Saturday, December 10, 2011

Help

What do you do with a 2-year-old who refuses to nap, can climb out of her crib, won't stay in her room, and doesn't play quietly by herself? Seriously, this is not a riddle, I'm really wondering what to do with Violet.  Several weeks ago, Violet would go to bed without a fight at about 8:30 and sleep until 8 AM.  She would fight her naps but eventually fall asleep in her crib and nap from 2-4 PM.  This schedule was bliss. 

Since Daylight Savings ended, she gets up at 7 (Brandon gets up with her, thankfully) and won't nap until 3 or later.  One would think that naptime would be at 1 now, but that failed. This is because she figured out how to climb out of her crib, so the only way to get her to bed is to lie in bed with her and sing songs until she falls asleep. And this only works if she is REALLY tired; otherwise, I can be singing songs for up to an hour and she just stares at me.  Not going to happen.  People tell me that she's outgrowing her nap and just needs to have quiet time in her room, which would be fine if I could keep her in her room.  That is not the case.  I have spent 45 minutes holding her door shut while she pulls on the handle and screams, "Mommy read a book!  Mommy do blocks!"  On Friday I got her to stay in her room while I napped on her bed (I broke down and said that she could stay up as long as she let me nap) but it required me to fall asleep while she stuck blocks in my face and said, "After finish the blocks you can take nap."  When she does nap, it's so late and she's so tired that she will sleep until 6 if I let her.  So, I have to wake her up no later than 4:30 if I want her to go to bed at a reasonable hour (which is actually not reasonable for a toddler).  An hour of fighting for an hour of napping does not seem justified to me.

Bedtime is just as bad.  The same ordeal happens, except that she falls asleep around 10.  SERIOUSLY?!?!  This can't be healthy for either of us.  I feel like I've tried everything, but what works one day doesn't work the next day.  I don't consider myself the kind of mom that would be ok locking her child in a room; I don't want naptime to be a traumatic experience. But I'm running out of ideas.

I need to figure something out soon.  I have 10 days or less until I have another child.  I'm afraid that if I have to deal with this and a new baby, I will develop post-partum depression and end up throwing myself out a window.  Or maybe I just need to have this baby so that it will force me to stop treating Violet like an only child.

3 comments:

MOM THE BOMB said...

I agree.

Ashley Erin said...

she is you. you were a terror at bedtime. and you never played quietly. i'm just praying my kids come out more like Landon than me.

Bexie Funk said...

i totally forgot the wrestling matches you and fernash had growing up to get you to bed! oh SOOO funny. i'm the mom that locks her kid in their room, until they fall asleep.