I’m not going to lie… It wasn’t all rainbows and sprinkles in Mama.Bubba.land today. Our morning was pretty good, save the minor screaming incident that occurred when leaving the toy section at Superstore… (Ugh. Must admit, these occurrences are brand-spanking new to us and I have to come up with a plan to better handle/minimize them asap.) But our afternoon? It was rough.
I’m not sure what it’s all about, but in the last couple of weeks, nap times have started getting tricky. Not all days, but some. The majority of the days of the week, I lay our little lady down in her crib, give her a kiss before closing the door, and she puts herself to sleep and stays asleep for 2 to 3 hours. She wakes up rejuvenated, happy, and ready for the rest of our day’s adventures. But the other days? She just doesn’t fall asleep. She talks and plays in her crib for a good long while, then the jumping and chucking things out of her crib begins, and then crying, calling for Mama, and “No more sleeeeep! Play – yaaaaaa!” stage kicks in after that. This all could be driven by one of about a million things… Our house regularly being 30 degrees during the day, her two year molars just finally finishing pushing up through her gums, her sleep needs changing…. Who knows? I’ve {very reluctantly} given thought to the fact that she may be starting to get ready to drop her nap, but her behaviour sans nap tells me otherwise. Although she’s happy to be retrieved from her crib, without a nap, she’s off for the rest of the afternoon. She’s less independent, quicker to tears, and a little irritable, quite frankly.
Today was one of those days. I knew she needed a nap {despite what she was telling me} and I was feeling up to the challenge, so we tried for 3 straight hours. THREE. WHOLE. HOURS. I thought for sure that we’d succeed in the end… We didn’t. Instead, I was exhausted, she was upset, and the nap didn’t happen. Frustrating. But what do you do? I brought her out of her room, fed her a snack, she played while I cleaned house and made dinner, and then we ate. Life goes on.
Both needing a little pick-me-up after a long afternoon indoors, we retrieved a treat from the freezer and headed outside. I sat on the front porch and she ran circles around our yard, popsicle dripping everywhere, before we turned on the sprinkler.
There’s something about a little girl clad only in a hat, panties, and popsicle drips, happily splashing through sprinkling water that can turn your whole day around…
And thank goodness for that.
♥
Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.
Try bumping her bed time up by half an hour… As long as it’s before 8 pm. That might be all it takes… Otherwise let her play in her room in her crib with some books quietly, with the curtains drawn… Those days she doesn’t take a nap, she will at least benefit from some downtime. I used to put Owen on the couch with milk and a snack and a movie and we would snuggle.
Thanks, Carrie! I appreciate all the tips I can get from experienced mamas!
We have tried moving her bedtime back (she was going to bed at 6:30 and now it’s 7:00), but it doesn’t seem to affect the nap. So far, the few non-nap days we’ve had have consisted of a good hour to hour and a half in her crib in the dark with a small book and her regular bear, which is good because we both get a little downtime (even if it’s not as restful). Unfortunately, the downtime doesn’t combat a case of the grumps/whinies/etc. afterwards, but it’s better than nothing. I honestly think it’s the heat (I’m starting to see a pattern with non-sleep days linking up to the days where it’s 30/-32 degrees in our house), so the good news is that it won’t last forever. :)
Hang in there. She’s two. Two is hard. She thinks she can drop her nap, but she clearly isn’t ready. Amelia did the same thing about six months ago, and after a few sessions where I didn’t get her up, she began to sing herself to sleep. And if she doesn’t, she just has some quiet time with books and stuffed animals like Carrie suggests.
And I highly recommend some sort of treat for your awesome stamina. :)
Thanks, Naomi! I appreciate the words of encouragement and knowing that your little one went through a similar stage.
…But most of all – I like your recommendation of a treat best! :)
Chris brings home my favourite coffee on the really hard days, and I wouldn’t say no to a cinnamon bun… What did you end up doing?
The buntings came today, and they look so good in the kids’ rooms. Any tips on hanging them? I tried the 3M poster hanging strips on the end flags, but it doesn’t hang right. I’d like to avoid using thumbtacks if possible – what did you use in Gracen’s room?
I don’t think I ended up really having a treat that night, but I definitely will next time!
I’m glad the buntings arrived safely and look great in the rooms! I would recommend anchoring the ribbon rather than the flags themselves. I did use thumbtacks to hang Gracen’s, which does mean a tiny hole in the wall, but at least then the ribbon is punctured and not the paper itself. I think you could get away with using a very tiny square of a 3M strip (it’s tough to cut, but doable) on the ribbon and have it hang in a natural arch. Let me know how it goes! :)