5 Minutes Sleep in the Car and Nap Time Is Ruined!

yep. I thought everyone did. I, too, would sometimes try to let them finish up the nap in the car if I could (when the weather was temperate enough, we are down south, so between April/May --October, leaving them in the car wasn't even an option). Usually, they would stay asleep for maybe 5 more minutes and then wake up. Or wake as soon as I carried one bag of groceries into the house. :(

I think part of it is timing, and unfortunately not something you can really control. There are parts of the sleep cycle that they can stay asleep even through you removing them from the car seat and then lying them down in their bed/crib, but ONLY if they are in the right part of their sleep cycle. Mine very rarely were in that part of it. The best you can do, is try to avoid having them in the car near their naptime so that there isn't a chance they'll fall asleep and not get the nap. Easier said than done sometimes, I know.
<hugs>

When my son was younger that ALWAYS happened. He always took his naps but if I ran errands in the late morning and he fell asleep I could forget about his nap. And like you, even if he fell asleep for 5 minutes - it did not matter!!

My children were all like this. Do whatever you can to make sure he doesn't sleep while you are in the car. Plan your morning activites accordingly. Make sure you are ready to come home before his naptime, and if he gets sleepy in the car, try to keep him awake. Play music, sing and talk with him. He will be nice and sleepy when you get home and hopefully he will go right to sleep with you put him down. Hope this helps!

Kathy

Yes. My guy will be three in April and while he is a pretty good sleeper once he goes down at night, naps have always been different. Once he gave up his morning nap I got him to one long afternoon nap, a morning nap and nothing after during the day is too long for him to go before bedtime. Whether he's been asleep 5 minutes or and hour and a half, when he wakes up he's so DONE. And, if he doesn't get a minimum of an hour nap he's cranky and fussy starting around dinner time.

I found that since I can't recreate the ambiance that allows him to fall asleep in the car the best thing I can do is not go out and put him down to take his nap, or schedule trips where I know he'll have time to get some sleep, have dinner a little earlier, and put him to bed earlier.

Yes, your son is very regular with naps.
Be glad actually.
My kids were just like that per naps.
Only, my son napped 2-3 times a day at that age. And my son was very regular about it. I planned my day around his naps.
I ALWAYS, did my errands, early in the morning, and then got home by the time it was his nap time.
Or, I did my errands after, he napped.

You have 3 options:
- do less activity/errands in the morning, so you can get home on time.
- Do activities/errands after he naps
- If you are running late and he falls asleep in the car... stay in the car and/or drive around so he gets his full nap. That is what a friend of mine does.

And yes, kids OFTEN, if they happen to cat-nap in the car... will not nap later at home. Because, they already dozed. In the car.

And, if a child is perpetually over-tired and Sleep-Deprived... and not getting 12-13 hours of sleep per day, they will have a harder time... to fall asleep overall.
Falling asleep in the car is actually a sign of sleep-deprivation.

Please read this:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-chil...

Absolutely yes. You need to make it clear that nap time happens anyway. Go through your nap ritual, close the door, turn up some music and ignore the protests. He will get over it and fall asleep if you are stubborn about it. I don't care if he's in that bed for 3-4 hours and you have to change his pants 2-3 times. You make him sleep before he gets back up. It won't take more than about 2-3 days of you being consistent and this will end the struggle.

My youngest is like that. I try to tickle his legs while I'm driving if I know he is about to nod off if we only have a few minutes left in the car.

Yes!! Mine were like that. I learned to make sure I was home well before they'd be so tired I couldn't keep them awake in the car. Drove me crazy. It's a stage of life so do your best to work around it. We'd try hard to get them back to sleep but vast majority of the time no luck. If it does happen , figure you missed nap but then can put him to bed earlier at night.

My daughter was exactly like that when she was younger!! I would end up driving around for an hour to let her nap. I have so been where you are now!

Keep some books and magazines in the car...And park with the engine on (the vibrations are part of what makes him sleepy, so cutting the engine off means he wakes up, as you've experienced) and you sit and read in the car. Or if you must, drive around with him. I know it's not what any parent wants to hear but if it means he gets at least something of a nap and therefore is not cranky the rest of the day -- why not? And it sounds like it would not be a daily thing for you.

My daughter between about ages 2 and 3 mostly napped in the car. She was pretty much ready to give up naps at 2 but if we went for a drive after lunch she would usually fall asleep. I knew several nice places to park or would circle back to home, leave the engine on -- with me in the car of course! -- and read. Yep, it means naptime is not "mommy time" or get-work-done-time but it beats having a cranky kid the rest of the day.

And of course -- never, ever leave a child in a car alone, even in your own driveway, even if the engine is off. Around here if someone reported a child inside a car alone, even if mom were just inside the front door of the house, the cops would be knocking on your door very quickly and child protective services might stop by for a talk. Never leave a napping kid in a car alone, please. I know some moms on here do that but I think it's a recipe for possible disaster. One family here left a sleeping toddler in a car expecting an older sibling to go get her and the sibling never did. The result was the child died and the family nearly lost all their other kids.

He's old enough to be taking only one nap per day. Work on getting him down after lunch, eat earlier. In child care the toddlers eat around 11 then go down for nap around 11:45 to noon, they start getting up around 2:45-3pm.

I've actually parkd my car and napped too while she was sleeping! Whatever gets the nap in.

But I hear you on the 5 minute problem. The worst thing is to be 5 minutes from home and look in the rear view just to see that she was sleeping - it's like NOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!! No nap!

Yes, my grandchildren were like that. I made sure to keep them awake. Lots of singing, talking, even physically reaching back to nudge them.

YES!!! Thank goodness I'm not the only one! I do everything to try ot keep him awake! I was always jealous of those people that could move their children out of the carseat and they would still be dead to the world!

Yup, that's our kid. Drives us nuts but then again we're lucky he's 4 1/2 now and goes to bed fairly early.

Yes! My 2 year old daughter does the same thing. I will try talking to her to keep her awake and if that doesn't work I will just drive around for a little while.