Okay, it looks like I've somewhat mastered the art of running errands with my 11 w.o. son, who has been on EASY since birth. I scoot out as soon as he starts getting sleepy, and make sure that I'm back just before his next feed. He usually sleeps in his carseat/stroller, and if I'm lucky, stays asleep for the duration of my errands. But I'm finding it very difficult to get out and visit friends, who desperately want to see my L.O. awake...which is a rare occurance b/c he's only awake for an hour at a time, and I'm topless for half of that!
The best scenario is to invite friends over to my house about an hour before my son wakes. We can hang out, have lunch, catch up, and then I get the baby up for his feeding and he's awake for a bit to socialize. But it's not always convenient for friends to come to me.
Case in point, today I went to visit my girlfriend and her 14 mo. old daughter. I was racking my brain from the moment I woke this morning, trying to figure out the best scenario for getting out of the house with Mason, who was due to eat at noon. Do I wake him up early from his nap (around 11:30), get him in the car (where he's sure to keep sleeping), get to my friend's house, feed him at 12 & do his A time there, then try to get him to sleep at her house while she and I have lunch and catch up? Or do I feed him at 12, do his A time at home, then get him into the car at 1 when he's starting to nap and hope that he keeps sleeping (either in his car seat or my friend's baby's crib) when we get to her house, then get him up at 3 at which point I feed him, do his A time at her house, then hit the road for the beggining of his nap, and keep my fingers crossed that he'll finish it at home in his crib?
I went for option B today, with fairly disasterous results! Poor kid. I schlepped him out at 1:00 when he started getting sleepy, and he conked out in the car. But 30 minutes later when we arrived at my girlfriend's, he woke up. I took him out of the carseat and tried to get him to sleep in her baby's crib, but he wasn't feelin' it. So I just held him while we ate lunch, and he was very content to be hanging out with the girls. He started showing signs of being hungry, so I fed him at about 2:20 (just shy of the 2.5 hr. mark) and by then he was *exhausted*. He's never usually up more than 45 - 60 min. at a time, and we were going on 2 hrs.! By 3 we had to hit the road. He fell asleep in the car and - foolish me - I thought I'd be better off trying to run an errand while we were out b/c he'll usually stay sleeping if we're in constant motion. Nope. He woke again in the grocery store, and by the time we were back in the car, he was completely unraveling! I got him home at 4:30, and fed him at 5 after an unsuccessful attempt at getting him to sleep. After that feed, he was back on track. Had a good 2 hr. nap, up at 7:30 to eat, and all has been well since.
I guess my question is this: Has anyone been able to find a successful formula for taking your BW baby to visit friends? For my son, who only does 1 hr. (tops!) of A time, it's so tough. Maybe I just need to wait until he gets on a 4 hr. EASY routine with more awake time. But any advice would be v. welcome. Thanks!
