Nap Time

Nap time in the Anderson home is a thorn in my side. 

Case has always been a good sleeper and would probably still take 2+ hour naps, but chooses to have quiet time instead.

Siahna, on the other hand, has never been a good napper and is actually quite happy when she doesn't take one. 

However, I as her mother who hardly sits down throughout the day, needs a break from her so I am determined every day to get her to sleep. 

When she was in a crib, I would just put her in there and hope she would fall asleep, but if anything she was contained and I had some time to pick up without other messes being made. 

Now, she's in a big girl bed and EVERYTHING has changed.  She can now get out of bed at her leisure - and she is quite leisurely! 

I discovered at night time that if we put a baby gate on her door she won't get up and will put herself to sleep.  However, nap time is a whole 'nother deal. 

She is a problem solver - I'll give her that - and I often find her pushing a little chair or step stool over to the gate so she can unlatch the gate or simply climb over it.  So, I have to be smarter and remember to take anything of that sort out of her room before putting her in bed. 

For a long time, I would just rock her until she fell asleep even though that went against everything I had ever read about letting a child learn to put themself to sleep. 

But, rocking would often take 30-45 minutes before she would fall asleep and she isn't a light thing.

My new solution is to lay her in bed, kneel down by the bed and pin down her arms and legs until she relaxes and falls asleep.  This can still take up to 30+ minutes, but I don't have to hold her and worry about waking her when I lay her down.

It may sound like a terrible thing to pin down your child until they fall asleep, but if there's one thing I've learned as a parent it's that what works today probably won't work tomorrow but as long as it's working, don't experiment!