I guess by a lot of parents' standards we've been living a spoiled, unrealistic life. Cole has always been a good sleeper--started sleeping 10-12 hours a night by the time he was 3 months old and always took naps. He's had his occasional nap strikes, but I've always been able to figure out what's keeping him from sleeping and fix things, and since the time he went to one nap per day, he's always averaged 2 1/2 to 3 hours for naptime. Maybe God just knew that I had to have some sanity in my days and sent me a good sleeper for my own peace, who knows. In any case, I'm on the verge of declaring defeat. Cole hasn't come anywhere near to taking a nap for several days now, and none of my usual strategies are doing anything to change that! The most terrifying part of all is that I am starting to believe he doesn't need them...he used to melt down in the late afternoon if he missed a nap. Not anymore.
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! What am I going to do?? I need that down time, and I just don't think I'm going to get it...
I'm going to give it a few more days, but I may have to accept the fact that the day must come when a kid stops napping, and all parents through time have had to grapple with it. So, if any of you have any ideas for coping with this change, please share. Is it possible to still get some down time when you've got a kid that doesn't nap??
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Must We Say Goodbye?
Posted by Brian at 8:17 AM
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5 comments:
Oh Karene...I'm so sorry! Truman stopped his perfect napping at about 2 1/2 and Kate only napped until 2...it's such a sad sad day when that happens. But at least you can go to the park or play anytime of the day without having to worry about naps, right? (still doesn't help me feel better!)
I'm sure this is so hard for you! I obviously don't have kids old enough yet to have gone through this, but I have lots of friends who have and they've all said that you can still enforce a quiet time during what would've been their nap time. My friend has 3 and her youngest 2 nap while her older one plays quietly in a different part of the house. They just made a list of options for the child to choose from each day of quiet activities to do, and she'll pull one out that looks fun and do it until she's tired, then move onto another one. It gives the mom at least an hour and a half (usually) of time to herself. Good luck! I hope you can figure out something that will work for you! I'm absolutely dreading the day it happens to me!
My girls still have quiet time- Haven plays in her room and Anya plays quietly in the family room. If I separate them they do great and usually play by themselves for about 2 hours. Then Emerson gets her long nap in the afternoon also, without yelling that wakes her up:)
Yep, that is about the right age for naps to disappear. But you can start to enforce a little earlier bedtime, which is nice. Good luck with the quiet time thing. It works great for some kids, and not at all for others. I have had both types of kids.I have a feeling I know which type Cole is ;)
I dread the day when Conner doesn't nap!! One of my friends has her child do quiet time where she basically locks him in his room and lets him play or read books or do whatever but he has to stay in his room. She says she gets about an hour a day down time which is better than nothing!
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