On the good days, she sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning and takes a two hour nap early in the afternoon. This has happened maybe twice. On days like today she sleeps until 7:30 or 8, takes a one hour nap early in the afternoon and gets pretty fussy about a half hour before dinner time. Other days she refuses to take any naps and falls asleep two minutes after we starting driving somewhere in the car, or she wakes up at 6 in the morning and we end up going back to two naps again. Our daily schedule and routine is totally out of whack and I never know when I'll be able to go anywhere or do anything until I see what time she wakes up in the morning. I never know how much to try to do during her nap because I have no idea how long she's going to sleep. I have no idea if I can get dinner made because that's about the time that she just wants to be held if she hasn't slept enough.
I hate messing with the status quo, but when it clearly isn't working any more, I know that I have to. So I'm hoping that this period we're in now is just a transitional one. I'm hoping that all of this will get figured out and we'll be back to some kind of a routine and some idea of normalcy. I'm excited about the possibilities that one nap hold, but am honestly missing my morning time to myself a little bit. I really enjoyed that few moments at the beginning of the day to get myself in order and get ready for the day. We will get through this of course and there are worse things that could happen in the world (by far!) but right now, I'm hoping this won't last too long. It will get better right???
Wow-- 7:30 or 8?? Haha. my guy gets up between 5 and 5:30.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm not entirely opposed to just going with the flow toddler-wise. On weekdays, Spike has a set schedule by daycare that includes a two hour nap. He never ever naps that long at home, so on weekends he generally ends up doing an hour in the morning and an hour in the early afternoon. Actually, more like 45 mins each time.
I figure this is ok for two reasons: a) he's horrible at laying down for sleepytime and always cries himself to sleep if I don't stand there holding his hand. We've been assured that, with practice, he will learn to sleep without crying. b) Sooner or later he really won't need two naps and, just like weaning and giving up the bottle, he will naturally transition to one permanently.
Oh, and he naps in the car all the time!! So frustrating-- especially after he's cried for an hour because he won't nap in bed!
I hoep things sort themselves out nicely :)
What I neglected to mention in the post was that Bean actually wakes up around 3 times a night these days. The last time is around 5 when she usually eats and then sleeps a little longer. So yeah, it sounds like people should be jealous of her sleep schedule, but it's not the case. We're totally sleep deprived over here.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to be more relaxed about the whole sleeping situation but it just doesn't work for Bean. One missed nap throws everything off and we go from 3 wake ups at night to many more. I know I'm totally crazy with making sure she gets her naps and to bed at a consistent time, but it's the only way we get any sleep around here. Hence the constant obsessing about it.
Thank you for the encouragement. I am so hopeful that things will indeed sort themselves out nicely and hopefully one of these days neither of us will be getting up at 5 am!