The Dreaded 5 O' Clock Nap
Two and a half is a hard time as a toddler. Some kids take a 3 hour nap at this age while some give up their nap altogether. Jaina was the former; Jayce was the latter.
Jocelyn is somewhere in between. She's still not the best at sleeping through the night (and has almost surpassed Jayce in this feat as my child that took the longest to stop waking up and needing me at night) so naps for her are imperative still. Yet, if we aren't home for her to wind down in my bed, you can pretty much forget about her getting a nap in the car during school pick up.
The other day was typical. She needed a nap around 11:30 but instead, we went out to lunch. Then I drove around from 1-2 thinking she'd pass out in the car. Nope. We picked up Jayce at 2:15 and headed home. She watched TV on the couch but didn't go to sleep then, either. (Which was good because we had to go back out at 3:30 to pick up Jaina).
I was folding laundry on my unmade bed while Jocelyn was eating a cup of goldfish. She climbed up on my bed, laid down with her cup, and was passed out in about 5 seconds flat.
It was 5:30 PM.
Ugh. One of the worst parenting dilemmas you can have.
Do you wake them up immediately and batten down the hatches for the worst overtired tantrum of their life?
Do you let them sleep for just a little bit... say, 45 minutes? One sleep cycle should be enough of a power nap. Then batten down the hatches for a fairly bad overtired tantrum?
Or, do you realize that your child really needs sleep and just leave them be. Bedtimes are just a number on the clock. Its more important for her to listen to her body.
I went with the third option.
I finished folding my laundry and went to use my 85mm lens that had been gathering dust. I really can't decide which lens is sharper... that one or my 50mm f/1.4
She's lucky that she's cute.
I have to admit that I let her sleep until 8:30 PM. Actually, the darn doorbell woke her up at that time. Let's pretend I didn't host thoughts of strangling the neighbor kid that came by at 8:30 PM.
Jocelyn woke up screaming, unfortunately, She was so out of it. She said her mouth hurt and she felt very hot to the touch. It took a good 30 minutes to calm her down. I also gave her motrin in case her throat really did hurt.
Want to know what time she went back to bed to sleep that night?
1:30 AM.
That means, my friends, that I will NEVER LET MY 2 YEAR OLD NAP AT 5:30 AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE.
There. I said it. Its official. And I mean it.
Thank goodness she is cute!
Jocelyn is somewhere in between. She's still not the best at sleeping through the night (and has almost surpassed Jayce in this feat as my child that took the longest to stop waking up and needing me at night) so naps for her are imperative still. Yet, if we aren't home for her to wind down in my bed, you can pretty much forget about her getting a nap in the car during school pick up.
The other day was typical. She needed a nap around 11:30 but instead, we went out to lunch. Then I drove around from 1-2 thinking she'd pass out in the car. Nope. We picked up Jayce at 2:15 and headed home. She watched TV on the couch but didn't go to sleep then, either. (Which was good because we had to go back out at 3:30 to pick up Jaina).
I was folding laundry on my unmade bed while Jocelyn was eating a cup of goldfish. She climbed up on my bed, laid down with her cup, and was passed out in about 5 seconds flat.
It was 5:30 PM.
Ugh. One of the worst parenting dilemmas you can have.
Do you wake them up immediately and batten down the hatches for the worst overtired tantrum of their life?
Do you let them sleep for just a little bit... say, 45 minutes? One sleep cycle should be enough of a power nap. Then batten down the hatches for a fairly bad overtired tantrum?
Or, do you realize that your child really needs sleep and just leave them be. Bedtimes are just a number on the clock. Its more important for her to listen to her body.
I went with the third option.
I finished folding my laundry and went to use my 85mm lens that had been gathering dust. I really can't decide which lens is sharper... that one or my 50mm f/1.4
She's lucky that she's cute.
I have to admit that I let her sleep until 8:30 PM. Actually, the darn doorbell woke her up at that time. Let's pretend I didn't host thoughts of strangling the neighbor kid that came by at 8:30 PM.
Jocelyn woke up screaming, unfortunately, She was so out of it. She said her mouth hurt and she felt very hot to the touch. It took a good 30 minutes to calm her down. I also gave her motrin in case her throat really did hurt.
Want to know what time she went back to bed to sleep that night?
1:30 AM.
That means, my friends, that I will NEVER LET MY 2 YEAR OLD NAP AT 5:30 AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE.
There. I said it. Its official. And I mean it.
Thank goodness she is cute!
Aw, she is cute!
ReplyDeleteBut ack, 130 AM?!
I'd always wake my kids if they tried to sleep past 4. I did deal with some crankiness though. I tried to distract them with bath time. They loved baths.
yikes! I have been SUPER blessed with our little one. She is an amazing sleeper, best one of the three. If she takes late naps, she will still go down at her regular bed time. I think I paid my dues with the other two kids and finally got a good napper. :) I can't imagine my kid not falling alseep until 1:30, I would go nuts!
ReplyDelete