Naptime Strategies

[brazzledazzler]

Hi all! Just looking for advice from parents managing their kids naptimes. We are planning a first time fall trip and the kiddos will be 4 and 18 months. We’re planning on renting a villa, is it worth the cost to get the one bedroom? We’ve stayed in hotel rooms before, and basically felt trapped in the one dark room after the kids go to bed at 7, trying not to wake them up. How do other parents tackle that?

Another question I have is do parents generally bring kids home from the park for an afternoon nap, and then go back after? Or is that too much work lugging everything back and forth? Just trying to get some rough ideas about a schedule. because I would like to try and make reservations, but tired kids can be so unpredictable. Maybe it’s better to just play it by ear when we get there?!

I realize I’m probably overthinking things, but thanks in advance for the advice!!

Hmm. Every kid is different. We have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old and have been many times with them at a variety of ages.

We have found that we prefer to arrive early to the parks and then leave after lunch to go back to the resort and rest/nap. Then, if everyone is in good spirits, we go back to the park in the evening.

We also don’t do multiple long park days in a row. We break it up, so that kids get some naps.

As DVC members, we do go more often, so I’m not too concerned with missing out on stuff because the kids are napping or need rest. Also, we stay in studios but enjoy sitting on the balcony after bed time. We have an audio-only baby monitor and it works perfectly.

A thing that helps with naps on the go —baby wearing! My daughter preferred this until 2, and our son now naps on our trips while we wear him.

Otherwise, you gotta go with the flow and hope kids rest when they are exhausted.

I know many parents feel the pressure to be in the park all day everyday —but we would we prefer our kids to be well rested and not have tantrums, crying or meltdowns. That means taking it easy.