Staying out late or past your babies bedtime can bring with it a little bit of anxiety if you have a fairly consistent routine in place.
It can feel super restricting when having a bedtime routine at home to fit in some little social outings! We get it and have been there. Although it is a small stage in life where we might opt for dinners at home with friends or date night at the dinner table after bedtime, it can be nice to say yes to the family barbecue or friend’s wedding while in the ‘babyhood!’. Here are our top tips to have a night out with your baby in tow without feeling like your bedtime routine will go down in flames!
Prioritise your day naps! If you know you are going to be out later, make sure your baby can get at least 1 great nap in that day whether it be a contact nap or in their sleep space. This will help them feel better about pushing bedtime out. Allowing more day sleep is also a bonus on these days! It can be great to add in a little nap right around when bedtime might be, for 30mins or so to help buy some time before bedtime without a very loud/overtired baby at your event! This can happen in the car on the way to dinner or in the pram/carrier if already out. Ideally bedtime would then fall about 2.5-3hours later. For our older babies or babies who will not have a later nap 3/4, if you can’t delay nap 1, offer more awake time between nap 1 and 2 to help close the gap between waking and going back to bed.
Be prepared! If naps don’t go to plan, have the pram/carrier or try to hold them for a little nap just to get them through until they are home in bed. Portable white noise, their sleep bag and comforter can help induce that sleep away from home.
Try to stick to the 80/20 rule – Yes, we can go out and skip the bedtime routine every now and again. However, when looking at baby sleep and the consistency of it we really need to prioritise their naps and bedtime. This is what helps your night time sleep stay strong! If out one night, try to be home the next few nights to get back into the swing of things. This applies for naps on the go as well, if out all day one day try to be home for one big nap the next to play catch up.
What happens when we get home? If your baby has fallen asleep on the way home, no need to wake them and do the bedtime routine, just check their nappy and pop them into bed. It can be good to give them a feed before the drive home, so you know they have a nice full tummy. If they are awake when home, you can just do a very small bedtime routine, about 5-10mins and then pop them to bed and settle as per normal.
Be prepared to possibly see some more wakes than normal/early rising but just try your best to settle how you always do and get back on track with naps the next day.
Having a predictable routine in place is going to make having late nights or missed naps much easier to manage. If you need help establishing a routine our age appropriate routines guide is the perfect place to start, you can view it here.
