking was something I only managed successfully about three times.

I used to just sit in the car with the engine on with a book/my phone a lot. Or if we were going out for the day, even after he went to one daily nap, he'd just have two short ones (way there and way back) instead of one long one at home.

But yes just time activities well, don't go to far from home, give toys/snacks and talk loudly and constantly to them/open the windows etc to stop them falling asleep in the car.

I mean, it might be a phase, but if he won’t be transferred anymore then he won’t be transferred anymore. Personally, on one nap a day I am more than happy to be at home for it. For special occasions we’ll make something work but generally, I’d far rather be in over lunch and nap time. Most age appropriate activities either finish at 11ish or start at 14:30ish for this reason. Does he nap at roughly the same time every day or have you only recently gone down to one nap? I’m surprised he falls asleep so readily at 11am if the car journey are only short. Can you walk with the buggy instead while he settles into the routine?

Can you walk to and from the activities so he can have a (longer) nap in the buggy?

Can you just sit in the car and wait for him to wake up? It might be that he doesn't need as long of a nap any more.

How many naps is he usually having? One or two?

Thank you for all of your replies. He dropped to one nap around 12 months. It was just such a shock as he was so easily transferable. I guess I just always thought he would be like it! He normally naps around 11.30 until 1.30. Or 12 until 2 or 12.30 until 2.30 depending on wake up time. He was up for 2 hrs in the night (night time sleep is another story!) So he must have been extra tired. I've also found that when he doesn't nap well in the day he wakes up more in the night too. I think I'm going to just stay close to home for the next few days as I can't have another day like today!

Can you play something in the car and then keep that noise going so he associates that with the nap?

E.g. I play brown noise at full volume in my car (I hate white noise) to help my son drift off. It sounds like the rumbling of a motorway drive even when we're just pootling about locally. I can use it at other times to help him sleep or to keep him asleep.

I think I've managed it about 5 times in 4 years of parenthood. I use the buggy where possible so I can just leave them asleep in the hall but I largely try to make the nap in the cot be whenever possible once I'm down to one long nap.

Obviously my house allowed for this to be done safely, but I used to just park up by the window and pop baby monitor in the car and let them sleep there for a couple of hours when needs be.

Baby is 8 months almost 9 and have never been able to transfer. I spend my time on the drive catching up on the news