We have been invited out to a friends house for dinner and pool/darts. Our son - 13 months - usually goes to bed at 8pm. We'd like to stay until 10 or 11pm. I've been thinking I would put him down at 7:30 or 8 in a pack n play then get him up to go home around 11pm. I feel pretty confident that will a bottle when we get home he'd just go right back to sleep. If we have trouble getting him to sleep at our friend's house we'll probably just throw in the towel and come home early.
Think my plan will work?
Anyone have any better suggestions?
Thanks!
E.
Babysitter? Why not just hire someone to come and stay close to midnight then you can give them a ride home.
Have you considered that your friends want an adult evening of pool and darts, maybe drinks, or appetizers, or snacks? They may not want to stop the games for a baby to have his bottle and to be put to bed. You'll need to check on him, or respond to him, and perhaps interrupt the game. You might have to breastfeed him, or warm up a bottle, and that can really cut into an adults' night of games.
Now maybe your friends have babies too, and it's kind of a parents' night out WITH the kids, and the invitation says to bring the babies and everyone's in the same boat, so it's all okay. If so, go ahead and bring your boy to join in with the rest of the guests who will be bringing portable cribs and diaper bags and bottles, and taking time out of games for diaper changes and feedings. That's fine! Those evenings can be a good alternative, where all the parents with young kids get a chance to socialize and not worry about their kids. Everyone gathers at a baby-proofed house and it's pretty easy-going.
But there is a chance that your friends weren't planning on having a baby attend the grown-ups' night out. Maybe they'd have to be careful to stay quiet so as not to wake the baby. Darts and pool games with adults can get exuberant (cheering, etc). That would get old fast.
If there's any way possible, get a babysitter. There are good online sites with background checks if you don't have a sitter that you know. At least, ask your friends if there will be any other babies, and consider where your baby would go in his portable crib. Will it interfere with the festivities? Is their house set up so that the baby could sleep away from the cheers and the laughing and the conversation?
Just my two cents.
Better suggestion....babysitter
I did the same often when my boys were little, if they didn't want to sleep I just let them stay up late, one night won't throw them off too badly.
My answer would depend a lot on what you've done before. Has he normally slept in the pack & play at other people's houses (Grandma, friends, hotels, vacation cottages, etc.)? What's your plan if there's too much noise from a group of people playing pool?
On the flip side, has he never had a babysitter? Do you normally not go out without him? Has anyone else ever put him to bed before? I'm a big believer in kids being able to be cared for by others, and that includes eating meals and going to sleep. Is there a particular reason (finances, philosophical opposition, no one available) that you aren't considering leaving him at home to sleep in his own bed?
It sounds like you are confident that he will go back to sleep at 11 and that tells me that you have experience with him waking up and getting in the car seat and then going to bed again at home. And if you're willing to ruin your evening and not be disappointed if it doesn't work out, and if the hosts are totally fine with you bringing a baby and leaving early, then go ahead.
How large is your friends' house? It might ruin the evening to force everyone to be quiet for the baby if the baby is in hearing distance of the adults. Why not get a babysitter?
There's a an age old tried and true solution to this problem.
It's called hiring a baby sitter.
You get to go out and enjoy an adult evening of entertainment while your child is safe and comfortable at home sleeping on their usual schedule.
Why not make this an adult night? Get a babysitter and enjoy the peace and quiet and not worrying if baby settled down and went to sleep or not. This will give you a break to be a couple and enjoy yourselves.
Check with the hostess to see if others are bringing babies or not. You don't want to be the couple that ruins the evening for the rest.
the other S.
It's worth a shot. He could fall asleep and stay asleep even while you pack him back up in the car to go home and just plop him in bed. Mine did that often. Or, he could wake up when you go and not go back to sleep, giving you a yucky night. Hopefully he will cooperate though! I think it's good for you to get out and do things once in a while with the baby in tow. Even if it doesn't work out, at least you tried and can come up with a different plan for next time.
Mine always zonked out in the car. One of mine would happily sleep in his car seat so I would have kept him up a bit later, and popped him in car seat (with fresh diaper and sleeper on) and left earlier - say 9 pm. Then we'd carry him in (slept on car ride), and pop in crib.
It depends on the baby. Mine once asleep would go back easily if they were slightly roused. Other times, we all just crashed at our friends' and slept there. It's the kind of thing, until you try it, you won't know - but generally by 13 months, they can handle it. If you need to give another bottle, no biggie. We did that too out of necessity (travel, holidays, etc.) too.
We used a pack and play too at family gatherings. If we put them to bed when out - it meant one of us (usually my husband) would have to go through our routine to get them to bed, which is why I preferred the get them ready for bed, keep them up a bit longer and pop in car seat when sleepy - better.
