Wednesday 24 April 2013

Toddler nap battle - fight the fight or accept a change?

I'm not sure what to do anymore.

For a few weeks now Noah and I have had this nap battle going on. His night time routine is the same, with the exception of going to sleep now between 7:00-7:30pm (it was previously 6:30.) He wakes every morning between 6:00am and 7:00am and starts showing signs of tiredness around 11:30am. He has his lunch and into bed he goes by noon. Some days he falls straight asleep and stays that way for about two hours. The other few days a week he talks to himself for however long I leave him in there.

Usually by 2pm I call it a day (since that's when he'd usually wake up) and take him out, but then he turns into a huge grumpy mess by 4:00pm and can't keep his eyes open past dinner time. So I know he needs the sleep. Today for example, Matt and I have plans to go out for the evening and he will be at Nana & Papas, so he needed to sleep. I was in sleep training mode for two hours; going in, laying him back down and telling him he was tired and needed to go to sleep. Just before 2pm he finally gave in.

It's been suggested to me that perhaps he just doesn't need to nap anymore, but if that was the case wouldn't he be quite happy until bedtime? I wonder if it more has to do with his active brain and being over stimulated? The no napping does seem to happen more often on days where he has had a busy morning by being out at church, playing with friends, etc. If that is the case, how do I calm him down? We do the same routine for naps as we do for bed. Diaper change, stories, cuddles, etc. In a recent chat with my husband we did bring up the fact that his Fisher Price Aquarium that attached to his crib recently died. Could not having that music be enough to keep him from sleep? Or could it be that it's too bright in his room during the day with all this sunshine lately?

*Sigh* I really don't know. But I'm hoping we find a solution quick and get this settled before the new baby shows up. If any of you have been through this and have some suggestions I am all ears!

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PS - I've been considered not posting my blog entry links on facebook once I write them as I often wonder if people feel overly bombarded with my life. I really don't want to come across as annoying! I won't be offended if people don't want to read it, since the main reason I do it is for me. But then I've had people in the past tell me that they do want to read it but wouldn't know if I didn't post the link publicly. So please, if you like that I post it on facebook let me know. Otherwise I may just avoid doing that from now on and those interested can bookmark it or subscribe :)

5 comments:

  1. For my two boys, the end of naps was different. Kai still needed a nap every other day until he was at least 3.5 years old. Koen was done napping by 2 years old and then he would just go to bed at 6pm instead. He would still have a nap every 3 days or so when he was first transitioning. So, I would just say, maybe every other day until you're sure he doesn't need it anymore. Just my thought :)

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    1. Thanks Louise! Yah I pondered the idea of every other day... So that may be something to try!

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  2. I enjoy, and look forward to reading your blogs! It might be good to try putting Noah to nap around 12:30 or 1 pm. It sounds like he is still needing it. That's what I did with my kids after they grew out of their morning nap. They thankfully kept napping in the afternoon until they were 2 1/2 or 3 years old. After that, they (4 kids by that time), still had a quiet hour in the afternoon with books or quiet toys, giving me a chance to have a little nap/alone time. I found that it was very beneficial for everyone!

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    1. Thanks Sharon! I always appreciate your feedback considering how many kids you've raised haha. I think the later nap thing is going to be the first thing to try. I put him down at 1230 today and he went to sleep by 1:30 without any intervention from me. With this longer sunnier days we are find with him being awake later if need be. So we'll maybe do later naps and later bed time for a while and see how it goes :)

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