Car ruins naps!

[rachelusc]

Hello all,

DS is 6 months old and finally close to 2 naps a day.  However, if we do ANYTHING that involves going in the car, his next nap is 45 minutes.  There has never been an exception to this.  Anyone else experience this and find a way to tackle it? 

[GCMom]

Is he sleeping in the car?  If my DS slept even 5 minutes in the car he did the same thing or didn't nap at all.  This lasted until about 2.  I just tried to avoid driving too close to his nap time (he usually was fine in between naps).  If it got close I would talk and sing happy songs to him, but when they are only 6 months they are still rearfacing so there's not much you can do.  Otherthing is that he did the short nap even if I brought the carseat inside. As he got older it was easier to keep him awake in the car. Good luck!

[rachelusc]

Thanks for the input.  He has short naps even when I keep him awake in the car!  And he is still only having about 2-2.5 hours A time, so pretty much any outing gets close to nap time (by the time we get up, change diaper, have bottle, and get out the door).  I have even tried to do a really perfect, extended wind down time after an outing.  I have a feeling time is the only thing that will solve this...I was hoping someone might have a magic cure!

[~Sara~]

I don't think there's a magic cure.  I think it's best to go with it on those days and try to squeeze in an extra catnap later on or do an early BT (if reasonable).

When DS was 7-11 mo, we had to take him to doctors appointments for a helmet he had to wear.  He would often fall asleep on the way back (it took about 30-40 minutes to get home)--couldn't keep him awake at all.  So, I would count that as a catnap, then reduce the following A time, and try again for another nap later.  It's just how those days were.

*hugs*  I know it's frustrating.  Maybe he'll grow out of the 45minute post-car nap in the next few months.