Chilling out in the Car

As a parent reading this post you are all to well aware of the importance of a solid nap, both for kids and parents a like. Last year we took a trip to Scandinavia and learned something new for nap time. Our children are both full of energy and nap time is a here and there occurrence in our house and most times it is short lived
A few couples we talked to said that it is the norm to leave their sleeping kids out in the cold to nap. Obviously bundled up in the right clothes not just PJ's though.  All the couples reported that their children seemed to sleep longer and wake more rested and energetic after a nap in the cold, than if they were to nap inside, in bed.  
Needless to say we were intrigued. Armed with this new knowledge we set to work thinking of how we could apply this at home without getting arrested for leaving our kids outside the front door during a Canadian winter.
For our kids the usually time they will fall asleep in the day is during a drive as you can see in the picture above. This gave us an opportunity, we decided, instead of transferring them to their beds post drive we would open one window and leave them in the garage where the temperature is a few degrees colder than the house (our house is usually set at around 17 celcius). After a few months of doing this we saw great success! Nap time had extended and we definitely saw that the girl were very well rested when the woke. 
Jump to 8 months later and this is a regular occurrence at our house. In fact as I write this blog both girls are fast asleep in the garage with all the car windows open. I know its not quite as extreme as the Norwegians but a cooler nap time has really worked for us.   

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