Nap Trapped {Sleep tip of the month}

Around the time that your little one graduates from being a ‘newborn’ to a ‘baby’ you will notice that their daytime sleep habits change.  Once able to snooze in the car-seat, Ergo, or stroller in loud, bright places, they now start to fight napping in exchange for people watching…  

This is your cue that the time has come for a quiet, dark, peaceful space for your baby to take their naps.  Unfortunately for Mom & Dad this means being stuck inside the house for what feels like forever.

"You think you're trapped at home! Do you have any idea how many hours I spend in this crib?"

This is even harder when you have other children that don’t find sitting at home ‘being quiet’ very much fun!

I don’t have a one-size-fits-all solution to this, and I strongly believe naps should be taken at home in order to establish a good nap routine, but here are some tips on making it more manageable:

• Try to keep the morning nap(s) at home, and the afternoon nap(s)s can be on the go.  The morning naps are always the easiest for babies to master, so give them the opportunity to get into a good routine at home.  Some babies really struggle with the last nap of the day, and if this is the case, let them sleep in the car/Ergo/stroller while you’re out.  Don’t expect these naps to be very long, but they will at least carry them over until bedtime.

• Invite friends over to your house for play dates so that you and your older child(ren) can still have a social life, and you and keep up with the nap training.  Win win!

•  Know that it won’t last forever.  If you have other children, you will remember that sleep patterns change pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things, so enjoy the down time.

Thanks Lauren! This is soooo my life right now! Our once busy mornings have turned into too much TV time and not enough active play for my almost three year old. I keep reminding myself, "This too shall pass."  

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Lauren is a certified sleep coach and DONA trained postpartum doula.  Her passion for helping tired parents began when her own newborn daughter's constant crying and terrible sleep habits finally got the best of her. Visit her blog and Facebook page for more information.

Check out Lauren's other featured posts on Leilaland:

Sleep coach * Postpartum doula {About Lauren}

Babies and Children Sleep Better with a Friend

Sleep: Quality vs. Quantity 

Falling asleep too fast?

Less is not always more

Newborn sleep

Sleep cycle awareness

The 'Big Kid' bed

Transitioning to a 'Big Girl' bed

My almost-three-year-old (yikes!) still takes a pacifier when she sleeps. It doesn't bother me until I think about how grown up Leila is in other ways. She uses the adult toilet, speaks in complete sentences, and now naps in her big bed. I keep telling myself, one transition at a time, and I already have a plan (Of course I do.) for how to get rid of them.

The transition into her big bed actually began months ago. Jeff set up this bunk bed before Carson was born. I wanted Leila to have plenty of time to get use to the idea. She has loved playing on the top bunk and we've been reading stories on her bottom bunk before bed time.

I waited until work was ending for me so I could be semi-well rested (I  do have a 12 week old.) before Leila would sleep in her bed at night. The plan to start napping in the big bed first, began Friday at 1:00 pm. Success! Leila stayed in bed and didn't call for me until her Tot Clock turned yellow. Nap #2, the following day, was also a success! She tested me during Nap #3 but still stayed in bed. Nap #4 and #5 were smooth sailing, even with her Poppy putting her down while I worked.  

Each time she stays in bed until the clock turns yellow she gets to add a smiley sticker to her chart. Once she has ten successful naps in her big girl bed then she can sleep there at night. I am planning to introduce another sticker chart to reinforce her good choice of staying in bed all night long too. 

I am worried about the morning before wake up time. Often Leila is up early but falls back asleep or just plays happily in her crib until her Tot Clock turns yellow again. (Seriously, this programmable clock is so perfect for Leila!) Hopefully she will stay in bed, quietly, until 7:30 am. Does that seem like a unrealistic expectation?

Carson will be joining Leila downstairs soon. I don't want either of them waking each other at night or too early in the morning. Another unrealistic expectation?

We'll see...

Any advice for me? My friend Lauren shared some tips for the big transition earlier this week. Check them out here.

{Our big plan} Skipping a toddler nap

Nap time is sacred around here. Leila's nap occurs at the same time everyday. This girl loves her bed and is well-known for her over 3 hour marathon nap. I need my time, she needs hers.

Unfortunately, it takes place right smack in the middle of the day. Who wants to go out to lunch at 10:30? How about a beach day starting at 9:00? Well that's how we do it around here. All of our daytime adventures must be wrapped up by noon for Leila's 12:30 nap.

Until today's installment of the toddler summer bucket list, Leila had missed only one nap on purpose. (Like I said, nap time is sacred around here.)



Today we headed to Coronado on the ferry. This was Leila's first experience on a boat. She mostly just wanted to explore, climb, and sit on every chair.



The girls had a great time. It is adorable how Leila will mimic the little things Charlie does and vice versa. I love hearing them call out their friend's name.







After an exhausting morning the girls started to get tired. Our big plan was to push them in their stroller for a short nap and then continue our day. Their plan was to stay awake and wonder if the other was sleeping.

Their plan was more solid than ours.



Luckily they both made it all the way home without a meltdown!





I decided to put Leila in bed for a nap at 2:30 when we got home. I woke her up at 4:30 because certainly didn't want to mess with a later bedtime.

As for nap skipping...it didn't happen this time. It is great to know I can be a bit more flexible with her rigid nap schedule, if it seems necessary. (I don't want to miss out on MY time!)

Do you ever skip nap time? Any tips for special occasion nap skipping?

You should know...

I talk about not having Mommy friends and how hard it is to meet other moms, but in reality my long-time BFF has a girl just seven months younger than Leila.

I don't think of Amy as a mom-friend though. We've been friends for twenty years, so we were friends long before any of this baby talk. We are friends that happen to have daughters. (It really is pretty nice!)

Kennady will be turning one at the end of this month!


It seems that every time Amy and I try to get our girls together one of them ends up napping. A couple of weekends ago when Amy and Kennady came to hang out, Leila and Kennady got a chance to play together.

This is how it went down...

Starts off pretty cool.

Someone was not a real fan of sharing her toys. Notice the chicken leg? Yikes! Kennady could care less, she was willing to put anything in her mouth.

Looking forward to Kennady's party at the end of the month!
Any suggestions for a cool gift?

16 Months

A day in the life of a sixteen month old toddler.

Rise and shine at 7:00 am. She plays in her crib for a while before I go and get her up. I love listening to her talk to her stuffed friends. She has such a sweet voice (most of the time).

First things first...we watch about 20 minutes of Sesame Street while she drinks her milk and I drink my coffee. She can just about put her cup in the sink when she's finished. She's a little short. I'm not sure I'm ready to teach her how to stand on a stool. Although she'd love it. She's into everything!

Morning play


Next up is a light breakfast at of cereal, eggs, fruit, oatmeal, toast, or pancakes. She just started feeding herself successfully with a spoon.


Adventure time- Forget the stroller, Leila wants to walk. We walk everywhere. She's great on her feet walking, running, or climbing.

Snack- Yogurt is her current fave. She loves when I put "surprises" like strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or cheerios in the spoonfuls. I should add pea or carrot surprises. but that's too mean.


11:30 Nap- We did it. Yep, yep! We made the great nap transition. It was not nearly as difficult as I though it would be. It took about two weeks to ease her into it. Now Leila naps once for about three hours. I hope to slowly be push it back as she gets use to our new routine. I love having more time to play and enjoy her in the morning. It is definitely her happiest time of day!


Snack- We eat a lot of small meals throughout the day. Sometimes she eats more than I expected, sometimes less. She's been pushing away her plate when she's finished instead of signing all done. Leila also stopped signing more, now she says it in the cutest way.

Indoor play- blocks, kitchen utensils, climbing the furniture, dancing...


Outside for more adventure time


Snack

Play, play, play...Daddy style!


Dinner around 6:30. She's been eating what we eat for the past few months (with a few exceptions). Makes life way easier this way!

Quiet play- She will sit with us on the couch while I read her a few of her favorite books. Actually, she usually makes me read the same book over and over again.

7:00 Night-night- Some nights I put her to bed, other nights Jeff does. We each do the 7:00ish bedtime routine with our own personal twist. Leila is a wonderful sleeper. She wakes up at night...maybe? Luckily we haven't had to go in once since she started sleeping through the night.

16 months and fun as ever!
It's her world and I'm happy to be in it.

Nap transition {What's working?}

Leila has been showing signs for sometime of making the great nap transition from two naps to one. About a week I went for it. We pushed back the morning nap to 11:00 and hoped for the best. To my surprise, it worked!

Last Monday Leila napped from 11:00-2:00. I was pumped. I was sure it would work...she normally slept four hours throughout the day and now she was sleeping three. I would simply push her bedtime up a bit to make up for her lost hour of sleep. Seemed like I had beat the great nap transition!

I know, I know, you don't even need to say it. Every mom has stuck their foot in their mouth more times than they can count. We try to figure things out and solve problems before they happen. (Am I alone on this?)

But of course I forgot to consult the boss before changing her nap schedule. Leila still prefers two naps.

She's been going down in the morning between 10:30 and 11:30 but always seems to wake up around 1:30. Logic tells me to start the nap around 10:30, duh.

But she cannot make it to bedtime (7:30) without getting tired. Although Leila doesn't always fall asleep, she now gets a break from the action at 4:00 in her crib instead of taking a two hour afternoon nap.

This girl does not stop moving. Ever. We both need a break!

That is what's working today (or should I say yesterday?!) She's napping right now.

Awake between 7/7:30 am
Morning nap from 10:30-1:30
Afternoon break at 4:00
Bedtime between 7/7:30 pm

Fingers crossed.

Toddler Sleep

This girl loves her bed.


Maybe it's the eight pacifiers, the abundance of stuffed animals, or that she can access a shelf full of bed appropriate books and toys that keeps her happy there. I am not complaining. Not one single bit.

I was a little obsessive about her sleep and my lack of it, the first four months of Leila's life. Looking back I am sure it was just the normal newborn stage, but sleeping no more than three hours in a row makes a Momma crazy. So I set out to read every book possible about sleep, schedules, and routines. I read Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child, Solve your Child's Sleep Problems, and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. All great and very informative books. I even got Grandma to read them! We took a little bit from each book and made a plan (that's the teacher in us).

It was getting way too difficult to rock or bounce her to sleep then lay her gently into the pack-n-play. As soon as I would put her down, I bolted to the door in hopes she wouldn't see me if she opened her eyes. Not very effective. My maternity leave was over so my mom was willing to help Leila learn to self-soothe for nap time. It took less than a week and she was napping like a champ. She has been an all-star napper ever since!

At seven months old I was able to put Leila down for the night around 7:00 am and wouldn't hear from her again until 7:00 pm. Lucky number 7!

So here we are, almost nine months later and Leila still takes two killer TWO HOUR naps...

...until yesterday.

Jeff had to abort the second nap after listening to her talk, sing, and eventually whine for an hour.

I have been dreading this transition since she turned a year old. She has shown signs that she's ready to ditch a nap and today I decided to deliberately try it. I like schedules and routines, and if you ever met Leila you'd know she must like them too. She's the happiest baby I've ever met!

The time has come. The time is now. Time for a new plan.