Naps are my Nemesis

I have two nap issues to share with you today.

Miss Rose is 4.5 and has been a pretty great sleeper most of her life. We had a few weeks of crying around 6 months as she learned to put herself to sleep and to sleep through the night. (Thankfully I learned my lesson and taught Maleah to self-soothe much earlier so we didn't have to go through that again). Miss Rose thrives on routine and so was always glad to go down for her naps. Around 18 months I converted her to 1 afternoon nap--which for a long time was 3 and sometimes even 4 hours. Oh such glorious hours for a mom!

I realize I am lucky that at 4.5 she will still gladly take a 2 hr nap. But it's starting to cause problems at night. Bedtime is around 8pm, which both mama and dad rely upon! We'd both much rather have kids who are in bed early and have those last few evening hours to ourselves, then have them sleep in late. However, some nights this summer Miss Rose has been up until 9:30 or 10pm. She'll play around in her room some, come out and ask us things about 10 times until we finally law down the law. I know it means naptime needs to come to an end.

But the transition is NOT an easy one for her. She may make it okay through naptime playing and having quiet time, but the evening almost always brings very bad behavior. Tonight she basically yelled at me at a church event (chastised may be a better word), in front of other adults. Not acceptable. I know the lack of a nap is part of it--but we teach her that no matter how she feels, she still has to behave.

Some days she still takes naps, especially if it's been a big morning, but I try to keep those shorter. I know she will adjust, but for my routine oriented girl, it's not easy. We have a year until Kindergarten, so hopefully by then it will be all worked out.

The other nap issue is my own! With this pregnancy, and the current heat especially, I am just exhausted in the afternoons. Some days I literally cannot keep my eyes open. When I'm at work, I have to--but days I am at home, it's a struggle. Mostly the nap wins!

I've shared before how insomnia is an issue for me. These naps don't help. Take yesterday for instance. I spent much of the morning doing housework and laundry then we had a family outing. It was fun--but by the time we got home and got the kids down, it was lights out for me. I slept probably 1.5 hrs. And in spite of the two tylenol PM I took around 10:30, I did not fall asleep until almost 2am. That's a bit worse than normal, but it's common.

It's a vicious cycle. Because then I wake up tired. I'm trying to avoid caffeine, so I can't rely on that to keep my awake. Come afternoon--I need another nap!

Somehow today I managed to avoid taking a nap, in spite of the 2am incident. That should mean I'll easily fall asleep tonight and perhaps not need a nap tomorrow. I'd rather get my sleep at night. I'm waiting for more of the infamous "2nd trimester" energy to come my way. I know come the 3rd trimester, I'll probably need more naps again.

So, avoiding our home right now is a good idea. We have a grumpy, tired pregnant mama, and a grumpy tired napless 4.5 yr old. Oh the joys!!