Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Battle Begins....

I have been on Summer Break for 3 days.  I waited and waited, and counted down the days for this day so I could spend the Summer with Jack (and Lenny).  And while I would not trade these 9 weeks off for anything, I have to say, being home is way harder than I expected.

The hardest part is naptime.  I am in a napping nightmare.  Jack naps welll for everyone but me.  He napped well for my dad and mother-in-law when they watched him, and he napped well for our daycare.

 I'm starting to wonder if he knows Mommy will pat his back until he is asleep.  That is what I have to do. For EVERY nap.  I pat and pat and pat, until I think he is asleep only to have him start up crying again for me to keep patting.

My newest battle?  Naptime=playtime.  Jack learned to pull himself up to standing Monday.  This is what I saw when I walked in the room.



I panicked and moved the mattress down, but the standing continues.  Once he pulls his little body up the laughing begins.  He thinks standing in his crib is the most hilarious thing ever.  He stands for five seconds, laughs, falls, and does it over and over again.  This goes on for 20-30 minutes and then I still have to pat.

I'm wondering if this is a phase, or if this is a battle I am just going to have to deal with. 

Any ideas?  Can this battle be won?



15 comments:

Jack & Lucy said...

SO hilarious (well I'm sure at the time it's not)! We have the same problem in our house too unfortunately. :( Good thing they're so cute or they'd never survive! haha! I need some advice too so if you hear of anything good please pass it on!

Amanda Bynum Photography said...

my son always gives me more difficulty than anyone else. . . It's cuz he knows mama will give him what he wants. . . just like you. . . patting on the back, etc. My guess is that he's also excited to be with you since you aren't always there. Its sad to say, but it will probably get easier once the newness wears off and he is used to you being there.

Anonymous said...

So I don't have any advice, because my son has started this in the last two weeks as well! I have decided that we both need quite time so I put the blinds down, turn the sleepy music on, rock for 5 mins and lay him down and walk out... yes he plays his pull up fall down game when I put him down but he eventually fall asleep...

Anonymous said...

Also you might want to take down the moible before your LO pulls it down (true life story here...)

Kahla said...

My kids have both been the same way, nap great for others, horrible for me. I've been off for summer break for three weeks now and it's still not great. Our son is five and doesn't normally nap now since he won't get to in kinder next year, but Emery is 8 months and oh Lord! She takes three naps a day, but unless I'm holding her, getting her to take them is awful. You'd think I had this down this she is my second. I have found that the darker the room, the better. Also, if you can get it to where he's just playing and not fussing, he'll eventually fall asleep. Good luck!

Belle's Butterfly said...

Belle naps well at daycare but not so well on weekends with us. And bedtime is a whole other story. She use to go down no problem at all. Now she screams when we lay her down and it takes any where from an hour to 4 hours to get her to sleep. Although last night being the worse night so far is when we were finally able to see the white swollen bump on her gum. I have no advice as we are fighting the same battle right now. Patting her back doesn't even work for us. I wish it did.

We moved her mattress down this week as well when she started trying to stand up in it. Good luck and I hope this is just a phase for you.

liz said...

He's working you, girl! Kids are smart! Stand your ground and it'll pass in a few days.

Debbie said...

Oh my goodness, I know you're looking for tips, but Jack is just the cutest thing alive!!!

I guess I'll throw in an idea, though, cause I KNOW how it feels to not have a break during the day. What's worked for us with Jacob is a sound machine. It has been an absolute life saver to get him to sleep through the night. But it just may work for Jack's naptimes. He did do a bit of crying at first, but within a week he was sleeping like a baby :)

I hope you get a mid-day break soon!

Jess said...

My son does the same thing. I leave him for a few minutes after turning on the mobile and usually he will tired himself of standing and fall asleep in around 15 minutes. Maybe if you leave him alone for a bit it might work? Hope this helps!!!

supermomplace said...

They know! my kids are at my MIL and I heard they eat like crazy. me? it's a struggle getting my 2 year old to eat, and they go to bed on time and take naps. they never do that for me, so I'm waiting for the them to come back and the war is ON!

Paige said...

I always had to let mine scream when summer break began. It took about 3 days and then they were set. Now, the other thing that made naptime glorious for me was having a sound machine in there set on white noise...we moved from 30 minute naps to 3 hour naps. It was amazing.

:)
paige

Heather said...

My oldest used to do this as well. I would let him play in his crib and eventually he would go to sleep. I wouldn't start checking on him until he started crying tho. The young one has begun trying to stand, but once his audience has left he just lays down and voices his complaint! :)

Visiting from NFF.

heidi @ wonder woman wannabe said...

Hi!
Love the name of your blog - isn't that the truth!? :)

I've got two boys (2 and 5) they are busy and active so I really lookforward to and NEED that nap/rest time.

I know it's so hard to listen to them cry, but if you tough it out for a few days, he'll learn what to expect from you. You know from observation that he's able to go to sleep (for others) without patting. He can do it for you too, and you'll enjoy naptime so much more. Just give LOTS of attention and extra cuddles before naptime so he'll be tanked up on your lov'n - then put him to bed no-nonsence and high tail it outta there.

He may stand, complain, cry or both but eventually he will sleep without your help.

A few of my favorite sleep books:
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Solve Your Childs Sleep Problems.

Happy SITS Saturday Sharefest - have GREAT weekend!!

daniii♥ said...

I remember when M was like that. We moved her mattress down and she would NOT nap. The same went for nighttime and I just needed my sleep. My solution? We started putting Sesame Street on her tv. Sesame Street is the one true blue thing to calming her down... ALWAYS. She usually falls asleep within the first 10-15 minutes of it being on, but it calms her down and keeps her quiet. Giving me and Jesse plenty of us time.

I know tv isn't the best answer ever, but it's the only thing that works for us! Sometimes we'll turn on her toddler nighttime music instead and walk out of the room, but she usually prefers Sesame Street.

At least it's educational! She has learned a good number of words from it, so that's a plus (and by words, I mean things like 'Big Bird' and 'Elmo'. haha). Also, some days mine just refuses to nap in general, so on those days I make her have 'quiet time' and she watches a full episode of Sesame Street in her crib with her door closed. She stays quiet the whole time (except when she laughs at it).

Erin said...

He is just so darn cute. I know what you mean about it being hard to be home ... I get a day off and am so excited, but then it's like, man, what do I do with you all day? And HOW do I get you to nap well like you do at daycare?!

He'll go down fairly easily for me, but he won't stay asleep for nearly as long as at daycare. I don't get it.

But I think if he won't nap, you'll have to just stop going in there til he falls asleep, even if he cried. He needs to know mom means business!