I don't think this looks quite right

[Tanyia]

So dd, 30 months has decided that she will only nap for an hour or so if that. At this point (32 weeks), I need a break from her for a little while each day. I'm okay if she's not going to nap (not really she really needs the sleep, but I know I can't make her sleep). So...I tried to do quiet time, put on a cd (45 minute one), set her up with some books, and told her that she didn't have to nap but she had to stay in her room until the music was over, resting or playing quietly. She's been sobbing for about 5 minutes off and on, has thrown all of the books off her bed and is now crying at the top of the stairs (gate there). Not exactly what I thought it would look like...suggestions? Should I be staying up there with her? I don't like the feeling of cio here... :bheart

[Joanne]

So dd, 30 months has decided that she will only nap for an hour or so if that. At this point (32 weeks), I need a break from her for a little while each day.

My 3 are closely spaced. I understand.

That said, the fact of your pregnancy doesn't change her development. She both needs you to assist her *and* she's outgrowing the need for longer naps, and maybe even naps at all.

If you NEED the break from her, hire a mother's helper, use TV, ask for family help.

[Tanyia]

So I moved her downstairs to the comfort corner and set the timer....That worked she was fine we were in the same room but quiet and relaxed. I think she didn't want to be alone (which is fine) I just know a lot of moms have quiet time with their kiddos.

[klpmommy]

:hug We do quiet time in the same room, too, unless I am trying to nap (then I am a total kid magnet). We also use the tv as a babysitter. IMO the tv is for *my* convenience, so when I need a break we put it on. Some days it is on more than others. Some days it is definatley on too much. :bag But other days it is hardly on at all so I figure it all evens out.

[sienna]

when my ds started to give up his nap, i discovered that laying down with him and encouraging BBC (Be still, Be quiet, Close eyes) and just generally being boring got him a asleep. It was well worth the 20 minute investment of my time to get the loooong nap back.

S

[Marsha]

Yeah, I didn't want to break your heart or anything, but an hour nap at 30 months is about right. And she's probably about ready to give up the nap, at least for every day.
Glad it worked out for you today.

[Marielle]

yeah it took a while and heavy involvement on my part to transition to quiet time. At first it was me in the room with him playing. Then it was me playing for 20 minutes and him playing by himself next to me while I was on the laptop. Then it was him playing alone the whole time but me in the room.

Now he can do some time in the room alone but still comes out to check on me or ask me to read a book. Glad to hear the timer worked out. Lately I save the book reading of involved stories, some older kid messy stuff or private snuggling for quiet time too.

[Tanyia]

Okay just so you all don't think I'm completely nuts.....She really needs a nap or to at least rest each day . :yes...she was hysterical in turns for most of the day, yesterday. She woke up hysterical and ended the day that way as well. :shrug Our lives have been a wreck as of late and her sleep has been likewise. I'm okay with an hour nap, but she wakes up at 6am and normally by 10am she's bordering on hysterics from being exhausted. I was completely spent with her hysterics yesterday, I thought that giving her some quiet time would allow her to calm down and fall asleep on her own, but it wasn't working. I only realized after I went back and reread my post that it sounded like I was just tired of her and wanted her to go away for a while...sorry (that's not an every day occurrence). :doh She's doing much better today. :pray4

[Marielle]

Nah, didn't read into it that way here but can totally understand needing to get away from the hysterics of an overtired or tightly wound kid. Glad to hear she's doing better today.

[Joanne]

Okay just so you all don't think I'm completely nuts.....She really needs a nap or to at least rest each day . ...she was hysterical in turns for most of the day, yesterday. She woke up hysterical and ended the day that way as well

I don't think you're nuts. But the transition from naps is often a challenging one. Kids don't go from naps to no naps easily. They often have a time period where they seem to need naps but don't sleep. It's very common.

[klpmommy]

I have no clue if your toddler still needs a nap or not. But I know that some of the hardest times we had with P&E were when they went from one to zero naps. It took a lot of grumpy afternoons, a lot of adjusting expectations, a lot of :hissyfit on both of our parts and an extra snack plus an enforced rest time every day to get through it to an earlier bedtime. But in the end that was the best for them. Unfortunately it was not easy- unlike going from two naps to one- that one IIRC was fairly easy.

[ArmsOfLove]

Yeah, needing one and taking one are two totally different things ;) And you can lead a child to the bed but you can't make them sleep :giggle

[tazmom]

Sounds a lot like what I went through. :hug My DDs are 30 mo apart and DD1 decided she didn't want to take naps anymore about 2 months before DD2 came. She was a wreck and I was exausted. I moved her bed time up by 30 minutes, and as soon as she adjusted to that, another 30 minutes, etc until she was going to bed 2 hours earlier to make up for the lack of sleep. It took a couple weeks, but it was sooooo worth it by the time the baby came.

The good news is that within 6 months she was back to taking naps again. :woohoo I think she just needed to assert that she didn't want to and I couldn't make her do it. To get her back to naps I started by having cuddle time on the couch with her and she would fall asleep on me. Then I would get out from under her and let her sleep there. Eventually, we transitioned to what we do now, which is 1) she picks out 1 movie at the library every week, 2) she can only watch that movie for her TV for the day, 3) she can only watch the movie after her nap. I've actually had days that she has asked if she can have nap at 10 am. I do still rock her to sleep often, but I do that at night too. :O