The Importance of Napping

Elizabeth and Dylan both gave up napping on a regular basis during their respective second years of life. This was very disturbing to me seeing as how when Elizabeth was 2 I had an infant (Dylan) and for Dylan's second year I was either VERY pregnant or had an infant. These kids either have very good or very bad timing, depending on their goals.

(side note: I believe their ultimate goal is to drive me straight to the looney bin)

So, with Benjamin I am determined to keep him napping regularly for as long as I possibly can.

I enforce the double nap a day policy strenuously.

No matter what, Ben is in his crib ready for a morning nap (fed, changed, binked) by 10 am at the latest, but usually around 9:30. This works out GREAT when he wakes up at 7:30 or 8 am but not so much when he snoozes until 9 am. Those are the days when I wish I had a nanny or a clone or a secret panic room to hide in.

But I digress.
The morning nap is essential because without it, he is a grump. An intolerable grump.
He must be napping by 10 because he has to be awake and in the car by 11:45 so Elizabeth gets to school on time (noon).

The round trip to school, drop off and back takes an hour. So on days when we come home, we're back by 1 pm at the latest. Then Ben has a lunch, some juice and takes another nap by no later than 1:30 pm. This is essential because he has to be up and in the car by 3 pm so we get to school in time to pick up Elizabeth at 3:30.

You can see, there is little room for error in the schedule and sometimes mistakes are made. If we stay in town during school, Ben does not nap until almost 4 pm when we get home. Then he sleeps through family dinner, which is fine, but he'll be up until after 8 pm.

When he properly naps in the afternoon, he's up at 3, awake for family dinner and sleepy again by 7-7:30 pm. Perfect.

Very rarely do we have a perfect day during the school week. Or on any day where anything needs to be accomplished outside the house. Friday through Sunday are usually good days. Every other day, eh, toss-up.

He's napping now, and will probably sleep until his usual 11:30 ish. God willing.

I just wish that Dylan would nap....that would really be a miracle. I need that miracle today!

Oh, have I mentioned?

Dylan's gone completely nap-free.
This is horrendous, horrible, terrible news.
He should be napping RIGHT NOW, as it's his former nap time.
Instead, he's taken the cushions off the couch and is jumping on the pull-out bed.
He's also wearing my sandals as gloves...you know for karate.

Don't think that because he doesn't TAKE naps he no longer NEEDS naps.
HE NEEDS NAPS.
I need him to take naps.
He refuses.

He just started crying because I told him not to throw paper at me. Like hysterical crying. Then he stomped off to his room in a hissy fit of epic proportions.
Yeah, he needs naps.

The downside to the no napping is that he's awake all day. Obviously.
Look deeper into that statement and you'll see this means I get no break from Hurricane Dylan.

The upside is that he goes to bed earlier than ever before. Where the Dylan who napped was up until almost 9 pm every night, the new No Nap Dylan is ready for bed at around 7:30 pm.
Sometimes he is ready to go to bed immediately after dinner. Sometimes much earlier than that even. We've found him sleeping in his sister's bed and on the floor of our room pre-dinner and he's remained asleep on those days until the next morning.

I think he's still working out the kinks in his new no nap system. It's a rough transition, I'll concede. He used to reliably go down for a nap between noon and 1 pm and sleep for around 3 hours.
Heaven.

So, yeah, we're in a hazy period right now. He's not sure when to sleep, or where for that matter.

Naturally the whole concept of him no longer napping is terrifying to me. At least the new baby will probably sleep all day, as babies do. But then he'll be UP all night. When, pray tell, will I sleep?
I predict October 17th, 2010.

No big boys in my house!!!!!!

I guess Dylan thinks that because he has a new big boy haircut that he is actually a big boy.
Nay!
Today would have been Day 3 in Dylan's ongoing Anti-Nap Campaign...but too bad for Dylan I am able to lift him into the crib and he is sadly unable to get himself back OUT unassisted.
So about 20 minutes ago that's exactly what happened. Dylan went into the crib, kicking and screaming and yelling "No no no no no no no!" and then I ran away...far far away.
Five minutes of what I think was Dylan kicking the wall later and he fell asleep.
Even the mightiest of opponents can be felled by nice warm soft blankets and sheer utter exhaustion.
This Anti-Nap revolution cannot be allowed to continue. It just won't work for me, personally, as a person who needs to not have a little screaming demon begging me for fruit snacks and cookies every second of every day.
He's not that bad...
He just really MUST take a nap.
It is imperative. <= Did you see that Eleeza?