More on napping
This is the second day in a row that I've gotten Daisy to nap, after weeks of sporadic napping! I would say that for the past few weeks, she either hasn't napped at all and become seriously messed up by evening, or she's fallen asleep in the car and taken very brief naps (half an hour or 45 minutes) and then been pretty messed up by evening. Today, she got into her bed, I was able to leave her room, and she went to sleep in ten or fifteen minutes.
It worked the same way as yesterday, pretty much. This morning she slept till almost 7, but again started showing signs of tiredness by noon. We gave her an early lunch (11:30-ish) and then read books in the glider. She was in her bed by 12:30 and asleep by about 12:45. That is exactly what happened yesterday. So I think the universe is trying to tell me something: this kid needs a nap and it needs to happen earlier. I think the reason it was failing for so many days is that I was attempting the nap too late in the day. We'd have an action-packed morning, and I'd notice how tired she was around noon, but selfishly I'd just keep going, not wanting to go home and try for naps. I have never seen myself as that mom who would sacrifice fun daily events in order to stick to a schedule! But the problem is that Daisy was clearly deteriorating. She'd be exhausted, and I'd get her home at 2 or 3 and then try for a nap--and it would fail. The effects were cumulative, too. I was seeing dark circles under her eyes, I felt like she was waking up earlier than ever in the morning, and she seemed tired and grumpy even when she woke up in the morning. There was clearly something wrong.
So, dear me... I guess I've got to try to make this schedule happen, for at least as long as she seems to need it. Trying to be home by noon every day will be a bit of a bummer for me, since we've often enjoyed activities in the morning. But I can't ignore what I'm seeing here. She is sleeping for two hours, sometimes more, when she naps. She needs the rest. So I guess I'll try to be home by noon, or else I'll try to schedule more things to do in the afternoon when she wakes up. It will be quite a change from what I've been doing, but what I've been doing isn't working so great for Daisy. We'll see.
It worked the same way as yesterday, pretty much. This morning she slept till almost 7, but again started showing signs of tiredness by noon. We gave her an early lunch (11:30-ish) and then read books in the glider. She was in her bed by 12:30 and asleep by about 12:45. That is exactly what happened yesterday. So I think the universe is trying to tell me something: this kid needs a nap and it needs to happen earlier. I think the reason it was failing for so many days is that I was attempting the nap too late in the day. We'd have an action-packed morning, and I'd notice how tired she was around noon, but selfishly I'd just keep going, not wanting to go home and try for naps. I have never seen myself as that mom who would sacrifice fun daily events in order to stick to a schedule! But the problem is that Daisy was clearly deteriorating. She'd be exhausted, and I'd get her home at 2 or 3 and then try for a nap--and it would fail. The effects were cumulative, too. I was seeing dark circles under her eyes, I felt like she was waking up earlier than ever in the morning, and she seemed tired and grumpy even when she woke up in the morning. There was clearly something wrong.
So, dear me... I guess I've got to try to make this schedule happen, for at least as long as she seems to need it. Trying to be home by noon every day will be a bit of a bummer for me, since we've often enjoyed activities in the morning. But I can't ignore what I'm seeing here. She is sleeping for two hours, sometimes more, when she naps. She needs the rest. So I guess I'll try to be home by noon, or else I'll try to schedule more things to do in the afternoon when she wakes up. It will be quite a change from what I've been doing, but what I've been doing isn't working so great for Daisy. We'll see.
posted by Sarah Goss at 1:18 PM
2 Comments:
Wait--so, a 2-hour daytime nap and still getting 10 hours at night for a total of 12 hours a day? That is what Coral gets *now* at 9 months, and it's only supposed to get less over time, right? Kudos to you for getting Daisy to sleep better. Boo-hoo for me for having a poor sleeper!
What a cute picture of Coral in your profile!
Soooo, yes: Daisy usually sleeps for ten hours at night and she clearly needs a two-hour nap. That's what Coral gets too, huh? But, if Coral doesn't seem tired, then I'm sure it's fine and she's getting what she needs. My whole thing with Daisy is that she seems completely exhausted unless she gets those total twelve hours. Does the C-girl seem well rested? She always seems pretty pleasant when I've been around her! (Daisy, on the other hand, becomes a persnickety crankenpot when she doesn't nap.)
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