in the sleeping department with Adie Grace.
She used to be such a great sleeper. Slept 9-10 hours at night.. 2-3 hours at nap time. Then she turned 3 in May. And it's never been the same since. Nap times have been fewer and far between. =( And if she DOES nap then she's doesn't sleep well at night and makes frequent visits to our bedroom. At the beginning of the summer we tried everything.. spanking, bribing, moving her bed to different spots, shutting her bedroom door.. all have done no good.
There have been times where we've checked on her before we go to bed and can't find her. That's never a good feeling as a parent! One time we found her in our closet and last night we found her on the couch. Nakid.
And if she doesn't nap? By 4pm she is a CRAZY woman! Hyper, naughty and feisty. Never a good mixture when you are three years old.
And if we go somewhere? Yep.. she falls asleep. At 4pm. Or 6pm.
And every parent know that's a disaster waiting to happen when the 3 year old falls asleep at 6pm!
(Yes, the belly button always has to be accessible in the car for her to pull.)
How are we solving the problem currently?
She crawls into our bedroom every night and sleeps on the floor. A lot of the time she's nakid and an ice cube because she's gone to the bathroom and can't get her PJ's back on in the dark. So she lays down with no blanket and freezes on our floor. And when we hear her come in we should just send her back to bed, right? She's learned to be so quiet that we don't hear her until we trip on the said ice cube in the morning!
Ah.. this no-nap transition has been harder than the transition from one to two kids! No joke!
9 comments:
Darcy-
I so know how you feel. We went through the exact thing at the same age with Abby and it was very hard to break. The nap thing I never got straightened out, but the bed time we did. It was very hard but we took privelages away during the day, but the best thing was we got her a radio and let her listen to music very softly when she went to bed and that made a big difference with her. Good luck and know that you are not alone.
Mindy
ahh! no fun!
jessica hasn't napped since she was two, so i gave up trying and just made her have "quiet" time/rest time. watch a movie on the weekends, or read books & play quietly during the week. and then i just pushed her bedtime earlier.
not sure if that helps at all, but thats the only experience i've had with that.
oh- have you tried putting a baby gate on her door? she may be old enough to figure out how to climb over it, but thats what we had to do with jessica when she was first in her big girl bed and getting out constantly. maybe try that?
Hey Darcy! I am not a mom- but babysitting was basically my full time job when I was in college. One family had this same problem, and they bought a thing to put on the outside of the door handle to lock the door from the outside. They said he used to cry at first, but then understood that when they put him to bed, it was time to stay there.
Not sure if that would be an option for you guys- but thought I would put it out there for you! :)
Emiy
Dominic (2 1/2) decided he was done with naps when we brought Emily home. Always falls asleep for a short time whenever we go anywhere too. Pushed bed time up at bit(8) and wake him up after 30/45 min or so if he does nap in the car. He sleeps until 7ish am. That helps me get through the evening when I am home a lot with all 3 kiddosby myself. He loves to listen to music so he knows how to turn this on at night if he wakes up. Try some Veggie Tales/Chipmunks! Is he does not nap at all...he is a bear for bath and any pm routine. Sometimes have to skip the bath and just read a short story to get him down. It will pass. Find what will positivly reinforce her to stay in her bed not negative to punish her for getting up. It will get better...just a phase! Sleep is overrated anyway...right?
what about a lock on the OUTSIDE of her bedroom door? I know it sounds awful, but we had to do that when Blake was little. We lived on a lake and couldn't risk him getting out. Sometimes I could barely open his door because he would be asleep on the floor in front of the door, but at least he was safe!! :-)
Don't really have any advice, Darce, but love that Miss Adie sleeps with the blanky I gave her! Precious!
Love,
Bobbie
My oldest son would do that too. He was even so quiet that he could climb into bed with me and I had no idea! I don't really have any advice... it just sort of happened to go away as quickly as it appeared.
It's a terrible phase but luckily it is, in fact, a phase. In the meantime, crank the car windows down during late afternoon drives and sing as loud as you can every time her eyelids droop. :)
I used to sleep on my parents floor until one night I saw a really big spider on their floor.. jumped right up and went back to bed and never again did I sleep on that floor
Post a Comment