Naps eventually stop.
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but your darling offspring will reach a point in their development where they no longer take naps. It will sneak up on you like an evil shadow, lurking and threatening to interrupt your 3 o'clock happy hour. It starts with one day, and then the next, and you blame it on any variety of schedule disruptions - the grandparents came to visit, he's getting a cold, the renovation next door was too noisy... but no. The nap is slowly disappearing.
Once in a while he will drop off to sleep and you'll (quietly) cheer and thank the gods of sleep for returning naps to your life. But it's a cruel joke. These moments of beauty are few and far between. They are the exception, not the rule.
After naps disappeared in our house, our lovely little man went through a period where he would request a DVD in the afternoon, and then fall asleep on the couch practically during the opening credits. It was pure bliss. Naps were back, and I didn't care if I had to watch Cars or UP for the 327th time. But this happiness also came to an end. We tried to get them back. Every day after lunch we would say "Hey Buddy, do you want to watch (insert Disney/Pixar title here)? Come on, let's sit on the couch and watch a movie." We'd even get so far as to have the DVD playing, munchkin on the couch under his blanket, getting his pre-sleep zone on, and then all of a sudden the spirit would grab him and he's off the couch and looking for some new mischief to get into. Let me tell you, it is mentally and emotionally exhausting to get SO close to a nap and have your efforts thwarted like that.
I don't know if it's a phase, as we are still in the no-napping portion of the toddler years. Naps may one day return to our lives. I'm sure when he's 14 he'll be only too happy to pass out whenever and wherever he can.
Only 11 years to go.
What?!?!
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's a terrible day when the naps cease. What to do?!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky the naps lasted as long as they did! Kira stopped napping at around 2 years old, and now we cringe if she actually does fall asleep during the day as it means she will be up a good 2 hours after going to bed (regardless of how short the nap is). And Hunter already seems to think he doesn't need to sleep during the day... at least he sleeps well at night!
ReplyDeleteIt's awful. Absolutely awful!
ReplyDeleteLOL. MY laddie is 13 months and his naps range from NONE to two X 45 mins at random times of the day. PLEASE if there is a GOD, let me experience a few months of this deliriously delicious 3 hour afternoon nap! Then I promise to let it go like a grownup.
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