if your LO(s) fall asleep in the car, can you successfully transfer them into your house w/o... - Page 2

[AllisonR]

wow, sorry to hear so many can't. What a royal p.i.t.a. that must be. I voted usually. Yes, we sometimes drive home after dinner, expecting they will sleep in the car and then when we get home we just carry them upstairs and put them in bed. They wake up, but not really, just to hold on to us while we carry them upstairs, take off their shoes... then we put them in bed and they roll over and continue sleeping. Used to work when they were younger and took daytime naps as well. 

I have no magic trick. If I did I would share. I am guessing it is genetic.

[reezley]

I really shouldn't have voted, or I wish there had been an "other" - but I voted "usually".... because now that the kids are older (4 and 6), and not babies or toddlers, YES, I can transfer them if they fall asleep for bedtime in the car.  But before they were old enough (3 or 4+) it didn't work at all.  Now they are old enough to either stay pretty much asleep, or to tolerate being woken a bit, maybe even enough to pee, and then go right back to sleep.  Not for a naptime though, surely they would wake up and be done with any nap, not they nap anymore anyway!

[reezley]

Originally Posted by NellieKatz 

  I had all the squeaky parts of his floor memorized. It was awful!

Exactly this!  In our previous houses, when the kids were younger.   There were certain stairs that I had to walk on the very side of ...

[Lisa85]

Both my kids did.  I attribute it to part personality and partially the way we parent them.  They were lots of my friends that were amazed/shocked at it and wondered how I did it.  But, they were all fairly mainstream in that their kids were put to bed awake in their cribs and expected to fall asleep/stay asleep without help.  We had always rocked/walked them to sleep, and at around 5-7 months, they would start to wake as we put them down and then fall back to sleep immediately after us tucking them in.  So, it wasn't that much different transferring from the car to their crib, as they were used to being slightly woken up and going back to sleep.  Dd1 did this up until about 4 years old.  Dd2 is nearing 4.5 and still does it if she's tired enough, though only on the couch because she's too big to take naps, and going in her bed would = a nap.

[lindberg99]

Originally Posted by LynnS6 

We spent some naptimes sitting in the car in the garage letting her sleep, because I was NOT going to wake her up by moving her.

I used to do that too. Our garage was attached so sometimes I would leave the baby in the car and then leave the door from the garage into the house open and come in and do some work in the kitchen, which was right off the garage. I never even tried moving them after they got out of the baby bucket seats.

Once they got older (I'm thinking like 5'ish), I could carry them in and lay them down and they would go back to sleep pretty easy.

[Heidi74]

Not from a bucket seat when they were infants, but after 9-10 months of age or so we have been able to transfer them to the stroller if they fall asleep in their car seats. Our stroller has always been their regular napping spot, so that may have something to do with it too. It is a comfortable stroller with a fully reclining seat and leg supports, and there is a comfortable sheepskin liner on the seat.  We park the stroller right next to the car (reclined) and gently do the transfer, whispering that they can go back to sleep. Then, we cover the stroller with a breathable UV cover to darken it a bit. Push the stroller inside, and they continue the nap in it. Works like a charm, provided that they have not slept more than an hour or so in the car. If they've already taken a long nap, chances are greater that they'll wake up.

Car seat to stroller to bed almost always seems to work at night. Same routine, just park the stroller right next to the bed and do the transfer...sometimes lying down with them there for a bit.

I have never been able to do the car to bed thing. They wake up on the way. Also, with a stroller that is less conducive to sleeping, I'm not sure it would work as well. So, if you are desperate to transfer your child, here's your excuse to go out and buy a comfortable stroller. :-)

Edited by Heidi74 - 7/28/11 at 7:25pm

[Cavy]

Never, not at any age, none of the 4 DC.  I was bewildered to discover anybody ever could (and very envious, of course!)

[EmTheWife]

I can never transfer ds when it's a nap, but we have occasional success when it's after bedtime.

[SweetSilver]

Easy if I lay down to nurse on the bed first.  At least until they became toddlers!

[wishin'&hopin']

We were able to get him from the car to the bed asleep ONCE in the past 15 months.  He'll nap on our backs (still) but we can't stop moving or he'll wake up--and only ONCE has he ever been able to stay asleep from carrier to crib.