There is a certain time of the day that is my absolute favorite. A time when the cartoons go off, the house goes relatively silent and this mama can grab a book or her computer and just relax.
Nap time. That oh so magical time when my youngest, Gage, lays down for his much needed recharge and my oldest, Brayden, is sent off to our family room to do something quietly while his brother sleeps. Nap time is most certainly my favorite time of the day.
Recently though Gage has been fighting his naps tooth and nail. Before he would whine for a few minutes but then ultimately roll over and sleep for a few hours. Now nap time has been something like this: Whine, Cry, Whine some more, roll this way and that way, adjust his pillow, pee, adjust his pillow again, make random noises, play with his hands, fidget, ask for a drink, roll around some more, whine.... you get the idea. He'll lay there and ultimately not sleep a wink.
Brayden took naps clear until he was 4 and a bit after, so I suppose to just naturally expected Gage to be the same way. Not. So. Much.
This mama is not ready at all to give up her 2 glorious hours of relaxation every afternoon, but I have to ask, at 3 and 1/2, is this the end of Gage's naps?
I would imagine that it does signal the end of nap time :( My son stopped napping at 2... I used to treasure those few hours I'd get to spend time on my own - when he goes to nursery in September, I'll be able to do that while my youngest (who is nearly 7 months) sleeps, and maybe Seb will nap when he comes back from nursery, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteMy kids stopped napping at about 1 and a half. I remember feeling disapointed and kinda cheated lol. They slept for 12 hours at night though so I'm not really complaining. I think having an hour of quiet time in the afternoon is a good idea for kids going through this. They can lay and read books, make finger shadow puppets or draw in a note book.....anything that's quiet lol.
ReplyDeleteWow, if you made it to 3 1/2 consider yourself lucky. My first made it to 26 months. My second to about 2 1/2. And believe me I tried oh so hard to extend the naps to no avail.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Maria - Lucky you! I haven't a napping kid in well over a year... miss those days! Yes, mourn that loss, because once the nap goes, so does the rest of your sanity.
ReplyDeletehaha, just kidding
sort of.
My 4 year old hasn't officially napped in like 6 months, but he usually will go upstairs to his room when his younger siblings go down for their naps. He reads books and plays with his legos...anything as long as he is quiet. I don't make him stay up there too long, but it is definitely part of his daily routine. I have a feeling my next one is not going to be as cooperative, so I am dreading the day she gives up that nap.
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