Naptime Woes

Perhaps most parents struggle with naps at some point. Today, I apologized to my own mother for being a difficult napper, because Jacob follows in his Mama's footsteps (my dad loves to point out that diaper is "repaid" spelled backwards- well, daddy, I'm certainly being repaid now).

Jacob has always been a difficult daytime sleeper, and I have tried many different things. I have a pretty scheduled routine, that slowly gets altered over time as things work or don't work. I have tried putting him down earlier, later, taking toys and his beloved "Thummie" away, sitting with him, napping with him, leaving his pre-sleep CD on while he tries to fall asleep, and the list goes on. Some days some things work, and the next day it won't. I never know. I do know that he is too young to give up a daily nap, and I am unwilling to deal with a very cranky toddler all afternoon if he doesn't nap. It's days like today where I wish I worked so at least I wouldn't have to deal with the nap routine 5 days a week.

So here's today's story. After following a normal pre-nap routine, I place him in the crib and go downstairs. Pretty soon, I hear him hooting and singing. I think to myself that it's not a good sign, but sometimes he'll fall asleep on his own and I leave him be. After 45 minutes, I go check on him, and remove everything but Thummie. Fifteen minutes later, I go in and take away Thummie. Sure enough, as I leave the room, he begins screaming, and I tell myself that he will tire out and fall asleep. Fifteen more minutes and the phone rings. I talk to my parents for approximately half an hour, going up to check on him once, when the screams had died down and believing he was done. When I get off the phone, it has now been an hour and 45 minutes since placing him in the crib, and he is alternating between crying and being quiet, so I go check on him. He is standing in the middle of the crib, but his diaper is in the middle of the floor. He has nothing but his shirt on. Our little boy is expressing his redheaded independence (please God, let this next child have brown hair). No, thankfully no poop in the diaper, and no mess in the crib.

He did finally fall asleep after another 15 minutes.