Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Nap, anyone?

Trying to get Luke to nap these days has forced me to get a bit creative. This past week he has fallen asleep only when he's in bed with me, but today even that tactic didn't work.

"Luke, honey, you need to close your eyes now."

He squeezes his eyes shut for a couple of seconds.

"But mom, I can't see my train movie when my eyes are closed!"




What do you moms out there think? His napping is very inconsistent these days. Of course I love it when he naps so I can get stuff done nap, too, but it consequently takes him much longer to fall asleep at night.

I would love ideas for instituting a quiet time as well, if napping is going by the wayside.




I want to write more about Cutler's service earlier today, but in the meantime wanted to share that hope far outweighed the despair and I was privileged to be a part of that.

4 comments:

  1. I hear you... Owen almost never wants to nap and I NEED naptime for my sanity. He won't even watch tv or a movie. I wish you luck. I let Owen take naps in bed with me so at least we can cuddle and he gets some downtime. Good Luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Normal! Yep, it's about that time. The inconsistent napping is your signal. So...I always had a quiet time. I'd put some cuddly toys and a pile of books on the bed, set a timer and tell them it was quiet time. They could get up when the timer buzzed. It worked really well till Web figured out how to work the timer! However, by that time they were used to it and knew that they had quiet time every day. Good luck! (Oh, and during this transition time, try to stay out of the car after 3:00 or you'll end up with a late nap, which really messes up bedtime!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree, the inconsistent napping plus taking longer to fall asleep is your cue to transfer to "quiet time". When Annabelle switched we had a few toys that were her "quiet time only" toys (so she would get excited to play with them and wasn't already bored with them), and we also had books on CD, plus regular books/coloring books/puzzles/etc. I made her do it for an hour. Timer is a good idea, too. If she ever fell asleep, I'd wake her up by 3:30 or else she'd never go to bed.
    Good luck! A sticky time and you'll know what is best for Luke.
    Miss you!!
    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree half-heartedly with the other posts. I'm all for quiet time, but don't count your naps out all-together.

    Remember that it is the middle of winter. Whether you have snow or not-the days are shorter and so your body clock gets messed up. All my kids are not liking to take their naps very well. I do make them have quiet time for sanity sake. Natalie has gone from two naps to one and Jess has cut hers out altogether on some days. Our days are really short though-5 or less hours of daylight-so it really causes a lot fo seasonal affective disorder. You may find as Spring approaches and you are more active outside that Luke will take a snooze more often. (I try to get them outside right before time for a nap-ie. cold, fresh air and exercise will do it to you every time.)
    Good luck,
    Angie

    ReplyDelete