Naps.

Before we had kids of our own, I never quite understood why moms were always so concerned about their kids taking naps. I mean, I knew they were needed, but I never understood how sacred nap time is till I had Brooklyn. From the beginning, Brooklyn has been a pretty good sleeper and I really didn't have to fight nap time till around 10 months. By this time, she was very mobile and walking all around furniture, which meant she spent the majority of nap time exploring her crib and playing. Her afternoon nap became my Mt. Everest. Seriously, it drove me CRAZY when she wouldn't nap because 1. It meant I didn't get that much needed break and 2. My sweet daughter turned into a crazy MONSTER right around dinnertime - not fun!!! Over Christmas, we were staying in my parent's basement and so it was really dark and quiet which helped a lot and she started taking 2 naps again, even when we got home. But it was still hit or miss for a couple more months after that. It didn't help that she started getting tons of teeth around this time either. I literally tried EVERYTHING to keep that second nap because I really didn't think either of us were ready for that transition...

-I tried moving her morning nap up.

-I tried moving her afternoon nap up.

-I tried moving her afternoon nap back.

-I tried stimulating the crap out of her and keeping her active (not hard with her) in between with lots of soothing time before the nap.

-I tried darkening her room.

-I tried waking her up after an hour in the morning when she would usually sleep at least an hour and a half. This actually seemed to work for a couple weeks.

Then...

-She started refusing to nap in the morning.

So...

-I tried to push back the morning nap and try combining the naps into one. She was a mess. I couldn't get her to nap longer than an hour and a half and that was clearly not enough for her. She was a mess in the morning b/c she was tired and a mess in the late afternoon/early evening b/c she was tired. I could hardly get anything done with meltdowns coming left and right. I tried a nap around 11 and this seemed too early b/c by dinnertime she was a wreck but she couldn't seem to make it till after lunch. She still seemed so tired in the morning.

So...

-I tried "quiet time" right around when her morning nap would be and laid her down like normal. That way if she fell asleep, great, if not, it seemed to help take the edge off till after lunch. This seemed to help for a couple weeks, although she would never actually fall asleep. 

Then...

-She started falling asleep during quiet time and refusing her afternoon nap again!!! Basically, we were back to SQUARE ONE!!! And that was the last straw and I decided we were going to one nap whether we liked it or not. I decided after lunch was the best time for us so I started at 12:30pm and then after a little bit we landed at 1pm. After months of being in this stupid transition stage where one nap wasn't enough but she wasn't tired enough for two, her body seems to have finally adjusted. I have to note that around this time I decided to get a video monitor to help me see what was going on in there. It made a world of difference!! I could never go back. 

Now...

-She is doing much better!! We finally have a good schedule going and she is happy again. Which means I'm happy again. It was rough for awhile. The one thing I'm hoping is that her naps continue to get longer. For a while I couldn't get her to go past an hour and a half. Her body seems to automatically wake up after an hour and a half but I started waiting awhile to go get her and a lot of the time she will fall back asleep for another half hour-hour and a half (video monitor helps a ton with this!). Her nap now usually lasts around 2 hours but sometimes I get lucky and get 3 hours out of her. I have decided that she needs at least 2 hours or else she is a big grump. I hate the days that she only gets an hour and a half. She does well if she gets 2 hours and on the lucky days that she sleeps 3 hours, she is SOO happy the rest of the day and very cooperative. I'm hoping as time goes on, that we can consistently get to 2-3 hours everyday. I have had to make transitions too. I miss getting ready for the day in peace and now have to shower at night or first thing in the morning if Scott is still around when she gets up. But overall, I'm starting to like our new schedule. It goes a little something like this...

7:00-7:15 am - Wake up, sippy cup of milk.

8:00ish - Breakfast

8:30 am-Lunch - Get ready for the day, clean, play dates, run errands, go to music makers, etc.

Noon-ish - Lunch

12:40pm - Start naptime routine (sippy of milk, read a story, sing "twinkle twinkle" while she rests on my shoulder, lay her down)

1pm - 2:30-4pm - Nap

After nap - Eat a snack, play, watch Mickey, wait for Daddy to get home, etc.

5:30ish - Dinner, play, go to park, etc.

6:45/7ish - Bath

7:30-8pm (depending on how long the nap was) - Bedtime

After bedtime - Quality time with hubby

Even though we are still working on this whole one nap thing, it's nice to finally feel like we are back in the swing of things. 

I think us moms can agree that the sight of your babe in dreamland is the best.thing.ever.

p.s. she's a giant.