Rear Facing Carseat....what Do You Do with Them If They Are Asleep?

Updated on March 17, 2008
E.C. asks from Plano, TX
9 answers

Hi Moms. I just moved my son up to the rear-facing carseat and he really likes it! He loves being able to look around. My question, although silly, is what do you do with them when you have to run in somewhere and they are asleep? Obviously I know you do not leave them in the car....but do you try to lay them down in a basket? Carry them over your shoulder? Any clever suggestions for moving them without waking them up? I know this is silly....but thanks anyways!!!

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A.K.

answers from Dallas on

I used the Baby Bjorn for times like that. If I for some reason forgot it a stroller is an option for some errands, but not for going to Target or the grocery store. And if all else failed - we just delayed the nap unfortunately!

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M.H.

answers from Lubbock on

Invest in a sling! Then just transfer them to it. The motion of your walking will soothe them back to sleep and you have both hands free to shop or whatever!

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T.R.

answers from Abilene on

Your question is NOT a silly one. I understand completely. I agree with everyone, sleep is very important, but when I would go shopping or to run errands I would have to drive 35-40 miles one way. We would usually do everything in one day. I didn't have the convenience to just go home until nap time was over.
I use to carry a blanket and small pillow in my car and I would just put it down in the basket and lay my children right down to finish their nap while I shopped. My children learned to sleep anywhere they were. We didn't have the crisis of having to be in their own beds to sleep. My children are now 12, 9, and 4 and they survived sleeping in many shopping carts.
Good Luck

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T.T.

answers from Dallas on

I had the Graco Carseat with base and stroller...i just pulled the car seat out and it clips onto the stroller. if i didnt want to pull out the stroller i set the carseat either in the cart or it snaps onto a cart easily enough so you can look at your baby while walking your cart around.

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T.H.

answers from Dallas on

I know it is hard to plan around naps all the time, but I think as long as the naps are CRUCIAL....do not plan on taking trips during naptime. When your little one is old enough to be turned forward, that is about the time when naptimes are starting to move to one long one in the middle of the day. When my little one was at that age and I had to lift her out, I carried her. I put her in the BabyBorn, and carried on. She would fall back asleep pretty quickly. I am not sure about the size of your little one, but this option helped me until mine was 20 months old. I have seen, but unfortunately do not remember the name, slings that can hold some 3-4 year olds.
Best of luck!

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D.W.

answers from Dallas on

It depends on how tired they are and how deeply they sleep. When my daughter was little we would take her out of the car seat and put her in the stroller. She usually didn't wake up. Now, although she's facing forward, we still encounter the same problem. But putting her in the stroller wakes her up. So now I take her out and carry her and I softly whisper to her to tell her what I'm doing. It sounds crazy, but I find that she doesn't open her eyes and look around and she goes back to sleep easier.

When we went traveling with her on a plane, we actually unhooked the carseat from the airplane seat and carried it with her in it. Not recommended as it's HEAVY. But we had to remove it from the plane anyway.

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D.H.

answers from Dallas on

I was always very fortunate and my daughter would stay asleep and I could put her in her stroller, leaned back...and I could shop. It was great. But, I know lots of kiddos wake up. You could give it a try.

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A.K.

answers from Dallas on

Well, I'm one of those people that think that sleeping is extremely important for kids (when they do their growing, healing, regenerating) so I would do anything possible to not wake him from a nap. If he fell asleep I would go right home (the errands would have to wait until after nap) and I would usually transfer him to his crib (he didn't wake up during the carrying for a long time). The older they get the worse they are at transferring, usually. So, when he was old enough and stopped sleeping throught the transfers, I would (if the weather wasn't too cold or hot) leave him in the car in the garage with the big garage door down and the little one (into the house) open. All the windows down in the car, so I could hear him and I'd check on him every few minutes. Engine off, of course. He would never sleep as long this way as in his crib, but there was nothing I could do about that. The other thing is, if he started falling asleep I would do everything to keep him awake- tickle him, sing, whatever- so that I could get him home and into his crib without him falling asleep beforehand. Sometimes they need only sleep 10 minutes or so and then you can't get them back down. I can't tell you how many times I've been on my way somewhere and he started to fall asleep and I just turned around and went back home- that's how important I think sleep is for them.

Found this on http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm...

"Why we need sleep:

Sleep helps you to restore and rejuvenate many body functions:

* Memory and learning – Sleep seems to organize memories, as well as help you to recover memories. After you learn something new, sleep may solidify the learning in your brain.
* Mood enhancement and social behaviors - The parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making, and social interactions slow down dramatically during sleep, allowing optimal performance when awake. REM sleep seems especially important for a good mood during the day. Tired people are often cranky and easily frustrated.
* Nervous system – Some sleep experts suggest that neurons used during the day repair themselves during sleep. When we experience sleep deprivation, neurons are unable to perform effectively, and the nervous system is impaired.
* Immune system – Without adequate sleep, the immune system becomes weak, and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease.
* Growth and development – Growth hormones are released during sleep, and sleep is vital to proper physical and mental development."

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K.C.

answers from Dallas on

EASY SOLUTION!!! I have a Graco stroller base. It was maybe $50 at Babies R Us but you could maybe find a cheaper one. All you do is take the car seat out with sleeping baby still buckled in and snap it into the stroller base. You don't have to bother the baby at all with taking him/her out and they are great, very small and light weight. It has storage in the bottom so you can do some shopping as needed but not big grocery shopping or anything. It was great while my baby was an infant, so much easier than a big heavy stroller.

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