I'm frustrated! In an effort to be honest in all aspects of my life, I'm taking my frustration to my blog in hopes that it will help me put my thoughts on
I'd like to say my girls are great sleepers/nappers, etc. but the reality is, they aren't. Well I shouldn't exactly say that, because they are, but it's just not until they go to sleep that they are.
Zoelle for example is suppose to be napping right now, but I have been in her room three times already telling her she has to sleep, yet she is still up. It used to get me extremely upset when this would happen. It still does, but to a lesser extreme. I have come to realize that I can't force her to nap, I can only just tell her to and hope and pray that she follows. Now I do understand that at 2.5 she may be coming to an end of naps, but I'm not quite certain she is. Most days, she cannot make it without a nap or else she is extremely crabby. Thank God for the fact that she sleeps great all night long and has since she was a babe.
Of course now that Zoelle is awake, Meridian decides to actually nap today! And by the time Zoelle falls asleep, Mer will probably be waking up. Sigh...I feel as if I don't get a break.
Meridian is still having a tough time with sleeping. She will sleep absolutely great for naps in a sling, our arms, in her swing, or in her carseat. I keep telling myself that I should be ok with that, yet I really have a desire for her to sleep in her crib for naps. For one, I think she would sleep much better being away from all the noise. Bedtime is still a big struggle too. She will fall asleep in her crib, but wake up two hours later and think that it is awake time. Being that her and Z share a room, I cannot keep Meridian in there and work with her, so I end up taking her into the light, which in turn wakes her up for another two hours until it is our bedtime. In which she will sleep then with relatively little waking up time.
Sigh...it's a good thing they are cute!
Oh, the joy! My Hope has fought falling asleep during her naps for a whole year. My other ones had very few problems, 2 of them took naps until age 5 and one took naps until age 3 at which point that child stayed up until midnight when I forced the issue. Fun times. When I had two nappers they could never nap in the same room together-- I put up a playpen and ran a fan in my bedroom for one of them. Hope may or may not fall asleep, but she always has her "naptime" for one and a half to two hours. Sometimes she will talk and sing the entire time. It seems if I follow a specific routine of her using the potty, reading about 4-5 short books to her, turning on a white noise machine, rocking for 5 minutes and giving her a later nap (laying her down between 3 and 4 and waking her up between 5 and 6) these days she tends to fall asleep better and she has no trouble going to bed at 8:30pm and sleeping until 8am. Go figure. Each child is so unique! Hope you find what works for you guys!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to hear someone else is going thru it too! :) Of course, not what you want, yet it is nice for me to know it is normal. Zoelle too has fought naps for about a year. She is just so active. We do pretty much the exact same routine as you and that does seem to help. Along with picking out a snack before we go down to nap, for her to have after nap. I am considering laying her down later like you do with Hope, as Z seems to some days take forever to fall asleep. Yes, no napping in the same room together either. I wouldn't trust Zoelle not to talk/play with Meridian the whole time! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Angie for sharing!
This is why the kids sleep when I go to sleep and wake when I wake. Gabbi hasnt napped since 12 months old and Monte only naps if I lay down beside him! Sometimes he will make it a good two hours before waking, but if he wakes before his nap is done and screams, I have to go right back and lay down beside him. I hear you on not getting a break. I havent had much of a break since Gabbi was born. Rich and I have had probably ten evenings to ourselves in the last four years where they passed out from a busy day! It is hard, I know that, but they will grow up!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Chris would like that too much Ana or I would. Zoelle does go down at 8 p.m. and sleeps until 8 a.m. Meridian is suppose to go down at 8 p.m. and sometimes does, but only sleeps until 10 p.m. and wakes up thinking it was just a nap. That is when I either work with her, or just give up until we go to bed! It does bother Chris though as he likes to have time to just relax with just the two of us. I understand because I feel the same way after spending the day with both girls. Although, like you said...they will grow up and I won't regret this time!
ReplyDeleteWell, it definitely isn't our ideal situation, but after years of frustration it's what works best for us. In addition to the general lack of sleep, Gabbi has night terrors and sleep walking, and has never slept for long stretches, so we have that to work with, too. When I let her sleep her natural cycle, the night terrors disappear, but the second I try and change it they are back! Your kids actually sound pretty normal to me, lol!
ReplyDeletePoor Gabbi! :( I completely understand that it would be hard to work with. I say whatever works for you is good. :)
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