Naptime RoutineUpdate

I’ve had a set pre-naptime routine with Abbie since she was old enough to find my attempts to soothe her to sleep amusing. A routine lets the child know that naptime is coming so that she may begin winding down in anticipation of sleep, or winding up in anticipation of fighting sleep as long as possible in Abbie’s case.

The routine’s details changed over the months as Abbie grew strong enough to roam the house while I was trying to run through the steps. They’ve always used the same basic principles, though: We read, we watch the fish tank while singing, and we slowly march to her bedroom while continuing to sing until I lay her in bed. Changing her diaper somewhere in there is usually a good idea as well.

The routine helped me because, when I implemented it, Abbie was impossibly cranky by the time she reached naptime. She was easier to deal with the rest of the day when she was just nearly-intolerably cranky. I was strict to the point of madness in enforcing nap times, and reading and singing usually helped to calm her in those minutes before naptime. Even when she continued screaming, at least I could feel like I was doing everything in my power to calm her short of reaching for a snack. Although she’s usually only cranky about Goldfish-related matters today, I still use the routine, partially to help her brothers, but probably mostly because I fear what she might revert to without it.

We still start with reading, which hasn’t changed much in all these months except that I read to three times as many children. About a year ago, I had visions of reading a book while three children sit attentively listening to my melodic voice. In reality, the best I can hope for is one child respectfully acknowledging my efforts while the other children don’t disturb us too much running around the room. Children apparently don’t want to listen to a book unless they personally dumped it in my lap. At least they burn off energy running around the room.

After reading, I put the boys in their cribs and take Abbie to watch the fish. Some day I’ll take the boys to watch the fish, probably as soon as I grow a third arm to contain all of them. I used to hold Abbie while watching the fish. After she struggled too much for me to hold, I started holding her hand. Now I just hope she stays in the room with me while watching the fish. I sing, “this is the way we watch the fish” to help keep her attention. Plus, I let her feed the fish, and she loves watching them eat all the food she generously shared with them.

I used to carry Abbie back to her room during the naptime march. When she mastered walking, I insisted on holding her hand while she walked back to her room. When she mastered running, she insisted on running back to her room while I struggled to not step on the toys littering the floor. Now that she’s mastered climbing, she insists on climbing onto my back so that I can carry her back to her room again, thus completing the circle.

Back in her room, I used to lovingly set her into her crib to keep her calm in the hopes that she might only scream for ten minutes before falling asleep this time. Now I throw her into bed with a ferocity that would be cruel if she weren’t laughing the entire time.

She still has to have her naptime objects to fall asleep, she just has more of them now. First she needed a burp cloth. Then she needed her lambie blanket. Then her stuffed dog. Then her stuffed cat. Then a couple more burp clothes. Then her Dora blanket. I check that all of these items are in bed with her by throwing them in her face as I yell their names. Again, it would be cruel if she weren’t laughing the entire time.

When every naptime object is in bed with Abbie, who is the most important naptime object, I kiss her goodnap, and turn for the door. I usually have to run for the door because she’s trying to make it out of the room with me. She still fights sleep as long as possible.