I have always been a very typical "first time Mom." I thrive on schedule, I worry constantly about Boston's nutrition, and most of all I just want so much for him to be happy and not hate me.
Sleep training has been the corner stone of my parenting from the time he was just a few months old. I had him sleeping through the night, on his own, in his crib by 5 months and have scheduled my whole life around his need to nap and a 7pm bedtime. Most of our friends and family think I'm a bit nuts. We can rarely attend dinner parties and I can't just go to the mall whenever I want, but this is a choice I made that I feel has made Boston a really happy, content and fun child.
Now naturally Boston has never been a good sleeper. "The King of the Catnaps" I call him. It has never seemed to matter when I put him down for a nap, I can pretty much guarantee he will be up within the hour. Usually he wakes up happily saying "Ought Oh! Ought Oh!" I get terribly jealous of those parents who tell me there babies take 2-3 hour naps everyday. I had come to grips with the fact that Boston was going to take two 45-1 hour naps a day no matter what I did, but a couple of weeks ago even that went downhill. I figured even though it was a tad on the early side that he must be ready to go down to one nap. I took the plung and ended up with 1 one hour nap (he work up 30 min into it but went back to sleep.) He was so tired yesterday that he was in bed by 6:15 and yes luckily he slept until 6:30 this morning but yesterday I was in shambles trying to get him to nap.
So I need some advice. Most people have told me "kids are just ornery" or "some kids just won't ever nap well." I'm not accepting this because I know my happy little giggly boy is in there somewhere and I want him back. So to stick with 2 naps or go to 1.... that is the question! Any responce would be greatly appreciated.
p.s. JT ... tag your it... please post Boston's pictures of the Kangaroo Zoo and Chucky Cheese. People don't want to just hear me blab!
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6 comments:
Hi Carly!
Sorry to hear about the napping battle. I know its very common and every mom (first, second or third time around) goes through it. I know that doesn't help, but don't be TOO hard on yourself! I am definitely not an expert, but I found that the only thing that works for my Katie is to let her nap when she is tired, whenever that time turned out to be. I tried earlier on to get her onto a schedule, but that didn't work. If she didn't nap one day, she would sleep for 4 hours the next. It was sporadic at best, but it worked for us. Now she is on a more consistent schedule. But I think because she is used to me putting her down at different times, it doesn't throw her off if she goes down early or late. Anyway, that probably isn't very helpful - but I just wanted to relay what we did! Good luck! Boston is a doll!
Thanks Sharon! I know I am a bit of a schedule freak. I like it because I feel like I can plan my day better. But Boston is on so much of a schedule he can't handle any adjustment and that's not a good thing. He seemed exhausted this morning about 10am. I put him in his crib and he went right to sleep for an hour but here it is 2:30 and he won't take an afternoon nap again. So we'll probably have an extra early bedtime again but I guess I just have to keep telling myself I am doing all I can do and I can't make him sleep. I think he's just going through a weird transitional phase and I'll just have to bear with it.
Hey Carly,
Im a bit of a schedule freak, also. I remember when Allie was down to two naps, I would put her down in the morning, but then she didnt want to go down in the afternoon. I ended up having to keep her morning nap the same but then moved her afternoon nap to around 4:00. She still went to sleep at 8:00. You may want to try moving his bed time back a little, or try to consolidate to just one nap. He'll be extra tired for a few days, but his little body will ajust eventually. Just be patient!
We need to meet your little fella one of these days!
Love,
Heather Kearl
Heather,
First, BIG CONGRATULATIONS on baby Brinly. She is beautiful. How is Allie handling the new addition and how are things going for you? We will be in St. George the week of the 8th of October.. (well JT will join me that weekend) anyway, we have to get together.
Thank you so much for the advice. That is exactly what Boston did today. He took his normal morning nap at 10am but then wouldn't sleep at 2:30. He ended up napping from 4-5pm and I just put him in bed and it's 8 and he didn't make a peep. How long did Allie do that for and when do I know to just cut to one nap instead of pushing back the afternoon nap and bedtime a bit. I've tried the one nap but it's really hard to keep him up and then it was still only an hour nap so that's why he was so tired by 6pm yesterday. I used to feel like I had it all together and now I just don't know.
Carly
Sometimes it seems like once you finally get things figured out, your kid will change things up on you! I think Al was around 19 months when she finally needed the switch to just one nap. She just had a hard time staying asleep in the mornings, then in the afternoons she would be really restless when I layed her down and would only sleep for about 30 mins. I ended up having to put her down for a nap around noon, which really screwed things up for lunch! I would have to feed her around 11:30 (which she would be falling asleep through), then she would wake up around 2:00. Sometimes she would cat-nap in the evenings, but we just had to watch her for a few weeks to see what her little body could handle and adjust from there. As much as I loved having her on a really strict schedule, it took about two weeks to really push her to do the one-nap thing. It seemed like her body wanted to do it, she just needed a little push. And oh, how I mourned her going from two naps to just one!!! I would try just stretching his second nap into later in the afternoon and adjust it by eariler or later 15-30 minutes every couple of days, depending on how he does. You'll eventually find a time that works for him. You're doing great! I would do all I could to keep the second nap, though! Mommy time is such a blessing!!!
We would LOVE to see you guys when you come down! Let us know what your plans are when it gets closer.
Having two kids now is so much fun! Its a bit of a challenge to fit everyone's schedules together, but I love it. I'm kinda freaking out lately, though, because Allie's been wanting to drop her nap...AAAAAH!!! I really need that time to nap myself!!!
Heather,
I should respond to you on your blog but JT says I need a password. It made me tired to see you up at 3:30 am. probably for a feeding I suppose. If it makes you feel better I am up at 4am for work. I really appreciate your support. Don't kids understand that naps are just as much for the Mommies as the babies! At least Allie goes to preschool for a few hours a week.
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