The Poor Second child rarely gets a good nap
I am not sure how other moms have figured out how to get both kids on the same nap schedule because I an still lost. Samantha gets a good nap on days that either I have her alone or my sitter has her alone, which is 3, but the other days she is screwed. She naps for like 30 minutes in the car going somewhere and then 30 minutes in the car coming home and then she is so over tired that she does not want to go back down. She is always woken up by the toddler screaming because he is running like a mad man around the house. And I still have not mastered getting Max down for a nap when I am alone. Although, lately there have been days where I have just skipped his nap altogether and put him to sleep at 7 pm, like last night.
Let me also say that yesterday was not the day to skip a nap for either. Sam was not in a god mood and Max needed a nap so bad and I needed a break too from toddler play. We met another mom and her kids in the am and Max ran and played and he had so much fun. But he was fighting the nap and so I said, ” fine don’t take one!”. Bad mommy move. We went to get something to eat and he screamed on the floor, acted like a dog and whined the whole 10 minutes until I said, “Ok lets go!”
So Sam is sleepy, Max is sleepy and I have no patience. We had an ok rest of the day but I was so tired and so cranky myself. I yelled a lot last night and Max cried and Sam cried if she was not held. It was one of those days. But Max slept the whole night in his own room. BUT, I dont think a good night sleep is worth a day of whining with the toddler! But I also know that he is fighting the nap but he still needs one. He is almost 2 1/2 and I dont want the naps to go but since we took away the binky, he just does not settle down like he did before.
Any suggestions for my sleepy baby? Any experiences with your toddler fighting the nap? All suggestions are apprectiated.
Luckily, I passed out at 9:30 pm!
I don’t have any advice about getting both of them to sleep at the same time. I know I read other blogs with moms who say how hard it is to coordinate that.
But I can relate to the toddler not wanting to nap. I’m going through that with Hailey. Some days she will NOT nap no matter what I do. Then she is grouchy and cranky all afternoon/evening. But she always goes to bed earlier and stays in her own bed longer. I think it comes with this age and is a normal thing for some kids to do.
I’ve found that if I get my son to do something “quiet” for about an hour before I want him to nap, he’s more likely to nap. This can be a challenge! I try to engage him in a book. First a very active one, and then a passive one. Then I do something soothing with him. Rub his back, nurse him, or whatever. Try incorporating some of Max’s bedtime routine into it all.
I’ve heard advice that seems to be sound: Even if there’s no nap, there is mandated quiet time every day at around the same time. I’ve found that when I do this, my son is more relaxed even if he hasn’t napped during that time. My son is going through the “I do not need a nap” phase, too. I think it comes with the age. Where they’re almost ready to give up that nap, but not quite.
As for the baby.. Ahh.. Good luck. =\
I know, the whole sleep thing – argghh. Theo dropped his day sleeps about 6 months ago. He is 3 next month. I’ve replaced them with a quiet time – either in his room or watching a dvd (I know lots of people will not agree with that, but I need it and he needs the down time!) I also filled two afternoons a week with kindy for him – he just seemed to have energy to burn! Olivia is now 5, no day sleeps anymore with school, but at the weekend she sometimes likes a nana -nap too! When Theo came along, she found it hard to day sleep unless I “slept” with her. Theo also used to spend a lot of his time sleepy in the buggy, in the car, in my arms – just part of the path of being a 2nd child I think!
Like said above, I have heard many moms say “You don’t have to sleep, but you have to rest,” or something along those lines. You have quiet time where you read, watch tv, play quietly, or take a nap. Doing a calmer activity before this is probably good too. Every kiddo is different though, so its just trial and error. Good luck!
My kids “nap” at the same time. When Ethan was a few months old, Becca had started to give up naps (she was 3). So instead she has to go to her room for the duration of Ethan’s nap for “quiet time”. It was a tough one to establish but soooooo worth it. 2 years later it is working awesome. If you can, place Sam in a swing or bouncy chair, then get Max settled in for a quiet activity in his room. Close the door. You may have to go back like 100 times to put him back, tell him to be quiet etc but eventually he will understand. After “quiet time” reinforce it with something fun, I used tv for 1/2 an hour (one program) to anchor the concept. So if she was quiet and did not come out (bathroom excluded) then she was allowed to watch tv. For the first few weeks, it was crazy. No one napped. Everyone cried (even me!) However in the end it has been awesome. Sometimes, she would fall asleep. However now she never falls asleep she really plays well and her imagination is AMAZING due to it. Just my thoughts:)
Good luck!
When Eilidh was born it was so easy fitting her into Rebecca’s nap schedule , even if it meant waking Eilidh at the beginning . It worked great and they both napped at the same time.
Now neither girl nap, Eilidh stopped around Christmas (so was about 26 months) . I do think she still needs a nap and is a horror from around 3pm onwards but we have moved bedtime super early and she is sleeping for 6pm most nights. If she naps she would be up till who knows when . I would like the break napping would bring but i much prefer getting the kids all down early.
Quiet time can be a big help , we don’t do it everyday as sometimes Eils is at playgroup but on the other afternoons she gets to play in the living room all alone. She loves getting the toys and tv to herself (Rebecca goes to nursery 5 afternoons a week, preschool really) .
Hope you work it out soon,
At some point in their lives the only time my kids would nap was in the car. That was awful, because I never got to get anything done while they were sleeping.