One Nap Two Naps Long Naps Short Naps

I have been a very lucky mommy because up until this past week, Jenna (at 15+ months) was still consistently taking two naps a day - morning (the typical 2+ hours after wake up time) and afternoon (usually around 1:00).  Last week, morning nap went away.
Suddenly.
Without warning.
I've been expecting this day to come...I mean most of my friends with kids the same age said goodbbye to the morning nap a few months ago.  But it kinda kicked me in the ass.
My usually wonderful napper literally started refusing the morning nap.  She would do all her typical before nap things, like rub her eyes, tug at her ear, get a little clumsy. She would even walk over to her crib and reach up.  I would put her in, she'd have her pacifier (seriously, we need  to get rid of that shit soon) and she would chill out for a little while. But no nap.
Okay, so she's ready for one nap - no problem - it's time - she's old enough. I just didn't realize that this would be another one of those "transitions" which take some time.
So I did what I'm sure most moms do - I read up on it - I looked in books, online, asked friends to see how I can make this transition as smoothe as possible.
On the days when I was still trying the morning nap, but not getting one, I made a point of getting out of the house immediately. I figure if she's not going to nap, then we may as well have some fun. We went to the park, we took walks, we went to the pool. Basically I took her places where napping was not even an option.  Then I gave her an early lunch (between 11 and 11:30) and put her down for a nap after.  This seems to be working - she goes right down in her crib and falls asleep. 
The only thing we need to work on now is getting her to sleep just a little longer during this nap.  She's never been much of a long napper - has always been pretty good at taking them, but not necessarily for any length of time. I think she needs about an hour and a half to be well rested for the rest of the day, but right now it seems that after an hour she's up.  We haven't had much crankiness, but we have had slightly earlier bedtimes...

The one thing I've been really trying to do is be home for her naptime.  She's always napped best i nher crib and I feel like until we get this consistent, I'd rather her be in the most comfortable place.  And quite honestly, with the heat being so bad, it's nice to be "forced" inside from 12-1:00ish everyday.

So I'm reaching out for some help...Any suggestions on how to make the transition easy?? How can I get her to stay sleeping just a little longer??

Sorry but my kid is awesome

I'm going to apologize ahead of time because honestly, after this past weeks craziness, I am so lucky to have an easy-going, laid back kid.  So seriously, stop reading right now if you don't want to hear about how great my daughter is or if you're going to hate me for it because she was amazing.

Here's a few highlights:

*Slept for an hour and a half on our flight down to Florida in Daddy's arms - this meant that not only was it 'easier' for us than entertaining her the whole time, but also that I got to chill and read my book and watch TV.

Sleeping baby on plane = very happy daddy & mommy

*When she got up - was perfectly happy to eat some snacks, flirt with the people sitting behind us, and color with her crayons.
* Although we messed with her typical schedule BIG TIME - she napped when we needed her to and went to bed at night (usually 2 hours after her normal bedtime) with no fuss
* Napped in her jogging stroller by the pool/beach - amazing because we got to hang with family, with each other and enjoy the pool and ocean without having to go back up to the room
                                                                                                          

*We ate dinner out both nights we were down there and she was amazing - ate her food, walked around a bit, but no fussing - We were totally prepared to be "those" parents who have to leave, but we weren't

*Our flight was delayed four hours -this meant that we were in the airport for close to 6 hours - this could have been a nightmare, but she was such a trooper -ran around with some other little kids and took an unexpected nap at a later hour which really helped keep us calm about the whole situation.

*Napped for almost the whole flight home and when we came home at 1:30am(!) she still went back to sleep for the night.

*Even though we had to wake her up in order to go upstate Saturday morning, she was such a happy girl all day, going from hand to hand and enjoying all the extended family's company.

Please don't hate me - I know we're lucky and on days when I forget or I'm feeling frustrated with her, I'll remember how great she was for us when we messed with her!

If you like what you're reading, please vote for me on

Top Mommy Blogs

Car Sleeping for Both My Babies

Funny story which will be filed under "reasons I love my husband"...

This weekend we went out for breakfast with my parents and planned to go straight to the pool nearby but Jenna fell asleep in the car and we figured we would capitalize on her naptime and head to the supermarket.  (We've done this before - one of us stays in the car, the other does the shopping).  I was the shopper this time. 

Fast forward about 45 minutes...

I come out to the parking lot and Jenna is waving at me from the backseat (so freaking cute) and daddy is FAST ASLEEP in the front seat.  And I mean head against the window and feet up on the driver's seat...OUT COLD!

INSERT PICTURE I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN HERE

(AND HUBBY REFUSED TO "STAGE" IT FOR ME)

I knock on the window and he smiled as he wiped the drool from his face (okay...slight exaggeration, but he knew he was busted).  I mouth to him "SHE'S UP"  and the "oh shit" look was priceless....

I guess both my babies needed naptime.

Parenting Styles

People talk about different parenting styles all the time. Most of the time you're comparing yourself to your friends or people you know.  But I think it's even more obvious between my husband and I.  Luckily, we agree on the real core issues on how we're going to raise our child(ren) - you know, values and stuff...but on some everyday things...we just differ.

Case(s) in point:
* Jenna goes to sleep around 7 each night - I poke my head in once a little after I stop hearing her over the monitor and I'm done - no more checking for me.  However, hubby comes home (after she's sleeping) and checks on her, checks on her after he showers, and does at least one more check before we go to bed.  (And those are just the times he tells me about!) And when I say "check" I mean he goes in and places his hand on her belly to check for breathing...

* Over a recent weekend, Jenna went down for her morning nap - which usually lasts about an hour - after an hour and a half - I'm saying to him "this is great" and he goes to her door and she's sort of zoning out but sitting up.  He tells me she's up and I say - well she'll let us know when she wants us....I feel like if she's just chilling in her crib, why should we take her out...he then asks me if this is "what I do" - And I explain to him, that I never know exactly what time she wakes from her nap because I do not obsessively check on her...Well he kept checking until she finally saw him and stood up for him to get her...

* I admit it, I "watch" Jenna by ear sometimes.  Meaning, I can be in the living room and I will listen for what room she is in and if I feel like she's gone to far or gets too quiet, I call her back in.  If she doesn't respond, I obviously go and find her.  (Please note - we live in an apartment -she's never too far) Hubby follows her - into every room.  If she walks out, so does he.  He makes fun of me, I make fun of him....different styles...

He claims I can be a little more "hands off" (his words, not mine) because I'm home with her and I "know her better" (again, his words), not sure that I agree with this or not.  But either way I guess it's good that we both do what's comfortable for us and I assume Jenna will come to expect those roles from us and probably use them against us at some point (god I'm scared of her teenage years!)

Obsessions

Lately I've been obsessed with something and I'm finding that my friends are obsessed with it as well:

SLEEP!

Not our sleep (although it is thoroughly affected) but our kids' sleep...not just did they or didn't they sleep last night, but what they did to get to sleep, how long did they sleep, where did they sleep, did they arouse from their sleep, did they sleep with a 'lovey', who was in the room when they fell asleep...and that's just some of the topics about their nighttime sleep...

Because as all mommies know - daytime sleep is just as important...how many naps, what time are the naps, how long are the naps, are the naps in the crib or in the stroller, are you always home for the naps, are they the same time everyday, do the naps affect their bedtime....on and on and on...who knew that SLEEP could be such a huge topic?!!?

I was starting to feel like I should boycott this topic of conversation all together - I was tired (pun intended) of talking about J's sleep and honestly tired of hearing about everyone else's kids' sleeping. But then I realized, the reason we talk about it so much is because it has such a major effect on our lives - sleep determines whether our kids are in good moods or cranky which in turn determines we (the mommies & daddies) are in good moods or cranky...so sleep it is!(which I am happy to report baby J is doing right now...)                         

 

                                                                                             

                                                                                         

  she used to sleep ANYWHERE!