How to teach the baby to sleep outside the home.

You know that respecting your baby’s sleep needs is very important for his/her health and for his/her peace of mind! A very tired baby can turn any event into a major stress. Sometimes it is not possible to always put your baby to sleep in his/her room. What do you do to make sure your baby can leave the house and at least still get some of the rest they need?

If you think you’re going out and back in time for the baby to nap at home, great. Try to schedule your activities outside the home within the interval of the two naps. But if that’s not possible, know a few basic rules to help you get your child to the places you need, when you need them, and still come home rested.

• If you know that you will not be back in time for baby to sleep at home, plan to leave at nap time

If you know you will not be home in time to put you to sleep in his/her sleep environment, leave when it would be time to start napping. Putting your baby in the car seat or baby carriages at exactly the time of nap is a good thing. With the movement they have a great chance of taking a nap there. If the car ride is not as long as a nap, think about whether it is a place you can walk to, using the stroller. Not using the car for short journeys will make you exercise and the baby will sleep all the time you need in the stroller. When baby wakes up you can take them out of the stroller and continue with your activities.

• And that event that will last all day at the Country Club?

If you know that you are going to spend the whole day away from home, I suggest that at least the first nap of the day be made in the baby’s primary environment, so he/she is rested. In the next naps, lay the stroller down in the lying position like Moses, place a blanket on top to darken their environment a little. If your baby is used to any music or white noise during the nap, plug that sound into your phone to help. Walk a little with the stroller as this movemenr will help them to fall asleep. Your baby probably will not sleep as much as thry would sleep in their crib, but at least they’ll be a bit more rested.

• Don’t forget to take the transition objects

If you leave home and it comes time to nap, but at home your child only sleeps by hugging a cuddle toy or sucking their pacifier, don’t forget to take all those objects that can aid in the nap.

• You’re going to travel and you’re in a strange place for the baby.

A trip can be a very exciting family event, but moms may worry whether their baby will actually sleep in a hotel room.

Be very patient, remember that the baby does not know the environment. If you don’t practice the shared bed at home, try not to practice it on the trip. Arrange a place separate from your bed for the baby to sleep (a crib or a mattress on the floor in the same room as yours) and put them to sleep looking to maintain the same sleeping ritual. Remember that the sleep ritual is the set of actions we do in the same order before the baby falls asleep. On the trip, try to respect their sleep schedules.

Above you have seen some tips that can help make your baby nap outside of the house. Now, what happens when are you in the car, and you don’t want the baby to sleep because you’re outside of their nap time?

If it is not nap time, try to give them a distraction to keep them from falling asleep. Take something they really like in the car with you: a DVD, a toy they have not played with yet, and if it is safe, open the car windows to vent air on their little face (not their side of course, the windows of other passengers or yours.). Talk to them on the way while the vent circulates inside the car.

It is important to clarify that the best quality sleep happens in bed but these tips today are for those situations outside of their routine.