Handling naps?

[SongFam]

How do you guys handle taking naps for little ones during the day?

I'll be staying at AoA which is the farthest resort from the parks. How much travel time am i looking at if we decide to go back to our hotel room for naps every day?

Is there an alternative to having to go all the way back to the hotel?

 

[TravelingTotMom]

My DS2 has always just napped in his stroller, so we never go back to the hotel for a nap (tried once and it just didn't work out for us).

When he is napping, we usually use child swap and go on some rides with height restrictions while he's sleeping.

 

[brockash]

How do you guys handle taking naps for little ones during the day?

I'll be staying at AoA which is the farthest resort from the parks. How much travel time am i looking at if we decide to go back to our hotel room for naps every day?

Is there an alternative to having to go all the way back to the hotel?

When my dd was 17 months (older ds was 6) I had planned to go back every day for a nap. That lasted 2 days. For us, it's def. just not worth it (we stated on the monorail a couple times and then it wasn't as bad). It's just a lot to walk all the way out of the park, to the bus stop, pack everything up, ride the bus to the resort, walk to the resort room just to do it all over again in a couple hours, plus add in going through security again. Transportation time alone is going to be at best close to an hour each way (starting from the point that you head out of park.) We just started "resting" in the afternoon. Letting the baby fall asleep in the stroller and getting a snack and just sitting in the shade, riding ppl. mover a few times (depending on crowds they often let us just stay on it, doing Carousel of Progress, Mike's Laugh Floor, Philarmagic. We found just letting the kids rest/sleep in the stroller and take some down time at the park was much less of a hassle than packing up and going back each day. That was about 7 years ago and we've added a new one since then, and never even attempted to go back for naps.

 

[bab736]

We're staying at BLT (closest possible to MK) with a 4 year old and a 2 month old and I honestly think we'all skip going back this year, but we only have 2.5 days in the parks. It's a crapshoot if either of them will nap on command anyway so will have them rest in the stroller (or the baby in a carrier) throughout the day.

 

[piccolopat]

If your kids will sleep in their stroller, I would try that rather than take out a large chunk of time going back and forth to your hotel. Find a quiet corner if you can, some suggested above and perhaps Tom Sawyer Island. When Disney started the white tents for rent near Space Mountain, it dawned on me that they could make a fortune if they added sleeping pods for rent by the hour in the park.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

we tried going back to resort and it did not work with our toddler. fell asleep on way to resort woke up as we walked to room and refused to go back to sleep. was worse than no nap. since him all the younger ones plus him for rest of that trip slept in stroller. a lot different than just taking to room at home.

 

[jvz82]

How old is the child? With infants under 1, I find that they easily will fall asleep on rides or in baby carriers so sometimes we can get away with not going back to the resort. In my experience with my toddlers, they don't seem to fall asleep as easily at the parks. Also, I find my older kids get really overstimulated with a full day so even if they are not napping it is helpful to be back at the resort for a while just to have a quiet place. There is a baby care center and last time we were there they were playing Disney movies so we took even our older kids there just for a break.

This time around (kids are almost 2, almost 4, 5 and 7) we are only planning a resort break one day, and that's because we are getting to the park at 7 am and we want to see the fireworks at 10 pm. There's no way my kids can do that long of a day! So we'll probably plan a long break, like 12-4, back at the resort. The other days we'll be leaving the parks earlier in the evening, like 7, so I don't feel like the break is as necessary. I'm hoping I can get my toddler to sleep in the stroller or on a quiet ride!! I'm specifically planning slower paced things around nap time with hopes that he and maybe my 3 year old will fall asleep.

 

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

How do you guys handle taking naps for little ones during the day?

I'll be staying at AoA which is the farthest resort from the parks. How much travel time am i looking at if we decide to go back to our hotel room for naps every day?

Is there an alternative to having to go all the way back to the hotel?

You know your kids best and sometimes you have to try things out before finding what works. For our family we all want/need a break from the parks and love going back to the quiet of the resort to nap/rest. My kids do not sleep well in strollers and even in cars! They love beds. This year my son will be 8 and daughter 4 when we go. He obviously doesn't nap, but needs a break from the stimulation. My daughter still naps so we will all probably head back. I just plan on doing this till the kids get older. At which point mom and dad will head back for a nap and the teens can hit the parks!

 

[sachilles]

depends on age. My son at age 3 on our first trip, we'd park hop, and stop at the resort in between for a nap. Once he realized we'd stay out later if he napped mid day, there was complete by in. Did the same at age 5 and again at age 7(and at 7 he didn't normally nap). Stayed at CBR at 3, POR at 5 and Saratoga at 7.
If you are going back to the same park, they feel like they are missing something by leaving for a nap.
Every kid is different, so your mileage will vary.
I will say if you don't let your kids get well rested, you might regret it by the end of the trip.

We have gone so far as to tell our son that we are leaving a day later than we actually do, so that he'll get a good nights sleep the day before we go. We also insist on him napping on the plane on the way down.
Now that he's old enough to truly skip naps, I'm not sure what we'll do....cause both my wife and I like them too!

It's hard to no rush yourself around, but it really does work out better in the long run if you can rest every so often.

 

[DisneyOma]

How do you guys handle taking naps for little ones during the day?

I'll be staying at AoA which is the farthest resort from the parks. How much travel time am i looking at if we decide to go back to our hotel room for naps every day?

Is there an alternative to having to go all the way back to the hotel?

AoA is right near EPCOT and Disney Hollywood Studios (or whatever they are calling it now - we call it the half closed park) so that travel time is a few minutes. MK is far, and so is AK, about 20 minutes-ish?

 

[Buntington]

I have an 18-month and 3-year-old and we do day trips. What works for us is babywearing for the younger one--she'll take 2 or 3 naps on a Disney day in the carrier and will nap through rides and shows. The 3yo doesn't normally nap at home at all, but he needs a nap at Disney because it is so stimulating. And he won't use a stroller. ;( Since we don't have a Disney hotel, we always plan a show of some kind that's at least 20 minutes long around 1 or 2 p.m. He will fall asleep on dad's lap or leaning on my shoulder during the show. It's not ideal, but it seems to work for us. For example, at AK we went to the Lion King show, and at HS the Frozen show. It's not a long nap, but it seems to be enough to get him through the rest of the day without issues, and then when we pile them into the car after dinner they sleep for 12-13 hours straight. The nursing rooms in the baby care centers look nice and quiet, but my 3yo doesn't nurse anymore so that wouldn't help him. It is a hassle to go all the way back to your hotel. Hope you find something that works for your family. I was worried about naps too before we started going to the parks and I think I even posted about it once here, but once we had a few park days under our belts, we had worked out a system.

 

[Buntington]

Also, I see tons of kids asleep in strollers around naptime every time I go to the parks. If you have one with a cover to block out the sun, and your kid will sit in it, it's highly likely that you will get a nap in, especially if you do find a quieter place to hang out for a little while after lunch.

 

[kohlby]

2 month old (child 2) slept in the sling when tired.

8 month old (child 2) - slept in fully reclined stroller while in parks with a light cover over it. She still fought sleep but was able to get a nap in at least.

11 month old (child 3) refused to sleep whether in the parks or back a trip the hotel. He did fall asleep in the sling finally around 6 pm the first day and then a little earlier on other days. We tried the hotels nap thing but it didn't work at all since he wouldn't sleep.

2 year old (child 3) Was still napping at home daily at that point but refused at dIsney whether back at room or in park. So, we focused on reasonable bedtimes.

3 year old (child 1, child 2, child 3) Nap? What's that? Didn't nap at home and didn't nap at Disney.

We found that it worked best for our kids to work around early bedtimes, not naps. I couldn't get them to nap. I saw all those toddlers fast asleep in their strollers - and even kids well past toddlerhood - so I know they exist. But that was not my experience. The mid-day break never helped us either though we tried it several times. So, my advice is simply to be flexible.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I have an 18-month and 3-year-old and we do day trips. What works for us is babywearing for the younger one--she'll take 2 or 3 naps on a Disney day in the carrier and will nap through rides and shows. The 3yo doesn't normally nap at home at all, but he needs a nap at Disney because it is so stimulating. And he won't use a stroller. ;( Since we don't have a Disney hotel, we always plan a show of some kind that's at least 20 minutes long around 1 or 2 p.m. He will fall asleep on dad's lap or leaning on my shoulder during the show. It's not ideal, but it seems to work for us. For example, at AK we went to the Lion King show, and at HS the Frozen show. It's not a long nap, but it seems to be enough to get him through the rest of the day without issues, and then when we pile them into the car after dinner they sleep for 12-13 hours straight. The nursing rooms in the baby care centers look nice and quiet, but my 3yo doesn't nurse anymore so that wouldn't help him. It is a hassle to go all the way back to your hotel. Hope you find something that works for your family. I was worried about naps too before we started going to the parks and I think I even posted about it once here, but once we had a few park days under our belts, we had worked out a system.

I will be taking my son in May when he is 18 months old and am trying to figure out different nap options. You mentioned using a carrier - does your daughter nap ok on your back? My son fell asleep in the back carrier once (he was 10 months at the time) and his head kept flopping back. Fortunately my husband was wearing him, so I supported his head until we got to our destination. Maybe we were just doing something wrong.

 

[westie55]

I am also in the camp that believes in the stroller nap. This worked well for my DS. He does not sleep on command and really doesn't nap in a crib at all. If we went back to the resort, he probably wouldn't fall asleep there anyway! When he was 11 months old we stayed at AoA, which we loved. I didn't find it to be far from the parks. On our first day we went back to the resort for a swim break (this was in June) but by day 2 we opted to just stay in the park.Depending on how many days you are in Disney, it may not make sense to waste so much of your day travelling back and forth. For the most part I've always been really lucky with buses to all the resorts I've stayed at, but it can be a 20 min wait just for a bus to arrive!

 

[LovePug]

When my DS was in a stroller we had every intention of leaving for naps, but then he'd fall asleep in the stroller and we just went with it and walked around, sat in a shady spot, or whatever. He sleeps in a deep sleep and I'd just lower the back of the stroller and let him sleep. It worked out well for us.

 

[adisneyaunt]

How do you guys handle taking naps for little ones during the day?

I'll be staying at AoA which is the farthest resort from the parks. How much travel time am i looking at if we decide to go back to our hotel room for naps every day?

Is there an alternative to having to go all the way back to the hotel?

We used to do naps in the stroller... just find a quieter area. At MK we d even walk over to the Contemporary along the path... Also used to get on the monorail... go over to resort ..we d walk around a bit, less stimulation n noise and one sleepy kiddo was out for the count.
Or while we adults relaxed with a snack or cocktail at resort, or just riding the monorail did it for our kiddo.
I personally think that leaving a park then going back etc is not worth the effort or time. We did however enjoy the bit of the break outside a park.
Good luck... not too much worse than an overtired crank kiddo at a park.

 

[Megara5115]

My DS 9 months napped in either the baby carrier or the stroller. If we thought he was ready for a nap we would put him facing us in his Lillebaby because then we could still go on rides while he slept (although of course this is easier for smaller kids). We only planned half days going into it just in case we needed to head back to the resort but turned out not needing to.

 

[Imagineer5]

Older dd is almost 5. She took regular naps until she was 4.5, and ALWAYS napped well in the stroller - even when she was still doing 3-4 naps/day. (Past 18 months she was down to one good one in the afternoon). It would take WAY too much time to go back solely for nap time, so I always planned for her to nap in the stroller, even when we went back to the resort (via walking to Contemporary or something like that) I'd put her down in the stroller.

My younger DD is 1 and she has been fine at Disney taking stroller naps (she currently naps twice a day).

Even when kids won't nap well at home in the stroller (or on short outings) I think there's enough stimulation at Disney that they fall asleep so much easier.

 

[monorailsilver]

I am a firm believer of going back to your room for naps. *I* need a nap too!

We also go in the summer and it shot and need a break, fresh change of clothes/shower after our morning adventure.

What works for us: I wake at 6, shower, DH comes in the bathroom while I am showering and doesn't his business...yes I am good with that because the very first trip I took him on his business cost me park opening. He saw his further wife go ape sh!t on him! I am dressed by 6:30, kids start waking and do their bathroom thing and then they eat breakfast as we are finishing getting ready in our room-cereal/oatmeal, pop tarts, etc...

We are out the door between 7-7:15 depending where we are going and how we need to get there-boat/monorail. We do the early entry park of the day. Have lunch between 11-12 and are back to our room by 1 and we all nap.

I wake up at about 4 and shower again and wake the kids up to shower and DH too and we leave our room by 5 til park closing.

My kids (15 mo was the youngest age we took one) never cried because they were tired. They woke up early at home, and had a longer nap then at home and stayed up til 10-11 on park nights. We do a few non park days so sleep can happen.