Evenings out.....

Hey everyone....

We're been invited round to have dinner with some friends on friday night. We don't have a set bed time for DD, she just goes to bed when she is tired. But it's usually anywhere between 7pm- 9pm.

I know that we'll be at our friends until probably later than that and I don't want to not go as we always have such a good time and they have a 13 year old daughter who just LOVES DD.

What do you guys all do when you have nights like this? I'll take her jammies and get her into them when we're there, but she won't be going to bed there. I was thinking of taking my sling so she could sleep in that? I'm not worried about it, I just want to do what is going to be comfortable with us all.

What do you do in situations like this?
Thanks
Sue x

My DD normally crashes round 7pm, but you can be guareenteed if we go over people's places she never crashes normal time - doesn't want to miss anything! At first I used to take her pram, in the hopes I could buckle her in, rock her off and then roll her somewhere quiet - never worked. I ended up just BF/rocking her off and then putting her to sleep in the middle of the host's big beds surrounded by pillows. DH and I check her almost obsessively, and not sure how much longer we can do this now she's rolling everywhere.

I usually put her in her pj's in her sleep bag too, and our sleep bags have a travel opening so I just scoop her up in the bag, buckle her in the car and take her out at home, quick feed then into her cot. I used to 'plan' how I was going to do it all, and quickly realised I just have to go with whatever works on the night, or I get too stressed out and don't enjoy myself, itms?

I am thinking I'll have to invest in a portacot soon due to her being so active, to really take the worry out of it.

We go out every Friday night and have dinner with the IL's, either at Nana's or Aunty and Uncles (alternates each week) I always take pjs ect and change them before we leave, they fall asleep in the car and then we transfer them to bed when we get home.

In the baby days I took my pram for them to sleep in.

Hope that helps, have a great time!

We have one of those little fold out couches that we would take with us whenever we went out, less of a pain to cart around than a portacot. If DS got tired we'd just pop that in a friend's spare room or somewhere else quiet and he'd sleep there quite happily until we were ready to go. I could lie down on it too and feed him to sleep which was a bonus. I always take his jaamies and night time nappy too, saves us having to change him when we get home. It's nice to have somewhere for them to sleep, then you can enjoy yourself without having to worry about getting them home to bed.

We usually go to the inlaws once a month or two and so I bring their PJ's, etc and do the usual bedtime routine (even the bath sometimes depends whose house we're at). I usually bring the pram or portacot for them to sleep in. DS doesn't really sleep, he'll just stay up until we leave and fall asleep in the car. DD will go to sleep in my arms, sometimes I'll just hold her or I'll pop her down in the pram or portacot.

I keep with routine... P set it himself and if you don't follow it he gets cranky and thrown off
When we get home if he wakes I just put him straight into bed and give him a goodnight kiss and off he goes

We have done various things...
Generally I try to put them to bed in a port-a-cot (well, not Natty anymore, but in her baby days) unless we are not staying late. I find that even if they only sleep one cycle it gives me a break and a chance to catch up with my friends/family and it means bub doesn't get overtired and cross (which besides being unpleasant for bubs can make it unpleasant for everyone else too, LOL!).
I think the sling is a lovely idea, particularly if your DD won't settle happily in a different environment.
I also think that bringing the PJs is a good idea, that way you can keep everything non-stimulating when it's time to go home and just transfer to bed. I found with Phoebe that she wouldn't transfer asleep to bed but if we kept things low key she would be very happy to chat to herself and settle back to sleep eventually, or with a top-up feed if she got upset.
The most important thing: ENJOY your night out! :)

Awww, thanks guys. I didn't realise anyone had replied to this post - didn't get the emails :(

Sounds like we're on the right track then! I had a moment where I did wonder if we'd ever do something like this again!

Thanks again
Sue xxxx

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I usually put her in her pj's in her sleep bag too, and our sleep bags have a travel opening so I just scoop her up in the bag, buckle her in the car and take her out at home, quick feed then into her cot. I used to 'plan' how I was going to do it all, and quickly realised I just have to go with whatever works on the night, or I get too stressed out and don't enjoy myself, itms?

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this is what we have done...

At that age we would generally go with the flow, and stick with our routine of feed and bed by around 7. Before they were rolling in their sleep alot I would put them on friends beds with pillows around them and just in a sleeping bag, once older we would take our portacot. Also depending where we were going, we would take our monitor if we knew the bedroom that bub was going in was too far away from the noise and fun to hear if they were crying. Go with the flow, cuddle lots and enjoy your night!

We've done a variety of things! We found that when DD was little (younger than 6mths) it didn't matter where we put her to sleep, we'd be able to rock her to sleep. Then as she got older, we started using the portacot. With one exception, once she hit about 10-11mths, she began to refuse to settle in the portacot. The exception is my parents' house as we have had dinner there every week since she was born, so she is used to going to sleep there.

So since she reached about 12mths, we don't really take her anywhere - if we do, we do the jammies, night nappy and sleeping bag so that she's ready for bed and she'll stay awake and we just bring her home and straight into bed. Though she's out of her sleeping bag now at home, we still use it when we go out.

Thanks again everyone!!

Sue xxx

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Sounds like we're on the right track then! I had a moment where I did wonder if we'd ever do something like this again!

Thanks again
Sue xxxx

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I think the more you do it, they become more used to it. So even if she's a bit unsettled when your at your friends, don't let it put you off going out as it will get better. Also, remember your friends have obviously had a baby at some point so they will understand so don't get stressed if she cries, etc.

Most weekends we have dinner at one of the parents house, and they just get settled there. DD is now at the age that she might not go to sleep there, but we just have her in her pj's so that she'll fall asleep on the way home. She has her own bedroom at my parents so if we are staying late, we put her to sleep there. DS will settle when we're out and we'll generally put him in the pram. Only problem is he still needs to be wrapped which is a pain when it comes time to go home.

Enjoy!!

If we go out its usually to a restaurant so i put DS in his jammies and put him to sleep in the capsule. He then gets another feed when i put him into bed at home :)

Hope you have an awesome time out! I am jealous... wish i could go somewhere fun!