Activities & Days Out / 4 March, 2024 / My Baba

Navigating The Outside World: A Guide To Maintaining Your Baby’s Sleep Schedule While Out And About

Welcoming a new addition to the family is a joyous occasion, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Sleep, specifically, is often one of the trickier elements that come with welcoming a bundle of joy.

Once you have cracked the enigma of sleep and have your baby on a nap schedule, it can be a huge relief. That is, however, until you realise that these naps and sleep windows tend to dissect your day in the most awkward of ways. Finding a balance between maintaining your baby’s nap schedule, while also having the flexibility to, well, live life can often seem to be a complex riddle to solve.
Daytime naps are essential not only to your baby’s development but also for facilitating good night sleep habits. As a result, these naps are not only necessary for your baby’s health but also for your own sleep (and sanity!). It can therefore be a little scary to try and get out and about during your little one’s nap time. What if they don’t sleep and become overtired? Will that impact their other naps? What if that leads to a terrible night’s sleep?

But we cannot live in fear! Just as your little one needs their sleep, so too do parents need to be able to leave their houses to see friends, get coffee, and run errands. So we’ve teamed up with Coperi to look at the best ways to help your baby become a pro at napping on the go.

Establish a Solid Sleep Schedule

First things first: a nap schedule! Once you have established a sleep routine for your child and are in a good rhythm, it will make anticipating their naps a lot easier. As described by Brittany Sheehan, a Paediatric Sleep Consultant, “I often tell my clients as we’re implementing a schedule “rigid now = flexible later”. For a few weeks, we try to get as many naps as possible at home in the crib. After that, once baby is adapted to the schedule, taking naps on the go is easy! Babies who are on a great schedule make it possible to plan fun excursions, because you know exactly when they’ll need to eat and sleep. No one needs to be chained to the house in order to have a great sleeper.”

Pram Sleep Covers

Once you know when your child would usually be put down for a nap, then you can use positive sleep associations to tell your baby when it is time to sleep. One invaluable tool is Coperi’s sun & sleep pram cover which helps to provide a darkened environment that blocks outside distractions and helps to signal to your baby that it is nap time. By using a pram sleep cover, you can provide a clear cue to your child that it is the beginning of a nap window in order to help maintain the schedule that they would have at home. The cover is also UPF 50+ and helps to block out 98% of UVA and UVB rays, keeping your little one protected from the sun while they snooze.

In Summary

Ultimately, while it can feel scary to seemingly disrupt your child’s nap routine, mastering the art of napping on the go is a game changer. Maintaining a baby’s sleep schedule while out and about requires a combination of planning, adaptability, and a keen understanding of your baby’s needs. By incorporating these strategies into your routine, you can strike a balance between enjoying the outside world and ensuring your baby gets the rest they require for optimal development.

Sponsored content in collaboration with Coperi

Baby’s Bliss: The Ultimate Guide To Choosing The Perfect Soother

Choosing The Right Baby Carrier: Key Considerations And Features