Stroller naps

[Haley R]

This is probably really stupid to ask and very dependent on the child but I wanted to ask anyway. Is there any trick to getting a baby/toddler to sleep in the stroller at the park? I’m full on expecting to go back to the resort for naps but it would be so nice to be able to stay. He’ll be 12 months when we go in May and has never slept in a stroller before. Do you just have to have “that” kid or is there anything we can do to help him? We plan to bring his pacifier and portable white noise machine but I have a feeling there’s no chance he’ll sleep in the park.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

This is probably really stupid to ask and very dependent on the child but I wanted to ask anyway. Is there any trick to getting a baby/toddler to sleep in the stroller at the park? I’m full on expecting to go back to the resort for naps but it would be so nice to be able to stay. He’ll be 12 months when we go in May and has never slept in a stroller before. Do you just have to have “that” kid or is there anything we can do to help him? We plan to bring his pacifier and portable white noise machine but I have a feeling there’s no chance he’ll sleep in the park.

you are going to laugh at my grandson who at 20 months stayed awake whole 10 hour drive overnight while all the rest of his brothers slept. he was happy traveling just did not sleep. put him in the stroller to walk in park in parking lot and he falls asleep just a few steps from car. all thru preschool years when ever tired if in stroller he would be awake one minute and asleep the next. he is also the same one who fell asleep on way back to resort for a few minutes and screamed for 2 plus hours. and yes I mean screamed you could hear him for most of hall. so going back to resort does not always work esp if your guy will not go back to sleep if he falls asleep on the way. I would make sure you have extra pacifiers with you at all times and a blanket to cover front of stroller from the shade. lay back down, give him pacifier, cover front and walk him around if he is going to sleep that is what should work but as you say does not work for everyone. do not see bringing noise machine to parks as parks will cover the noise.

 

[Jhondy]

My DD rarely sleeps in stroller. The few times we got her to sleep we put the shade on the stroller all the way down with her fan in the stroller, put her in her sleep sack (it was a cooler day), and put white noise on that we use at night time and walked around while she cried for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep. She only slept like 30-45 minutes. I’m hoping this time she might be a bit better at stroller naps but not expecting her to be.

 

[Haley R]

you are going to laugh at my grandson who at 20 months stayed awake whole 10 hour drive overnight while all the rest of his brothers slept. he was happy traveling just did not sleep. put him in the stroller to walk in park in parking lot and he falls asleep just a few steps from car. all thru preschool years when ever tired if in stroller he would be awake one minute and asleep the next. he is also the same one who fell asleep on way back to resort for a few minutes and screamed for 2 plus hours. and yes I mean screamed you could hear him for most of hall. so going back to resort does not always work esp if your guy will not go back to sleep if he falls asleep on the way. I would make sure you have extra pacifiers with you at all times and a blanket to cover front of stroller from the shade. lay back down, give him pacifier, cover front and walk him around if he is going to sleep that is what should work but as you say does not work for everyone. do not see bringing noise machine to parks as parks will cover the noise.

I think if he falls asleep on the way back to the resort we’ll try to find a shaded area somewhere and let him sleep. We’re planning to bring 2 fans and a portable air conditioner. I honestly don’t know what to expect from him for naps. He’s still taking 2 so it’s kind of hard to plan around them but my goal is to get a lot done at MK in the morning

 

[Haley R]

My DD rarely sleeps in stroller. The few times we got her to sleep we put the shade on the stroller all the way down with her fan in the stroller, put her in her sleep sack (it was a cooler day), and put white noise on that we use at night time and walked around while she cried for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep. She only slept like 30-45 minutes. I’m hoping this time she might be a bit better at stroller naps but not expecting her to be.

I’d rather take him back to the cabin and have him take a good nap but I won’t know until we get there I guess if he’s super fussy we’ll head back to the room. He’s pretty good about staying on a schedule so I’d hate to push him too far and have a cranky toddler

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I think if he falls asleep on the way back to the resort we’ll try to find a shaded area somewhere and let him sleep. We’re planning to bring 2 fans and a portable air conditioner. I honestly don’t know what to expect from him for naps. He’s still taking 2 so it’s kind of hard to plan around them but my goal is to get a lot done at MK in the morning

remember you may or may not be able to leave hum in stroller on boat back to The Fort I have had it both ways. plus as you dock there is a loud horn sounding and again as boat leaves most likely will not sleep thru and it is required so no stopping it for sleeping child

 

[Haley R]

remember you may or may not be able to leave hum in stroller on boat back to The Fort I have had it both ways. plus as you dock there is a loud horn sounding and again as boat leaves most likely will not sleep thru and it is required so no stopping it for sleeping child

Ah okay. I didn’t even know about maybe having to take him out of the stroller. We better just plan on going back for naps

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Ah okay. I didn’t even know about maybe having to take him out of the stroller. We better just plan on going back for naps

I would be more worried about loud horn if he would fall asleep on boat as it is a 20 minute ride back from leaving MK even if in stroller. How does he do if falls asleep and get woken up and then put back to sleep as you are a good distance from dock at the cabins. even if you drive you will have either a monorail or ferry ride back to your car as no car parking at MK
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[Jhondy]

you are going to laugh at my grandson who at 20 months stayed awake whole 10 hour drive overnight while all the rest of his brothers slept. he was happy traveling just did not sleep. put him in the stroller to walk in park in parking lot and he falls asleep just a few steps from car. all thru preschool years when ever tired if in stroller he would be awake one minute and asleep the next. he is also the same one who fell asleep on way back to resort for a few minutes and screamed for 2 plus hours. and yes I mean screamed you could hear him for most of hall. so going back to resort does not always work esp if your guy will not go back to sleep if he falls asleep on the way. I would make sure you have extra pacifiers with you at all times and a do not see bringing noise machine to parks as parks will cover the noise.

I’d rather take him back to the cabin and have him take a good nap but I won’t know until we get there I guess if he’s super fussy we’ll head back to the room. He’s pretty good about staying on a schedule so I’d hate to push him too far and have a cranky toddler

We ended up taking DD back to hotel most days for naps. The only times we didn’t was one day at EP and one day at HS but we got her to either sleep a short amount in the stroller (which is all my kid needs to be good) or rocked her in our arms to sleep in a relaxation zone. We did make sure to get her back to the hotel in time for bed time on those days and did not push late nights. This time I’m gonna try to push late nights but it will really be dependent on how my DD does. If she can’t handle it then that plan will be out the window

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My kids both fell asleep in my arms on the boat or bus on the way back to the hotel and then wouldn’t nap once we got to the room. So we gave up on going back and if they napped in the stroller they napped. If not, oh well.

 

[Haley R]

I would be more worried about loud horn if he would fall asleep on boat as it is a 20 minute ride back from leaving MK even if in stroller. How does he do if falls asleep and get woken up and then put back to sleep as you are a good distance from dock at the cabins. even if you drive you will have either a monorail or ferry ride back to your car as no car parking at MK
\

I’ve never seen him fall asleep on the go so I’m not sure if he’ll even fall asleep on the boat at all. He won’t sleep in the car unless he’s absolutely exhausted. He’s not great about going back to sleep once he’s woken up.

 

[Haley R]

We ended up taking DD back to hotel most days for naps. The only times we didn’t was one day at EP and one day at HS but we got her to either sleep a short amount in the stroller (which is all my kid needs to be good) or rocked her in our arms to sleep in a relaxation zone. We did make sure to get her back to the hotel in time for bed time on those days and did not push late nights. This time I’m gonna try to push late nights but it will really be dependent on how my DD does. If she can’t handle it then that plan will be out the window

His schedule is usually wake up at 7, naps at 9 and 1:30 or 2, and bedtime around 7-7:30. But we’ll be waking earlier than that to get to the park so he might be going to bed pretty early. I’m pretty strict on bedtime so I plan to be back with plenty of time for that. I don’t want any rough nights. He’s already gonna have a tough time sleeping in the pack n play. I’m dreading that

 

[Haley R]

My kids both fell asleep in my arms on the boat or bus on the way back to the hotel and then wouldn’t nap once we got to the room. So we gave up on going back and if they napped in the stroller they napped. If not, oh well.

We normally hold him to get him to sleep so I could totally see him falling asleep like that. Do they ever get overly cranky because they can’t fall asleep in the stroller? That’s what I’m worried about. I don’t want it to ruin our day

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I’ve never seen him fall asleep on the go so I’m not sure if he’ll even fall asleep on the boat at all. He won’t sleep in the car unless he’s absolutely exhausted. He’s not great about going back to sleep once he’s woken up.

you are lucky none of mine or my grandkids would ever go back to sleep even if only 5 minutes. most will fall asleep in car but all wake up as soon as it stops even true today as older kids or adults

 

[Betty Rohrer]

His schedule is usually wake up at 7, naps at 9 and 1:30 or 2, and bedtime around 7-7:30. But we’ll be waking earlier than that to get to the park so he might be going to he’s pretty early. I’m pretty strict on bedtime so I plan to be back with plenty of time for that. I don’t want any rough night. He’s already gonna have a tough time sleeping in the pack n play. I’m dreading that

even if you stay on schedule expect a rough first night as you are some where different

 

[Haley R]

even if you stay on schedule expect a rough first night as you are some where different

I’m hoping it isn’t too bad because we’re only staying for 3 nights

 

[Jhondy]

His schedule is usually wake up at 7, naps at 9 and 1:30 or 2, and bedtime around 7-7:30. But we’ll be waking earlier than that to get to the park so he might be going to he’s pretty early. I’m pretty strict on bedtime so I plan to be back with plenty of time for that. I don’t want any rough night. He’s already gonna have a tough time sleeping in the pack n play. I’m dreading that

you may want to look into getting a travel pack and play mattress to bring with you. The mattress in the pack and play at WDW is like a piece of cardboard...it is terrible. I bring with us a memory foam pack and play mattress that folds up and goes into a bag so it is easy to carry. It has saved us so many times when my DD needed to sleep in a pack and play. She goes to sleep a lot easier with the mattress than without it. When covid started and our daycare closed, my DD had to come to work with me for 5 weeks and she refused to sleep in her pack and play until I got the mattress.

 

[bellerunner]

We went with my DS when he was about 2.5 years old, and he napped in his stroller. We'd find a quieter section of the park, and DH would walk him back and forth to kind of lull him to sleep. We'd recline the stroller (we didn't use one of the hard plastic Disney rentals, but rather a Kingdom Strollers rental- much nicer), and let him sleep. It helped that we were traveling with my much older parents (both in their 70's), so it forced them to take a much needed break, whether they wanted to admit it or not. The adults would have a snack or just rest during this time.

This was pre-COVID, so I'm not sure what the park atmosphere would be for this now.

 

[Haley R]

you may want to look into getting a travel pack and play mattress to bring with you. The mattress in the pack and play at WDW is like a piece of cardboard...it is terrible. I bring with us a memory foam pack and play mattress that folds up and goes into a bag so it is easy to carry. It has saved us so many times when my DD needed to sleep in a pack and play. She goes to sleep a lot easier with the mattress than without it. When covid started and our daycare closed, my DD had to come to work with me for 5 weeks and she refused to sleep in her pack and play until I got the mattress.

We have a pack n play at home but no mattress. I’ll ask Dh how he feels. Are they expensive?

 

[Haley R]

We went with my DS when he was about 2.5 years old, and he napped in his stroller. We'd find a quieter section of the park, and DH would walk him back and forth to kind of lull him to sleep. We'd recline the stroller (we didn't use one of the hard plastic Disney rentals, but rather a Kingdom Strollers rental- much nicer), and let him sleep. It helped that we were traveling with my much older parents (both in their 70's), so it forced them to take a much needed break, whether they wanted to admit it or not. The adults would have a snack or just rest during this time.

This was pre-COVID, so I'm not sure what the park atmosphere would be for this now.

He hates to be reclined in his stroller so I’m not sure how he would feel about that but we could always recline him after (if he falls asleep). Right now my plan is to stay in the park until he yawns or rubs his eyes. If he seems okay we might stay a little bit but if he starts to get really fussy we’ll probably just leave. It isn’t worth it to me