<-----Back in the days of impromptu naps...My good friend Natalie used to call me the "Nap Queen" based on my ability (and need) to catch zzzzz's just about anywhere in the middle of the day (or evening.) Sadly, my son has not inherited this trait.
For a stay-at-home-mom, naptime is golden. It's a quiet hour (give or take) once to twice a day during which things such as eating, going to the bathroom, showering, housework, and other pasttimes can be accomplished at lightening speed.
In our house, such regular napping occurs about once a week. On a good day, G3 will take a lengthy mid-morning nap and a shorter late afternoon nap. This keeps me happy and him happy since--despite his inability to nap properly--his little body needs the naps to recharge or otherwise he is quite crabby.
A typical day (what the heck, we'll go with today) goes something like this:
7:30am - Wake up, drink (bottle for him and coffee for me), play (on the floor with toys for him, at the computer for me.)
8am - Workout (I do DVR'd workouts and he stands at his music table and builds his leg muscles)
8:30-9am - Breakfast. Just for G3. Haven't mastered feeding the baby and feeding myself at the same time yet. Breakfast usually accompanied with mild meltdown due to cereal in the eyes from rubbing them.
9:30am...NAPTIME. At this point G3 is tired, whiny, rubbing his eyes and yawning. It seems crazy to me that after a 12 hour nighttime slumber more sleep is needed, but I'm told this is quite common in babies. I rock him for about 10 minutes, he drifts off peacefully, and I make the crib deposit (no easy feat lowering a 20-pounder over rails and onto the mattress.
Moments later he inevitably starts making noise. Past experience tells me he will not just roll over and go to sleep, so I hastily make my way back upstairs to find him laughing and talking in delight. Now, you might be asking "Why not just let him be?" and the answer is that eventually the talking will turn to whining, the whining to crying, the crying to sobbing and screaming to the point of gagging and choking on his own snot. Fun for all. I've tried this method (also known as "ferberizing" or "crying it out".) Despite all claims that your baby WILL learn to go to sleep on his own, it does not work with G3. And consequently, it doesn't work with me b/c I become so frazzled by the sound of my screaming baby I can't do anything useful with the time anyhow.
Back to today. I pick him up, relocate to the rocking chair (still warm from attempt #1) and this time instead of cutely sharing his pacifier with me and snuggling into the crook of my arm he fights me. Cries out, turns red, flings his head from side to side. But in less than 5 minutes he is sound asleep. SOUND asleep. I once again make the crib deposit only to have him start bawling the second his head touches the mattress. This time I at least eat breakfast, switch the laundry, and get dressed before returning.
Attempt #3. Now weary from the rocking and with a very sleep deprived baby, I head downstairs to the computer. I sit in the chair and amble the internet while Baby No-Nap gets quite comfy. We sit like this for close to a half hour before I make my final walk up the stairs, down the hall, into the room and finally, successfully, dump him in his crib (I don't mean to "dump" him but I'm short, the crib is tall, the mattress is low and the baby is heavy!) Time is now 11 a.m.
I guess there is no way to explain to G3 that if he'd just close his eyes and go to sleep and STAY asleep life would be a lot smoother for both of us! He is able to do this at nighttime (for which I'm very thankful, no complaints on that end) but the daily nap struggles leave me exhausted and stressed out...some days the third attempt is also unsuccessful and the only way to get him to nap is to lay on the couch with him. All well and good except unfortunately I'm stuck there for the duration of the nap, which, at this location, can last up to 2 hours. I used to just pack pillows around him but due to his recent fondness for diving off the couch, I don't think this is a good idea!
So there you have it. Baby No Nap!
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