[XyMama]

With summer coming, there has been a lot of talk about day trips with DS (16.5mo) to the zoo, aquarium, beach, etc. Most of these would require being away from the house all day, including naptime. DS naps great...as long as he is laying down with me in the family bed in our cool, dark bedroom with white noise

. He has never, ever slept in the car and very rarely at someone else's house (and not very well). I just always make sure we are home for naps and that has worked well for us so far.

I guess I'm wondering if he might eventually pass out once he's tired enough, stay awake all day and crash early for bed...or something else?

For all you BTDT mamas with tough nappers, how do you handle all-day trips?

 

[LadyCatherine185]

:

DS is only 7.5 mo, but I'm in the same boat and wondering the same thing!

 

[Peony]

DD1 would pass out eventually anywhere as long as there was a breast. Yeah, not so much with DD2, everything has to be just right. We limit all day outings to 1-2 times a week max, I have a 6y at home with me so it's not fair if we have to miss out on all the fun activities that always happen during DD2's nap time. The rest of the days I am ultra careful that DD2 gets a good nap. On days when we are out, she might skip a nap all together, take a very late, short one, sometimes she passes out in the car just for 10 minutes or so like she did today. I make sure she goes to bed early those nights and in the end it seems to work out.

 

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Ds gets too excited in cool places (zoo, garden, aquarium) to nap. Often on the days we do stuff like that, he just doesn't nap. Sometimes if we drive there he'll sleep in the car on the way home. Often he falls asleep sooner at night. But he is usually having so much fun or is so interested in the novelty that he doesn't seem to mind missing the nap.

 

[puffingirl]

We don't really do all day outings for that very reason. The only times we aren't home for nap is if we are traveling that day or family holidays (my in-laws insist on holiday dinners right in the middle of naptime). Beyond that, we are home for naps. If we want to do something big like a zoo or museum trip, we leave first thing in the morning and get home a little later than her usual nap time and she goes right to bed. It is pure misery if she doesn't have her nap and she is definitely a need-to-nap-at-home kind of kid.

 

[St. Margaret]

DD would fall asleep on my back or nursing or in the car in situations where we were go-go-go, and sometimes that meant she was up LATE b/c of that late nap, but it was worth it for the family outing.

 

[JudiAU]

DS will fall asleep in the car or stroller but the nap is still ruined because it will be 30-45 minutes instead of 2 hours. There is about a 30 minute window to get him home into his crib. He fall asleep faster in the car but eventually, fall asleep in the stroller too. Otherwise, the day is pretty much ruined for everyone. The night is pretty terrible then. And then he sleeps late the next day and throws everything off again.

Sometimes, it can't be avoided like with travel. But frankly, it isn't a fun day if 1/2 the day is horrible. Luckily, he takes a nap at around 1-2 p.m. so when we want to plan something we rush out of the house early in the morning and then get started.

It would be different if we had more kids. There wouldn't be a choice. But he is our first and my husband is a SAHD. We work around his schedule.

 

[Tizzy]

DS1 needs a lot of sleep still. So we plan for him to sleep in the car generally.
Just last weekend we had planned a day with no time for a nap, but he passed out in the car between stops so DH sat in the car with him at the next stop for awhile so he slept for about 45min. Better than nothing!

 

[PatchChild]

My almost 2 year old DS is also a high needs napper. He's had a couple of days where he didn't nap at all and it led to an early bedtime. I was surprised though, as long as things stayed interesting and exciting, he actually held up without a nap surprisingly well.

 

[Angierae]

Mine would stay up all day, pass out early in the evening and be up all night. We try to only do an all day outing if it is really important to another member of the family. In another year it'll be a non-issue, and the venues will still be there!