death of the nap?
Maggie hasn’t taken a nap at home in over a week. I’m assuming she’s still napping at school, but those naps have never been as good or as long as the naps at home- maybe an a hour or so. If I can get her to go to sleep in the afternoon, she’ll sleep for 2 or 3 hours. And I’ve become accustomed to that schedule. Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, after we run our errands or play outside, she naps. I work. It’s a good system.
SOMEONE IS MESSING WITH THE SYSTEM.
I’m pretty sure the culprit is Potty Training. For a few weeks now, she’s been diaper-free at home with very few accidents- including naps, when she takes them. And because of this, our previous routine of placing a baby gate in her door at naptime had to change, because she needs access to the bathroom in case nature calls.
So I’m sure you can imagine the game-playing that goes on now. As soon as it’s Time For A Nap!, she has to pee every 3 minutes. This leads to an hour or more of back and forth from her bedroom to the bathroom, me begging her to get back in her bed, her getting ANGRY WITH ME because I’m mean (apparently)… and basically, no nap ever happens.
She did this all last week, and over the weekend, and by late Sunday afternoon, she was so exhausted that she passed out on my shoulder while we were sitting on the couch before dinner. Tuesday? No nap. And then, at 5:30 while I was cooking dinner, she crawled up next to Dan on the couch and:
Yes, I know I’ve been lucky to have made it past her third birthday with her still taking naps. I’m grateful for that! But! She very obviously still NEEDS a nap, based on the drooly snoozing (and CRANKYNESS!) taking place just a couple of hours before bedtime.
I’m hoping it’s just a phase. That once the novelty of potty training wears off, she’ll settle back into a routine. Even if it’s a different routine- even AN HOUR of sleep would do us both some good!- just something predictable so we don’t spend our afternoons fighting with each other.
The upside? She’s pretty darn cute passed out on the couch.
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No doubt she’s a cutie passed out on the couch! Adorable :-)
My oldest stopped napping at 2 1/2. When I was very pregnant with her sister, and desperately needing the nap. Abs is almost 3 and still will take a nap if the circumstances are right, but has, too, fallen into the habit of passing out on the couch at 5pm.
I wish I had advice, but at least you know you’re not alone!
.-= LZ’s last blog post: I didn’t almost forget my daughter at the playground. Not even close. =-.
She is SO cute. I hope it’s just a phase too… I can’t believe that napping ends THAT SOON. I love naptime! They’re just so much happier.
Maybe you could put a potty in her room. ;)
.-= bessie.viola’s last blog post: pretties and neckgrasses and bubberfly wings =-.
We have used a couple alternatives… 1 – a nice long movie (either Tinkerbell works well) and she has to stay on the couch. She usually falls asleep, but at least it’s down time. 2 – I tell her she doesn’t have to nap, but then she has to go to bed at 6. Amazingly the 2 times we have tried this, she has agreed and hasn’t fought it at 6 pm… it’s amazing how strange it is to have it be so quiet in the house that early!
.-= Jane’s last blog post: A Fun Weekend =-.
Twitter: jayesel
- May 5th, 2010 at 7:35 pm |
But does she wake up super-early the next day? That’s one of our worries, that if we let her go to bed before her normal time (8-9pm), she’d be up at 4am! I think I’d rather her skip a nap :) LOL
And that’s basically what I’ve been doing- after an hour or so of fighting with her, I make her stay in her bed or on the couch with a movie in. Sometimes she sits still, other times she doesn’t. That’s when I know she’s just not having any of this nap business anymore, heh
Twitter: melissity
She’s adorable. :)
Don’t give up on naps completely yet… We went through that phase (I think I might have blogged about it a few months ago?) and established some “rules,” and Oliver went right back to napping. He obviously still needs it for now. If we can just make it through the summer, I’ll be happy, because I’ll still need ANDREW to nap and that’s harder when Oliver’s awake!
My daughter did the same game when she potty-trained @ 2. Even at night (she was out of the crib b/c her brother was born shortly after she turned 2 and we needed the crib!). So I put the potty chair in her room and told her if she really had to go, she had to use that (she could do all that by herself). She sat on it a couple times, but then the novelty wore off.
We are in transition around here. Most days they do okay without naps (almost 5 & 3), but some days they really need one. And so does their preggo mama, so I lay down with them and we all sleep! :)
.-= Jenn’s last blog post: Speaking of Progress =-.
That photo of her asleep on the couch = melt.
It’s a painful transition, the end of naps; I feel ya.
One suggestion: the introduction of quiet time. I don’t remember the last time the girls napped voluntarily, but Saturday and Sunday, they get an hour in their room. There are three rules: They have to either be in their room or the potty (going potty). They have to be quiet (dull roar is acceptable; jumping on bed and/or screaming are not). They can’t empty the stuffed animal bassinet and get into it. (That may not apply to you.) Quiet time is saving my life right now. And the lives of my children.
Give Maggie some books or stuffed animals, and set a timer. I bet sometimes she’ll even fall asleep! Good luck.
.-= red pen mama’s last blog post: Lost: The Candidate =-.
Twitter: jayesel
- May 6th, 2010 at 9:04 am |
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing instead and it works… kind of. heh I at least feel like I get a bit of a break to at least catch up on some emails, maybe make a phone call or two. But the exhaustion on her face by 5pm is SO obvious, I’m just like KID. TAKE A NAP, DUDE. But you know how well that works with kids, ha
My two cents… she doesn’t NEED to go to the bathroom during nap time. I’d put that gate back up and make her wear a diaper during naps if necessary. I know it seems like your confusing the matter but at least around my house the nap is more important that not wearing a diaper for two hours a day.
.-= the ambitious mrs’s last blog post: Onsen =-.
Twitter: jayesel
- May 6th, 2010 at 4:36 pm |
That’s how I thought of it at first too- but the thing is, she HATES diapers now. It’s a fight to get her to wear them when we’re out (she still uses the Dora potty seat at home so she won’t use the toilets in public yet) and also at bedtime. The only reason I let her do naptime is because they told me at daycare that she had been dry for a week or more during naps- I was like WHAT??? Seriously?
(I tried to get her to go today without the Dora seat on the toilet but she was PANICKED and wouldn’t let go of me. Baby steps, I guess! heh)
I think the Potty Game During Naptime will wear off soon. I was able to get her to take a nap today by some miracle! I started the process about an hour sooner and she fought it for a while, but I eventually made her lay in her bed with Elmo on and she conked out by 2:30- and is still sleeping at 4:30!
It could just be a stage. Darci has gone through 3-4 week long stages of not taking naps, and then BAM! we’re back at it. She’ll be 6 in August and still takes a nap or two on the weekend.
Just don’t give up. My Pediatrician said the biggest mistake people make with their kids is thinking they’re ready to grow up…when they aren’t :-)