Brigid has been exceptionally awesome in transitioning from one thing to another in her short two and a half years with us.
Moving to solid foods? No problem.
Dropping the bottle, especially the pre-bedtime one? Didn't miss a beat.
Losing her morning nap? Just slept longer in the afternoon.
Giving up her crib in favor of the big-girl bed? Best decision ever.
Getting rid of diapers? Eh...
Jury's still out on that one. Particularly the poop-related jury, because we seem to hate the toilet with a passion when it comes time for that little bodily function to take a run at things. This is my LEAST FAVORITE toddler 'quirk' of ALL TIME.
EVER.
The thing with all of these milestones, though, is that we knew when we had to make the move. Either the pediatrician told us it was time, or we suddenly realized we'd be needing that crib for someone else shortly down the road, or I absolutely refused to be responsible for diapering TWO miniature humans at the same time.
We had to take the chance.
But now, we are on our own. And I don't know what to do.
See, Brigid has spent the last week fighting her bedtime to the tune of 10PM, 10:30PM, or even almost 11:30PM on one lovely night that Steve would rather not have to relive anytime soon.
(At least not for another six months or so! Am I right? Haaaaa.)
(Newborn humor. *sigh*)
And really, if I'm being honest, it's probably been going on even longer than that, since I don't really remember Steve or I exiting her room before 9:30PM in a lifetime and a half. And all of a sudden, she's waking up before 8AM, on top of it, which she NEVER does unless she's sleeping in the same room as us.
I needed advice.
And what do you do when you want to find out what everyone else has done in your situation?
Well, I don't know what you do, but last night, I took to Twitter. And Twitter told me it's probably time to drop that afternoon nap altogether.
And I kind of think, maybe, that I agree.
But, unfortunately, 'Twitter said so!' is not a valid argument in Steve's mind. And, yes, Brigid can get pret-ty crabby without any sleep before bedtime.
So...schedule experimentation, here we come...
After an early wake-up this morning, she went down for a nap an hour or two earlier than normal. Which means, of course, that she got up and hour or two earlier than normal, and now we wait and see if that makes ANY difference in whether or not we can get her to sleep before the sun comes up tomorrow.
If that doesn't work?
We may be in for a rough, nap-free weekend.
Fun.
Dropping the nap was one of the greatest moments in my life. The transition sucked for a little bit, but honestly, she was soooo hard to get down for a nap anyway that it was actually a relief. Besides, if it doesn't work out, you can always go back.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, don't give up in the napping!! You might really need it in a few months. Heck, my 4 year old still naps a few days a week. I vote for making nap time earlier and shorter...anything.
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe trying a WAY earlier bedtime...like 7:30. That is when my kids are generally in bed...they dont always go to sleep, but they must stay in their rooms. I promise, most nights that is how MIke and I keep our sanity.
Well, since I am not on twitter I figured I would leave my 2 cents here.
Jennie Henry
My niece was one of those kids that took a nap AND went to bed early until she started Kindergarten at 5. My son gave up napping around 2.5 and it was so much better because we didn't have to stay up with him past 10:30. Ours was a gradual realization but I think I would just drop the nap and go to early bedtime the next go around!
ReplyDelete