Napping
I have to post this because I am so pleased right now: after days and days (weeks?) of not being able to get Daisy to nap, I got Daisy to take a nap today. She's napping right now, and it happened in the best way possible; I read books to her, then she got into her big girl bed, and I left the room, and she went to sleep (after talking to herself for a little while).
I would not be insistent on Daisy taking a nap if I thought she didn't need one. I know some kids have given up naps at her age. However, I think those kids sleep longer at night (Daisy has been waking up at six every morning, regardless of when she goes to bed or whether or not she naps). She is clearly tired, yawning all morning, has dark circles under her eyes, and gets cranky and deteriorates as the day goes by. It is obvious to us that she either has to sleep longer at night or take a nap. Ten hours of nighttime sleep is good but isn't fully cutting it. She is exhausted. It shows.
The hard part is realizing that in order for the nap to work, it has to occur earlier in the day. If we wait as late as two to have her get into bed, it seems that it's too late and she's too amped up to fall asleep--even though she is tired. We notice that, actually, she gets pretty sleepy around 12. If she's going to nap, we need to seize the moment and get her into bed around then. So today, I carefully orchestrated our day. We played all morning at hone and had an early lunch, around 11:30. I was reading books to her by 12. She was in bed by 12:30. And she went to sleep!
Sooo... this is kind of a bummer for me because I like to do things with friends in the morning, and Daisy does, too. But when we do things out in the world, we tend to get home later and miss this window of opportunity for a nap. I am so torn. I would find it painful to give up morning activities just to ensure that she is home and napping by 12:30 (which means, realistically, being home by noon at the latest in order to start winding down with books and getting ready for the nap). But I have to admit: this is good for her. She needs rest and she needs to be less tired.
I guess the solution is going to be to find a compromise... maybe spend more days at home, or go out with friends in the morning and try to be home earlier. This is going to be hard when preschool starts; I'll have to whisk her home for a nap. On the bright side, perhaps this will free up more of the afternoon to see friends and do activities. If she's up by 2 or 2:30, there will still be time for fun.
I would not be insistent on Daisy taking a nap if I thought she didn't need one. I know some kids have given up naps at her age. However, I think those kids sleep longer at night (Daisy has been waking up at six every morning, regardless of when she goes to bed or whether or not she naps). She is clearly tired, yawning all morning, has dark circles under her eyes, and gets cranky and deteriorates as the day goes by. It is obvious to us that she either has to sleep longer at night or take a nap. Ten hours of nighttime sleep is good but isn't fully cutting it. She is exhausted. It shows.
The hard part is realizing that in order for the nap to work, it has to occur earlier in the day. If we wait as late as two to have her get into bed, it seems that it's too late and she's too amped up to fall asleep--even though she is tired. We notice that, actually, she gets pretty sleepy around 12. If she's going to nap, we need to seize the moment and get her into bed around then. So today, I carefully orchestrated our day. We played all morning at hone and had an early lunch, around 11:30. I was reading books to her by 12. She was in bed by 12:30. And she went to sleep!
Sooo... this is kind of a bummer for me because I like to do things with friends in the morning, and Daisy does, too. But when we do things out in the world, we tend to get home later and miss this window of opportunity for a nap. I am so torn. I would find it painful to give up morning activities just to ensure that she is home and napping by 12:30 (which means, realistically, being home by noon at the latest in order to start winding down with books and getting ready for the nap). But I have to admit: this is good for her. She needs rest and she needs to be less tired.
I guess the solution is going to be to find a compromise... maybe spend more days at home, or go out with friends in the morning and try to be home earlier. This is going to be hard when preschool starts; I'll have to whisk her home for a nap. On the bright side, perhaps this will free up more of the afternoon to see friends and do activities. If she's up by 2 or 2:30, there will still be time for fun.
posted by Sarah Goss at 12:44 PM
1 Comments:
way to go, Sar! M.B.
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