Our child never just randomly fell asleep places. Never. Well, not unless he was nursing and in a sling and under a year old. He never fell asleep sitting in a car seat unless he was in a moving car. Not. Once.
About six months ago, he started to tank occasionally during dinner if he hadn't napped. We felt like we'd finally arrived as parents, with a kid not needing a ton of hand-holding to release his hold on hyper-aware living. We also liked getting him to bed early, especially after a day with no break. Now, with longer daylight due to the crazy early daylight savings time this year, I've felt like the days drag on forever. "It's not nighttime yet," he remarks when I close the shades against a sunny sky at 5:30 p.m.
But I guess I found a recipe for getting your newly 3-yr-old to fall asleep during dinner at a restaurant:
Make sure he doesn't nap for a least two weeks. Then take him outside to ride a tricycle in the morning and then in the afternoon on the Metro to meet cousins and watch kites fly in the non-windy humid air. Then spend about two hours in the most crowded museum on earth (National Museum of Natural History on a rainy day at the beginning of Cherry Blossom Festival) with five other children (ages 4-11). Wend your way through entire museum to get to bathroom 45 min. before closing time. Then work your way out again to exit, walk to Metro station, call husband at home to tell him to meet you at a neighborhood restaurant since you have nothing to eat and you and the boy are both ravenous and exhausted. Watch child inhale food at first, then space out and finally put his head on his arm and start snoring. Put sack of potatoes into car, change at home into pull-up and pj pants and call it a day.
At least he went quietly!
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