Questions about going out at night with babies

What do you do when you go to a friend's place at night with your babies? We are not too sure what to do. When we are at home the girls get their last bottle around 7:30pm and then are in bed by 8:15-8:30pm. They sleep anywhere from 8.5-10 hours without any feeds. Tomorrow night though we are going to a friend's place with the girls and we will be there until at least midnight. We will feed them there around 7:30pm (like usual) and put them to bed somehwere at their place. But what about when we need to go home? They will obviously wake up when we put them in their carseats AND when we take them out of their carseats at home. Should we feed them even though they wouldn't normally eat at that time?

We are just really worried that we are going to mess up their great sleeping habits in just one night.

 

At that age, we would do regular bedtime routine, and put them down in pack and plays. When it was time to go, we put them in their carseats covered with a blanket, and then repeated it at home. If you keep the movement to a minimum, they will probably wake, but go right back to sleep. Kids are amazing that way!

 

If it were me, I would try and get a babysitter instead of taking mine to a party that late. I don't like to disrupt bedtime, but that is just me.

 

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Originally posted by summerfun:
If it were me, I would try and get a babysitter instead of taking mine to a party that late. I don't like to disrupt bedtime, but that is just me.


Same here

 

I'm sure when you leave the friend's house, they'll fall back asleep once they're in the car and it's moving. Once you get home, you may have to rock them or soothe to sleep, but I wouldn't offer a bottle unless they just don't seem to be settling down. I think it's great you're getting out. Have fun!!

 

The thing I've found out is that you'll never know until you try. Sometimes it works and sometimes its a disaster, but kids are really resilient and you won't know how they'll react until you do it. We always used pack and plays when they had to sleep somewhere other than home. The car ride will probably soothe them back down. I agree with the previous post to just see what they need to get back to sleep when you get home. Don't worry... you'll probably be pleasantly surprised at how good things go. Hope you have a wonderful evening out.

 

We went out last night with them, and were home around 11:30 we decided to feed them, while normally they don't have a bottle till around 2 - 3, well the night was a disaster, and they needed a bottle again around 4-5 which messed up their 7:00am bottle, so like the PP said I would just take them home put them in bed and feed them like normal. The only disadvantage to that is that you get to sleep a lot less, before they come for their bottle, but hey rather you than them.

 

I've been through this before. I wouldn't feed them if they normally wouldn't get a bottle at that time. Like pp said it will probably mess up their schedule. I would bring them home and take them straight to their nursery. Don't talk to them or turn on any lights and put them straight to bed. We have done this several times and they have always gone back to sleep without any problems. Good luck and have a great time tonight.

 

Okay I'm gonna be the different one and say. I would give them a bottle after you get home before putting them to bed. Mine know that bottle comes before crib because that is always the last thing we do before bed. Any time I have tried putting them to bed without having a bottle right before they wake up within 5 minutes screaming. I guess you could try just putting them right to bed but I know that wouldn't work with mine.

Enjoy your night out!!!

 

At that age, my boys would sleep in their car seats. I'd just put them to bed in their car seats (strapped in) and rock them to sleep. Then when you leave, you can just grab the seat and go.

You then can choose if you want to move them once you get home. Enjoy this time as in a few months they'll only sleep well in their own cribs.

Cheers,

Teri D

 

quote:
Okay I'm gonna be the different one and say. I would give them a bottle after you get home before putting them to bed. Mine know that bottle comes before crib because that is always the last thing we do before bed.


I agree. Our boys (and us!) never go out at night. Last weekend was my moms bday and when we got home, we have them a bottle and they went right to bed like any other night. We only gave them a couple of ounces and then their bottle routne the next day stayed the same.

 

Thanks for your replies. I just wanted to update everyone. We got to our friend's place around 6pm; the girls stayed awake until about 7:30pm; then napped for 20 minutes; then they woke and had a bottle; then went into their pack 'n plays to sleep; slept until 11pm; then we moved them to their carseats to head home; got home and put them in their cribs and they fell back asleep. It was perfect! Don't worry, I am not saying this will happen everytime we go out at night but this was a great start!