Saturday, January 1, 2011

Naps?


Sleep? Where do I begin? After Carter was born, not sure what happened but sleep was non existent for everyone in the house, including Jocelynn. My good sleeper, all of a sudden was horrible. I mean. . . .horrible. Waking up every couple hours, like a newborn, fighting going to bed at night, fighting naps. From the time Carter was 6 weeks to about 3 months was the longest 6 weeks ever! People say around 3 years old when naps start to diminish and she started fighting it but then she should be ready for bed early then right? Wrong! She would still fight it.

Looking back, I think she had a hard time adjusting. One night after feeding Carter I woke up and we were both asleep hugging in my bed. I have no idea when she crawled in. At night she would throw tantrums to go in her bed. Maybe she saw Carter and wanted to be with us also. Who knows? Then I thought maybe I was giving her everything because I didn't want her to feel left out with the new baby so that's why she is fighting bed time. At night she would wake up and say she needed this and that. Anything she could think of. I'd give it to her and she'd go back to bed but be up in 2 hours wanting something else. I finally started saying no and that helped. It's a mystery? I cried a lot those weeks and had no energy or patience during the day. Finally after some consistency, she is back. I decided that she still needs nap or "quiet time" everyday from 12-130pm. It was too hard not letting her nap one day but the next day making her. She would refuse even if she needed it. I just decided if she continues to nap everyday, even if she wasn't tired, then on the days she is tired there won't be a problem. The days she's not tired she has to go back in her room and color or read. It has worked really well and she still naps about 4 times a week. It's amazing how different her behavior has been now. So happy more sleep is happening around here. I better knock on wood :)

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