One Becomes Two
I give up. The boys beat me. Not that parenting is a competition with your children or anything. I simply lost. The boys can have their nap back.
Recall that a week ago I moved the boys down to one nap a day. This was a decision based on weeks of observation fueling a complete guess on my end. They seemed ready to drop a nap since they were having trouble falling asleep twice a day, and weren’t staying asleep for very long when they did fall asleep. Therefore, I cut the morning nap, consolidated everyone’s nap into one late afternoon session, and promised to never look back.
I knew things would be difficult as the boys adapted to their new routine. Screams would be shouted and tears would be shed to deal with the stress, and that’s just from the adults in the house. I resolved to stand firm and not let them nap in the morning, confident that the boys would learn their new schedule and adjust their bodies accordingly.
I thought the boys would rearrange their sleep patterns, learning to take their needed sleep in the appointed times. They’d sleep later in the morning, a welcome change for me as I’m growing tired of rolling out of bed every morning at the crack of 8am. They’d nap longer in the afternoon, giving me more time to prepare supper, and to prepare my nerves for the evening’s childcare onslaught.
The funny thing is they never changed their sleeping habits, though. They continued to bounce around their room in the morning while the clock still showed a “7.” They still napped for about two hours in the afternoon, refusing to push their total up by a half-hour. After a few days, I noticed that they were sleeping as much as Abbie was. After accounting for all the time they spent fighting falling asleep, they probably slept less than their sister who’s 18 months their senior. They never slept later as I’d hoped. It was as if they had a supernatural connection to their sister telling them when she was awake and capable of pulling food off the shelves for them. Plus, Abbie would bang on their bedroom door while screaming their names on the rare occasion that she would exit her room before they woke up, which didn’t help.
I gave up on the one nap schedule a couple days ago. The time leading up to the afternoon nap was especially rough. Tory screamed uncontrollably for most of the afternoon, calming down only when naptime neared and he knew his only chance to stay up longer was angelic behavior. Ian collapsed in Abbie’s room, falling asleep on her floor right after lunch while I was busy consoling Tory. His mood matched Tory’s after Abbie and I joined forces to wake him. I set them down for their nap with only one nerve left in my mind, and even that was hanging on by a single axon. I listened to them bounce around their room for a half-hour, enjoyed the silence of my break time, and listened to them wake up a half hour earlier than usual. That evening went as well as the afternoon.
I’ve reinstated their morning nap in the aftermath of their multiple meltdowns. The morning nap is now a mere 30 minutes, giving them a chance to recharge while still nudging them toward the realization that they need to catch their sleep elsewhere. Their afternoon nap remains at the same time, ready to transform into their sole nap whenever they’re ready to drop the morning nap.
Really, I haven’t lost the battle to drop them down to one nap a day; I’m just taking a timeout.
Recall that a week ago I moved the boys down to one nap a day. This was a decision based on weeks of observation fueling a complete guess on my end. They seemed ready to drop a nap since they were having trouble falling asleep twice a day, and weren’t staying asleep for very long when they did fall asleep. Therefore, I cut the morning nap, consolidated everyone’s nap into one late afternoon session, and promised to never look back.
I knew things would be difficult as the boys adapted to their new routine. Screams would be shouted and tears would be shed to deal with the stress, and that’s just from the adults in the house. I resolved to stand firm and not let them nap in the morning, confident that the boys would learn their new schedule and adjust their bodies accordingly.
I thought the boys would rearrange their sleep patterns, learning to take their needed sleep in the appointed times. They’d sleep later in the morning, a welcome change for me as I’m growing tired of rolling out of bed every morning at the crack of 8am. They’d nap longer in the afternoon, giving me more time to prepare supper, and to prepare my nerves for the evening’s childcare onslaught.
The funny thing is they never changed their sleeping habits, though. They continued to bounce around their room in the morning while the clock still showed a “7.” They still napped for about two hours in the afternoon, refusing to push their total up by a half-hour. After a few days, I noticed that they were sleeping as much as Abbie was. After accounting for all the time they spent fighting falling asleep, they probably slept less than their sister who’s 18 months their senior. They never slept later as I’d hoped. It was as if they had a supernatural connection to their sister telling them when she was awake and capable of pulling food off the shelves for them. Plus, Abbie would bang on their bedroom door while screaming their names on the rare occasion that she would exit her room before they woke up, which didn’t help.
I gave up on the one nap schedule a couple days ago. The time leading up to the afternoon nap was especially rough. Tory screamed uncontrollably for most of the afternoon, calming down only when naptime neared and he knew his only chance to stay up longer was angelic behavior. Ian collapsed in Abbie’s room, falling asleep on her floor right after lunch while I was busy consoling Tory. His mood matched Tory’s after Abbie and I joined forces to wake him. I set them down for their nap with only one nerve left in my mind, and even that was hanging on by a single axon. I listened to them bounce around their room for a half-hour, enjoyed the silence of my break time, and listened to them wake up a half hour earlier than usual. That evening went as well as the afternoon.
I’ve reinstated their morning nap in the aftermath of their multiple meltdowns. The morning nap is now a mere 30 minutes, giving them a chance to recharge while still nudging them toward the realization that they need to catch their sleep elsewhere. Their afternoon nap remains at the same time, ready to transform into their sole nap whenever they’re ready to drop the morning nap.
Really, I haven’t lost the battle to drop them down to one nap a day; I’m just taking a timeout.
posted by Matt at
11:27 PM
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