UPDATE: Nap schedule help!

(Cathy Weeks) wrote in message . com...

So basically, she still really needs a second nap, but really doesn't
want to take one. Any suggestions?

Well...the decision was made for us. By Kivi! After several days of
us failing to get her down for an afternoon nap, unless we were in a
car, we realized there wasn't a decision to be made, since Kivi had
already made it. She just would NOT take a nap.

So, we pushed her morning nap back from 10:30 or 11:00am to about Noon
or a little later. Her naps immediately lengthened from 90 minutes to
2.5 hours. Then, instead of putting her down after 10:00pm, we are
gradually moving her bedtime back, until we have a good idea of where
it should be. Last night, she was asleep by 9:00. I'm going to try
for 8:45 tonight.

Interestingly, since she quit taking a late afternoon nap, her
bedtimes have gotten VERY easy. For the last several months, her naps
were usually pretty easy, but bedtime could be a nightmare - it would
take a long time to get her to sleep, and she would struggle against
it. In retrospect, I think she had outgrown the 2 nap per day
routine, but none of us had realized it.

Her morning crankies start at the time her old naptime was, but aren't
as bad as they were when she got to bed after 10:00pm. She needs more
sleep at night, and less during the day. We are learning to deal with
her crankiness. She's relatively independent and entertains herself
when she's awake and in a good mood. So, we are learning to do more
around the house, or play on the computer when she's well rested.
Then do more with her when she's cranky. We figure that as she
outgrows the need for as much daytime sleep, her cranky periods will
lessen.

Wanna know something else cool? She understands herself well enough
that if I ask her "are you tired? Are you ready for a nap/bed?" She
nods yes. At 20 months, she isn't making sentences, but knows when
she's tired, and is perfectly willing to go to bed - if she's tired.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis

I'm so glad things worked out so well!! :-)

Cathy Weeks wrote:
So basically, she still really needs a second nap, but really doesn't
want to take one. Any suggestions?

Well...the decision was made for us. By Kivi! After several days of
us failing to get her down for an afternoon nap, unless we were in a
car, we realized there wasn't a decision to be made, since Kivi had
already made it. She just would NOT take a nap.

So, we pushed her morning nap back from 10:30 or 11:00am to about Noon
or a little later. Her naps immediately lengthened from 90 minutes to
2.5 hours. Then, instead of putting her down after 10:00pm, we are
gradually moving her bedtime back, until we have a good idea of where
it should be. Last night, she was asleep by 9:00. I'm going to try
for 8:45 tonight.

Interestingly, since she quit taking a late afternoon nap, her
bedtimes have gotten VERY easy. For the last several months, her naps
were usually pretty easy, but bedtime could be a nightmare - it would
take a long time to get her to sleep, and she would struggle against
it. In retrospect, I think she had outgrown the 2 nap per day
routine, but none of us had realized it.

Her morning crankies start at the time her old naptime was, but aren't
as bad as they were when she got to bed after 10:00pm. She needs more
sleep at night, and less during the day. We are learning to deal with
her crankiness. She's relatively independent and entertains herself
when she's awake and in a good mood. So, we are learning to do more
around the house, or play on the computer when she's well rested.
Then do more with her when she's cranky. We figure that as she
outgrows the need for as much daytime sleep, her cranky periods will
lessen.

Wanna know something else cool? She understands herself well enough
that if I ask her "are you tired? Are you ready for a nap/bed?" She
nods yes. At 20 months, she isn't making sentences, but knows when
she's tired, and is perfectly willing to go to bed - if she's tired.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis


--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)