The big sister on the other hand is a different story. She has gone five straight days without a nap. Last week she only napped a few days and not consecutively. Yesterday she was so tired she fell asleep at 4:45pm and slept until this morning. Still, she did not take a nap today. Again, she was ready to crash in the late afternoon. I kept her up until her normal bedtime in hopes that we would have better luck tomorrow.
How do I know when to let go and give up trying to get her to nap? She's gone on nap strikes before but they never lasted more than a day or two. I know she still needs the sleep. She's exhausted when she doesn't nap. Going to bed at 5pm every day is not a sustainable option since she likes to see her dad every now and again...
Any suggestions will be much appreciated. I feel like I've tried everything this week!
When did your children stop napping regularly?
Stephen quit napping last summer. It was an excruciating adjustment. We still have quiet time though, and he goes to bed without complaint at 7:30, so that is nice (it was a battle before). Sometimes he will take a nap if he's had an especially busy morning, but that's a little harder to do in the winter time since it's really too cold to stay outside for very long. When we were on vacation at Christmas, he slept almost every afternoon. It was pretty amazing. I have a hard time wearing him out all by myself though.
ReplyDeleteMaybe having a quiet time where she has to lay on her bed with a book or some toys will help? Sometimes just being where she sleeps can help send the message that a nap would be SOOO nice. It works for me, anyway. :)
Sorry - no useful advice to give. I just wanted to say that I thought it was a very sweet story, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how old your girl is but it sounds like she's transitioning from napping. My daughter went until she was almost 6 but my son quit at three. We just made the bedtime about an hour earlier for awhile and that helped a lot. Good luck.
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