Extremely grumpy toddler after nap

[Anon0987679]

My DS has recently turned 3 and is now quite hit and miss in terms of whether he has a nap or not. However if we go out in the car for more than around 15 minutes he fairly consistently falls asleep, regardless of the time of day.

I usually let him continue to sleep in the car once we arrive at our destination until he wakes himself up, but the problem is that he always wakes up extremely grumpy and this is inevitably followed by a mega meltdown when trying to get him out of the car. This seems to happen even if we've arrived at an activity he was really excited about before the nap. Last week in this situation I had to give up and take him home after 45 minutes of him screaming and refusing to move from the ground of the car park :(

Any tips for dealing with this? It's really getting me down and it's making me very reluctant to go anywhere by car which is a real problem as we live semi-rurally.

Have you tried giving him a little drink and snack as soon as he wakes from the nap? My dc used to have meltdowns on waking from nap and this helped a lot as she was waking up feeling thirsty and hungry.

Was going to suggest a drink and snack too. My DS did this and whilst he was a very good talker usually, we had to figure out he was thirsty after a nap and normality resumed, more or less, after he'd had a drink

Yup. He's waking up hungry and thirsty.
My DD was like this. Truly beastly after a nap. I'd give her a snack and retreat.

My DS was like this as well and I sympathise, it’s unusual now for him to fall asleep during the day but if he ever does and then you have to wake him he’s horrible.

Drink and snack is a good idea but if he’s anything like my DS he just won’t have anything, just yells and cries at you

Is there anything that might help keep him awake in the car? The snack might help then!