Messing with our nap for 1 day

My company's picnic is 11:30 - 1 on Thurday. I am off but they want me to come with the girls (they have not met them.) How dare they not schedule the picnic around our nap time...LOL. For about 3 weeks we have napped around 12 or 12:30 for 2.5 hours every day. So, how the heck do I arrange their schedule to attend plus still get a nap in. Am I crazy? I am torn...would love to show them off for sure! But in the end I have to come home with them...hee hee. What would you do? Give it to me straight up ladies!

 

Take this for what it's worth, but my two have surprised me and done well on days when we have had to skip naps. But in all honesty, you know your girls the best and if you think they are going be out of sorts and totally grumpy then I can see staying home. Good luck with your decision!

 

We've played with our naptime (the same as yours roughly) both ways. 1.) you could take them and give them the nap late if they do well staying up or 2.) put them down early and take 2 naps--we haven't done this but we have put them down around 10-11 to leave somewhere at noonish and just put them to bed earlier. Good luck!

 

Yikes, that's a tough one. Do they nap good in a stroller? If so maybe you can go, take them around introducing them to your coworkers, and then kind of sneak off from the picnic hooplah and stroll them around? Though that would only work for 45min to an hour, unless you really like to walk, LOL. Our guys nap very well in a stroller, but obviously new people and extra commotion means that a nap would be very unlikely. Our boys are generally horrible nappers and I am sick of dealing with the aftermath of cranky babies when they don't get a good nap, so if my LOs were in a good napping routine, I probably wouldn't take them for selfish reasons. Instead I would make a point to take them by the office during their awake hours in the near future, if possible. GL!

 

I would take them, be prepared to leave a little early if they get too fussy, and just put them down as soon as you get home.

 

what we've done is go, kept the girls uber-entertained (not hard in a new place with lots of new people) to avoid fussies, and then they sleep in the car on the way home (we've even been known to drive around until they wake on their own to try and get as much sleep as possible). then, since the nap is usually quite short (60 minutes, if we're lucky), the girls go down for an early bedtime. then it's back to normal the next day, usually without issue. GL!

 

You know your children best. Maybe they will sleep in the car on the way to the picnic a little earlier than usual and then have another short nap in the car on the way home, so you split the nap and then go for an earlier bedtime?

I have done this with my babies a few times and it generally works well, especially if there are lots of new things and people to watch. I am always prepared to leave earlier if they get fussy and I know the late afternoon will probably not be a lot of fun. But we have a good nap routine and everything settles back to normal the next day.

 

This is exactly what I'd do! When there are new things to see and people to meet, my guys are usually so entertained that delaying their nap is not a problem. On their 2nd birthday we kept them up past lunch so they could play with their new toys and see some late-arrivals to the party. They usually nap just after lunch, but they didn't go down until almost 3! They slept a good 1.5-2 hours and were fine going to bed at their normal time.

Give it a try, I'm sure your girls will be the stars of the picnic!

 

At their age now my girls are very very cranky if they miss a nap and it takes two or three day to get over the trauma apparently.
I am still cautious about being in the car too close to their nap because they do tend to fall asleep and I find they still don't transition
well to their crib after I take them out of the car.
So if your two would sleep a bit before the picnic I would try to do that, i.e. in the car or stroller, then take them to the picnic where
they will be a bit refreshed, bank on having some cranky time in the evening and put them to bed early.
Enjoy that picnic!!!

 

Thanks everyone! Okay, I think I am going to go for it. Think I will get there a bit before and stay until 12:30 then give them milk sippies to try to keep them awake on the 20 min drive home. They won't be a problem at the picnic - they are such flirts, but I will be singing twinkle twinkle at the top of my lungs all the way home to keep them up..LOL. Thanks for coming through with ALL of your replies!

 

My kids would probably fall asleep in the car (possibly on the way to the party and on the way home). Like PPs said, you could drive around for awhile and hope they sleep awhile in the car. (Mine do not transfer well so they would be unlikely to continue the nap at home). Then put them to bed early. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

This is what I do and it happens pretty much every friday when I go grocery shopping. They always seem to fall asleep in the car. Fortunately they do transfer to the house pretty good (we live about 15 mins from the store), and I'm able to put them down when we get home, sometimes their nap is much shorter though, so we just put them to bed a bit earlier than normal

Have fun! The girls are going to be stars! :wub: