Do you plan outings around your baby's bedtime/naps?

Question

I'm  FTm and I'm struggling in this aspect. I have an almost 7 month old who's bedtime is 7pm sometiems a little earlier if she didnt nap well. Prior to having my daughter my husband an I would always have dinner outings with every weekend with our friends at 7pm and they still always invite us and even get upset when we decline my friend always tells me to bring my daughter that she has fo get used to going out to restaurants, but my daughter is a nightmare around bedtime. I've even asked if they can do it earlier like 5pm but they usually say they aren't hungry that early 
How do you all handle outings on the weekends with babies? do you just not go out? please share ideas.

Answer

I personally don’t. But my child has always been agreeable and is used to not being on a schedule. We just do whatever and he naps in the stroller or in the car. it’s good for kids to be adaptable. But if I had child that got miserable at a certain time every night I’d probably do the same thing as you. I feel like there could be some compromise on both ends, can you have lunch instead?

Answer

I do! I’m sorry but I won’t have a rough night with my daughter so I can go out to dinner with friends or out to do something. Typically I won’t leave the house unless she has woken up from her nap. Now if I HAVE to I will like doctor appointments, family trips. But if it’s something as simple as a friend get together I decline if it doesn’t correlate with my daughters nap/bedtime

Answer

I don’t. Not for naps at least. I do try to be home at bedtime. Being out later is fine sometimes. I also would never have waited until 7 to go out before having kids though. If we don’t leave the house before 6, I’m not going. We usually only miss bedtime once a week (church night). Sometimes it’s a couple times if we go to a ballgame or hang out with friends. If I know we’re going to be late, I set out everything I need for bedtime before going out to make getting ready for bed quicker once we’re home.

Answer

i do! all of our plans are centered around our babies sleep schedule! we worked hard to get a set schedule with him and i’m not going to ruin it for a dinner or birthday party or some shit. your friends must not have kids if they don’t understand that! there’s been many times i’ve came to events early and left early just so i can show my face and still be home for nap/bed! and i’ve simply just not gone to things if it’s not possible for me to work about babies schedule! Any good parent will understand where you’re coming from, trust me! if they don’t understand and respect that then i wouldn’t be friends with them

Answer

Yes and no. With both my kids I try to get them in bed around the same time unless we're out or something but I wouldn't be leaving to go out right at bed time. Both my kids had naps that weren't scheduled, when they were smaller babies they would sleep while we were out and about but once they got closer to 1 I'd just make loose plans so if I did go out and they got overly fussy I  old leave if I had to, or cancel if they were just too tired before the plans

Answer

Brunch is best for us. If we go out at all. We try to do date night every 6 weeks

Answer

Yes we did. My girl is 3.5 now and doesn't always nap so when we make plans we don't always cater to nap time we we will put her to bed a little earlier if needed. But when she was smaller we absolutely catered to nap and bedtime. Kids need a certain number of hours of sleep. Not sure about anyone else's kids but when mine doesn't get enough sleep she is an absolute nightmare. I'd rather skip out or reschedule than deal with a cranky kid who can't quite control their emotions

Answer

So you should change your routine with your baby but your friends can't change their time out to eat? It's a lot easier to make changes for us adults than kids. Maybe meet at 6?

Answer

I think you can relax those rules and not everything circles around your baby and baby’s bedtime routine. But if she is cranky there is no point going to a restaurant.
Could you invite your friends to your house where you can put your daughter to bed and have dinner ?

Do you plan outings around your baby's bedtime/naps?

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