(no subject)

[sal_amanda]

Here's the key to a pleasant day with Nora - a long morning nap.  The problem?  She won't take one.  She wakes up after a short while and is miserable, clearly needing more sleep, but it's like she had just enough sleep to not be able to fall back asleep very easily, but she's definitely tired enough to super cranky.  

As verification of this theory, yesterday she freakishly took a three hour morning nap.  No kidding.  I had to wake her up so she could eat.  As a result, she was the happiest baby in the world in the afternoon and was all smiles and giggles while we went shopping.  These ladies in line behind us at the Target checkout were commenting about how happy she was and the woman stated that she hoped her soon-to-be-born granddaughter was as good as Nora.  I had to laugh about that one.  

I wish I knew what had made the difference yesterday so I could duplicate it every day.  She napped for around an hour today and has been a little hellion since she woke up, with both me and John attempting to soothe her and rock her back to sleep, to no avail.  I'm so tired from this cold that my patience level is pretty tiny right about now and I know that as a result of this, she's going to be a total crank the rest of the day.  It's just frustrating that this is what my days are like everyday and I can't seem to figure out how to change it.  It's funny, too, that we were able to sleep train her at night without too much difficulty so early on, but the naps are still eluding us.  Nothing I've read and/or tried seems to work during the day, but she is clearly in need of those naps.  I need them, too.

Comments

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

You have my total and complete sympathy. Grace was never a good napper as a baby and she was never a good napper as a toddler. You might recall that I complained that she would nap 45 minutes and scream for an hour and a half? I wish that I had a magical answer for you. I think that Grace and Nora will be great friends, some day. ;)

[sal_amanda]

That is exactly what she does every frigging day. It is so unbelievably tiring. So how many years until the screaming stops then?

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

When will it end? I'll let you know.

I try to have Grace NOT nap, because her crankiness from not napping is more bearable than the screaming. Unfortunately, tonight she passed out at 5:15 (she has a cold and I probably should have had a nap today). She woke up cranky as can be. That was AFTER she peed all over my bed (where she happened to be playing when she fell asleep). Now, it's 8:15 and God only knows when she will fall asleep after such a late nap.

If it makes you feel any better, when I would have friends watch Grace for me during the day if I worked, she would nap LONGER for them and NEVER woke up screaming. It was really tempting to put her in daycare. If John-Paul was working dayshift I might have been convinced to put her in a few days a week and get a more regular part time job.

[sal_amanda]

My mom had her all day yesterday while I was at a training and didn't have anymore success than I do. Since it was so hot outside, she wound up pushing the stroller around the house to get her to sleep at one point. I'm thinking daycare might be more successful as they would be able to be more consistent, though that plan is only supposed to be for two days a week so we'll see how that pans out.