parenting

How is it that a two-year-old who refuses to nap has the ability to make you feel like the absolute worst parent in the world? We've been struggling with Daniel's naptime since shortly after his second birthday. I think the turning point was when he was able to climb out of his crib, even with the mattress all the way down and the side all the way up. This newly discovered freedom was just what he needed to push the envelope as far as he could - and beyond. Some days I fight him for an hour before he sleeps. Some days I walk him around the block a few times. Some days - and I am ashamed of this - I put the kids in the car and get a latté in the Starbucks drive-thru. Today I tried all those things and nothing worked. It's nearly 4:00 and my son is a complete mess because he can't find his toy backhoe. He can barely walk in a straight line. He is too tired to eat or drink. And he still refuses to just lie down in his bed and have a nap. By now, it's too late anyway. It will be miserable for all of us until bedtime, but I am just out of options.

I think I need a little glass of wine.

Comments

kclblogs said…
oh, yes. this time between nap and no nap is a tough one. we worked to give up the nap around that time because we had either really late nights or really early mornings whenever they napped. those evenings got rough, but the early bedtimes were a relief.
6:34 AM
Suze said…
Katie, the thing is, he won't go to bed early! We tried to get him to sleep at 7:00 (a good 90 minutes before his usual time) and it took over an hour to get him to sleep. Utter failure. And he still wakes up around 5 or 5:30. I think it's because it stays light so late this time of year up north!
8:00 AM
Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said…
I had to put a heavy indian-style blanket over Jamie's window so that his room would be nice and dark and "trick" him into thinking it was later than it was. This worked, however (and also helped to make him sleep later, as there was no bright sign to awaken him early).

I remember my mother often telling me stories about having to "spank" me to make me cry myself to sleep when I was that age. She didn't really spank me - she apparently would just barely tap my bottom for getting out of bed, which - as I was so terribly exhausted anyway - would make me tear up and cry myself to sleep. Noow, I'm not telling you to do this. This is just what my mom did. (And, I don't remember any of it, so apparently it didn't do me any harm and made me go to sleep.)

Try the blanket thing. You may be amazed at how easy it is to trick his circadian rhythms.
10:10 AM
Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said…
umm... sun - not sign. Sorry for the typo.
10:11 AM
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