There are a few quick facts I must share.
1. First of all, there are no pictures because, after five years of blogging, I have exceeded my picture limit. I just purchased more storage ($5.00 for 20GB which should be plenty!) but it may take 24 hours for it to go into effect. So you'll have to wait for more of Joni's pictures.
2. It is cold here. I mean really cold. 20's overnight. Highs in the 30's to 40's. Not Minnesota cold but cold for the south. Apparently this is the coldest it has been here in many, many years as they had to shut down the operating rooms at the hospital (and move OB to another hospital) because they have realized that the heating unit needed for cold times like these, doesn't work! Wow! We also got a notice that we need to leave our outside faucets dripping due to the temps overnight. As Isaac would say, "Woah!"
3. I am in need of advice. Please make suggestions if you have them. Three days in a row Elijah has woken up from his second nap after just 30 minutes. I put him down around 9am for his morning nap like always, and he sleeps for a good 1-2 hours. However, when I put him down for his second nap around 1pm as I have always done, he is waking up 30 minutes in and refusing to go back to sleep. (Today I let him fuss for almost 45 minutes.)
Now Isaac didn't drop from 2 to 1 naps until he was about 15 months old. I hear it can happen as early as a year. Is he trying to drop to one nap? And if so, please help. What do I do? I really, really, really need the 1-2 hours I get every afternoon to rest and rejuvenate. If he drops to one nap, won't it come about 11am or so? And if so, does that mean I won't get them down for naps at the same time for a few more months? (11 is pretty early for Isaac to go down.) Any advice would be most appreciated keeping in mind that it isn't about whether he is taking 1 or 2 naps. It's that I can get one time during the day that they are both asleep for at least an hour.
4. I hosted a wifia lunch at my house today. Joni made a fantastic chicken salad, I made fruit salad, Joia brought peanut butter cookies ... yum! So great to get together with some of the gals. We haven't been meeting as often due to hectic schedules and the fact that there are nine kids (instead of the three that were then when we started these weekly lunches back in 2007). But it always great to reconnect.
13 comments:
Nap time is one of the most frustrating times when they're not sleeping like they used to. One suggestion is to wake him up early from his morning nap. If he only gets one hr. of sleep in the morning then he might sleep longer in the afternoon. I'm just like you - I NEED to have a quiet afternoon where everyone is sleeping at the same time (or at least quiet and watching a movie).
Because of it being winter and sometimes too cold to go outside, he's probably not getting the activity he's used to so may not be as tired. That could be why he's not sleeping. This type of thing is also a phase. I went through similar things with the boys at various stages. When kids reach certain milestones their sleep gets all screwed up.
If waking him up early in the morning isn't doing the trick you can always drop his morning nap. That's easier said than done. Some kids just can't make it to the afternoon. But, it doesn't hurt to try.
If all else fails it doesn't hurt him to leave him in his crib when he wakes up. He may fuss at first, but will get used to it. If you place books or a few toys in his crib after he falls asleep so he has something to play with when he wakes up he may not fuss.
I've had several kids in my daycare that have dropped their morning nap at 12 mo. or shortly after. If they are getting enough sleep at night (around 12 hrs) then they should be ok. I read in an article once (I wish I kept it) that babies that age should be getting 12-14 hrs of sleep per day.
I hope that helps some. Oh, and if the boys are sharing a room at nap time you might want to put Elijah in a different room at nap time so he doesn't wake up Isaac.
Bethany
I would try and drop the morning nap and have them both sleep in the afternoon... If Elijah can last it out. Have an early lunch and put them both down in the pms. ...Shrug...maybe...
Both my kids dropped their morning naps by about 6 months...granted they slept til at least 8am (went down about 9-10pm). The afternoon naps would start between 1-1:30 and last for 2-3 hours. Try shortening the morning naps or dropping them cold turkey and keep him engaged & active (although he sounds to be a busy boy anyway) enough to push through when he would usually start winding down int he morning. After a full lunch and some story time he may just be ready to crash for a coupdl hours.
Has anything changed (beside the weather and Joanie being there) that could be waking him (like a neighbor working in the yard)?
Good Luck!
~Holly
just thinking if you feel he still needs a bit of rest in the morning to make it to the afternoon nap, you can have a morning "quiet time" in the crib...Cara has special toys on the shelf that are just for quiet time/rest time in the morning -that rests them enough to make it thru the morning and get that nap w/two of them from 1 -3. It's seeming that Maia is even wanting to drop some of her afternoon nap now (she' 3) so Cara calls the afternoon time the book nap time and gives books to look for -sometimes she falls asleep and sometimes she doesn't but cara can rest...also i think it's been great for Maia and Lia's imagination to have the morning rest time w/ certain special toys --as they seem to play some make believe during that time w/ stuffed toys, a doll, some paper dolls....C can probalby tell you more! tante Jan
just to add -course they re girls! :)
I always let Rylee have cat naps in the morning if she was tired...let him sleep but wake him up after 15 minutes, he's refreshed but will still be ready for his afternoon nap at the regular time... worked for me
I have twin boys that are 3 1/2 yrs and 2 yr old boy. It is always tricky going from 2 naps down to one. It seems once you get a schedule it changes again. I remember a time when I was working on getting my 2 year old down to one nap. There were times he would nap mid morning and then wouldn't take a afternoon nap....frustrating because a mom does need her time! It ended up being a lot sooner than the twins, but I felt I needed to in order to go anywhere or get anything done. The routine lately is to put my youngest down for his nap around 1:30 pm and then have the twins watch a short 10 minute episode and put them down right after. This has worked for a LONG time now....almost a year. All the boys sleep for 2-3 hours and I am able to get some stuff done and also sneak in a nap:) Hang in there....it will get easier!
Sorry I can't remember when Nate dropped to one nap, but I do remember him napping for nearly 3 hrs everyday once he dropped, and it was always at least 2 hrs.
Also, after lunch, and right before naptime, try taking the boys to the park. Let Elijah run around, climb, jump, etc. for as much as possible to get him worn out. If you can't make it to the park, just have him play, play, play as much as possible. And like someone else suggested, try waking him up from his morning nap after a half an hour and see how long he sleeps in the pm.
I agree, I would drop his morning nap and put him down around 11:30 or noon, until he gets used to that and then you can gradually slide it back to one again. It's really hard when you have two b/c you really want that alone time, but you just end up frustrated dealing with bad naps. Fight going on, gotta run!
My son took 2 naps until he was 2- I know-very rare! But it really threw me when my daughter dropped her second nap at about 1 year old. It was good because it synced them up again and gave me a break rather than feeling tag teamed. I put my son down about noon - right after lunch and worked hard to keep her occupied until then. Sometimes she would eat good for lunch and other times she was just too tired and went to bed and ate lunch later, but she eventually adjusted. After a week or so things evened out and I got my much needed break in the day.
All that said, I would keep Elijah up as long as possible and drop his first nap. He will most likely be exhausted and sleep for a long time when he takes his one nap - hopefully the same time as Isaac.
Hope that helps - good luck!
Roberta
JK dropped his morning nap around 11/12 months. But he kept with his afternoon nap after lunch and it ended up being longer than it used to be. He still naps about 1.5 to 2.5 hours in the afternoon. He's like Elijah...a busy body and needs the rest. He also sleeps from 8:30 pm to 7:30 am.
Now, if I could get Bubby to sleep AT ALL, we'd be doing great. He like three or four 30 minute naps throughout the day. And still wakes up every two hours at night to nurse. He's almost 6 months old!
Wendi,
I'm going thru the same thing right now...both of my boys are wanting to skip naptime altogether. They usually crash about 4 and I let them sleep for an hour or so but then they don't won't to go to bed until 9 or 10?
We have actually started waking them up a little early in the morning so they will still take a nap. I, like you, understand the need for that hour or so of alone time to get things done. I know you're never supposed to wake a sleeping baby (or toddler) but we have to do what we have to do! Good luck!
Maybe you should try NOT dropping the first nap completely and just cut it shortmiessel. I know with Nate if he was overtired when he was younger, he slept poorly. Maybe Elijah was just overtired.
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