No More Naps
Saturday was a very busy day for us. We spent the entire day at a festival with my mom, sister, her husband, their daughter, my brother and his six kids. Needless to say, my daughter got in a lot of running time, not to mention the time spent on the bounce-around and other children's activities the fair had.
On the way home, she took a 30-minute nap. Her bedtime was still three hours away, so I figured she'd still sleep well that night, especially given how full her day had been.
That short nap, though, gave my 3-year-old a rather large shot of energy. I had gotten up early to go the festival and had stayed up late the night before getting everything ready, so by the time her bedtime arrived, I was ready to crash myself. I put her to bed, then went into the living room and tried to watch TV, but after five minutes, I gave up. I was too tired to concentrate.
I went to check on her. There she was, eyes closed, hands together up under her tiny right cheek, looking like she was off in dreamland.
"Are you sleeping?" I whispered.
She nodded. Vigorously.
I got so tickled at her that she thought I was in the mood for playing. For the next hour or so, I'd try to get her to lie back down, and she would, for a minute or two, and then she'd be back up.
When my husband got home a short time later, I said, "She's all yours. I'm going to bed."
He said she was up another hour after that.
That night capped several weeks of restless nights for her, which translated into restless nights for my husband and me, too, so I had been wondering for a while if she had outgrown naps.
So yesterday, I didn't give her one. Last night, she fell asleep at her bedtime without a fight and awoke rather chipper this morning. As long as it works that well, we'll forgo the naps.
I gotta say, I'm going to miss the naps though. That hour of quiet every afternoon sure was nice for getting chores done.
On the way home, she took a 30-minute nap. Her bedtime was still three hours away, so I figured she'd still sleep well that night, especially given how full her day had been.
That short nap, though, gave my 3-year-old a rather large shot of energy. I had gotten up early to go the festival and had stayed up late the night before getting everything ready, so by the time her bedtime arrived, I was ready to crash myself. I put her to bed, then went into the living room and tried to watch TV, but after five minutes, I gave up. I was too tired to concentrate.
I went to check on her. There she was, eyes closed, hands together up under her tiny right cheek, looking like she was off in dreamland.
"Are you sleeping?" I whispered.
She nodded. Vigorously.
I got so tickled at her that she thought I was in the mood for playing. For the next hour or so, I'd try to get her to lie back down, and she would, for a minute or two, and then she'd be back up.
When my husband got home a short time later, I said, "She's all yours. I'm going to bed."
He said she was up another hour after that.
That night capped several weeks of restless nights for her, which translated into restless nights for my husband and me, too, so I had been wondering for a while if she had outgrown naps.
So yesterday, I didn't give her one. Last night, she fell asleep at her bedtime without a fight and awoke rather chipper this morning. As long as it works that well, we'll forgo the naps.
I gotta say, I'm going to miss the naps though. That hour of quiet every afternoon sure was nice for getting chores done.
Comments
Post a Comment