Traveling with a napper?

[melsmom12]

This will be hypothetical for many of you, but tell me what you would do.

If you were traveling to WDW for at least 4 days, a child in your group still napped, would you:

1. Push through and try to keep them up and then get them to sleep earlier or let them try to sleep in the stroller.

OR

2. Take them back to the hotel/condo and give them a proper nap and come back out later.

I know a lot of 3 year olds don't nap anymore, but my almost-3 year old still naps for 2-3 hours a day and still pretty much needs that nap. Just curious what you all would do. We're not going to be heading to WDW for at least 6 more months, but I'm just asking more hypothetically than anything else.

Thanks!

 

[frtchr]

I vote for napping. I can't imagine anything worse than a cranky kid who isn't having any fun. We go back to the hotel for our DD to rest, and it always works well. Some people will insist they don't want to "waste" the time on naps or going back to the hotel. My personal opinion is that making a child happy and comfortable shouldn't be considered a waste of anything.

Have a great trip!

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Both. Some days we would take a break and head back for a nap and other days we pushed through and they would fall asleep in the stroller. I don't think we would have made it through the entire trip if we didn't take a break on some days.

 

[twinmom2]

We always go back for a nap or even just to rest. It makes the night sooo much more enjoyable and allows us to see the parade and fireworks.

 

[kiddisney]

we go for the nap in the stroller because disney is so exciting and tiring that nap timing is usually off (they get up early because it's a different bed - and they know there's the parks - and they are running around all the time) so if we tried to plan a nap - we would usually be late - and by the time we got back to the room they would have already fallen asleep and woken (?sp) up and we would have just spent the entire nap on the bus - and then they would want to go back again to the park - so we usually stop for a short time - take in a show - and then pick up where we left off when they wake up - it's worked for our three kids - just think about it - you're in the park at 8am - and they are exhausted by 11am and getting cranky - so you head back - and they sleep - so you only get three hours in the morning - and then if the parks close at 7 - by the time you get back in the afternoon you'll only get another hour or so - so taking out the travel time gains you extra time in the park -

 

[ZeroMyHero]

We're going in May and the plan is to go back to the hotel for a break after lunch to nap, or at least relax at the pool for a while before going back to the parks again after dinner. FWIW, my almost-4-year-old still "naps" every day for up to two hours. She looks at her books or plays quietly in her bed and ends up falling asleep for at least an hour, sometimes more. I think it would be really unwise and unfair for us to cut out her rest time just because we (DH & I) want to spend more time at the parks. She's never been a stroller napper or a car seat napper, so going back to the room will be a must for us. Happy kids make for happy vacations!

 

[SJP]

We've done multiple themeparks with multiple children for years. The now six-year-old still naps every day. When we've stayed on-site it was easy to grab a bus back to the hotel for a nap. However, if off-site, she is the type that we can tell it is naptime, lay down the stroller and she is out in under five minutes. With some kids, this just wouldn't happen, so I think it depends a whole lot on your child.

Could you take your child out shopping for the entire day and then drag them to dinner and back out to the mall? Would you need to go home and let your child recharge? Would your child fall asleep in the stroller while shopping? Your child's personality, more than anything else, will determine how your day should go.

 

[sahm1000]

I had a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 1/2 yr old last year when we went. Both of my girls still napped at the time and they definitely needed the nap while they were there. Like someone else said, they didn't sleep quite as well and woke up earlier than normal for them. We came back everyday to the hotel and to let them take a nap and it really made for a pleasant trip. My now 4 1/2 yr old has given up naps but I really think that if we were there (WDW) and going at that busy of a pace she would still appreciate a nap and so would the rest of us around her!