I cannot count how many times my son fell asleep in the car, smack in the middle of his wake window. Nor can I count how many messages I have received from clients saying that their baby fell asleep in the car when it wasn’t naptime and asking what to do next. Motion can lull any human to sleep even if we aren’t super tired and wouldn’t otherwise be sleeping. This article will explain exactly what to do if you find yourself in an accidental nap situation!

Read on for more about:

• Why we want to avoid an accidental nap in the car or stroller

• How to avoid an accidental car or stroller nap

• What to do if your baby accidentally falls asleep in the car or stroller

Why Avoid Accidental Car/Stroller Naps?

If your baby falls asleep in the car or stroller and its not actually naptime, the day can get a little bit messy! In this case, it is unlikely your baby will actually stay asleep for more than one sleep cycle (30-45 minutes) because they didn’t have a full wake window that provided enough sleep pressure to take a longer nap. In addition, since the car/stroller nap has released your baby’s sleep pressure, he may be unlikely to fall asleep again after you arrive home. This is true even if you baby was only asleep for a few minutes!

How to Avoid an Accidental Nap in the Car or Stroller

First of all, be aware of your baby’s schedule and try to steer clear of the car or stroller in the hour before naptime. If you don’t know what your baby’s schedule and wake windows should be, you can find that information here!

Sometimes you simply cannot avoid not being in the car close to naptime, and this is especially true if you have older children who need to be driven around. That’s okay, and you can try to keep your little one awake by singing and talking, providing toys to play with, or rolling down the windows. Just continue to drive safely :) Sometimes despite your best efforts, your baby will falls asleep anyway, but you will be able to adjust your day according to the tips below!

What To Do if Your Baby Accidentally Falls Asleep in the Car or Stroller

If the accidental nap happens, here is your game plan. Each of these suggestions requires that you watch your baby for sleepy cues (which I don’t normally recommend basing naptime on for babies older than 4 months). Sleepy cues include yawning, eye rubbing, laying down, laying on your chest, a glazed over stare, loss of interest in toys or social interaction.

If the car nap was less than 10 minutes, you can put your baby down for their regularly scheduled nap, provided that there was at least one hour of wake time after the car nap. You need to provide a little time for the released sleep pressure to build back up. This gives your a better chance at a successful nap. Watch for sleepy cues and get the naptime routine started when you see them.

For example: If your baby’s nap was supposed to be at 2:00 and your fell asleep at 1:10 for 5 minutes, you can try putting her in her crib at 2:15 instead of 2:00 to give an hour of awake time.

If the car nap was 10-20 minutes, I suggest halving the normal wake window before attempting another nap. Watch for those sleepy cues!

For example: Your 6 month old baby’s nap was supposed to be at 1:30 but he fell asleep in the car at 12:45 for 15 minutes. His normal wake window is 2.5 hours. I would suggest halving this for a wake window of 1.25 hours, making the next nap at 2:15

If the car nap was 20 minutes or more, that’s likely your nap for that sleep period, and your baby will probably need a full wake window after waking before being ready to nap again. In this scenario, you have 2 options:

Option 1: Let your baby nap as long as possible in the car seat/stroller. This will involve driving/walking around so that your baby gets a full nap—ideally one hour, but 30-45 minutes at the very least. If you need to stop driving for any reason, you can park and let them sleep attended in the car seat until they wake up while you catch up on your Instagram scrolling or listen to a podcast!

Option 2: Attempt to transfer your baby to his crib. Once home, you might try moving your little one to his crib with the intention of allowing him to nap more. Depending on your baby and how he is feeling that day, this may or may not work. But it’s certainly worth a try, and even if your baby wakes up a little during the transfer, he may get comfy and go back to sleep in their crib after a few minutes. This never worked with my daughter—she would be really mad and then the nap was over; however, it worked very with my son—he loves his sleep and would not be okay having a 20 minute nap and moving on with his day.

In any of these scenarios, know that if your baby falls asleep in the car or stroller and ends up with a short nap or less day sleep than normal, an early bedtime can be your savior. Unexpected naps on the go are a part of life with your little one, and now you are prepared to handle the situation flexibly!

If you need more help with your little one’s sleep schedule, or helping them to sleep independently so that car and stroller naps are not so much of a thing, visit our website for more information, or purchase your “Two Weeks to Sleep” Package!

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