NAP STRIKE!

My baby is on a nap strike!!!

That's a thing??


Yes, it's a thing!

My baby is 16 months old and hasn't napped in THREE DAYS! 

Now, I'm mentioned before I don't usually Google things but when my kid's sleep in concerned, I do!

"16 month old refuses to nap" I Googled just yesterday and sure enough, it's a thing! Of course, it's not always at 16 months that this particular sleep regression hits, it has a wide range.
Photo Credit: goodnightsleepsite.com

This Mama is tired and the Daddy is tired! We've been up with baby every night but one this week. He is hard to console. He's also teething (molars). It's a rough ride but here is what I've learned.

Day 1 of no nap: I was wiped out, FRUSTRATED, and melting by the evening. I kept trying to put the baby to sleep about every hour for HOURS of the afternoon. He was fussy and cranky and it was really difficult.

Day 2: Went a little better as I realized this was a sleep regression and not just a "MY KID HAS GONE CRAZY!" as I was feeling. I tried to put him to sleep but I gave up a little faster which saved me a lot of frustration and the baby a lot of tears.

Day 3 (today): I anticipated baby not napping and made a plan for it. I'm super blessed to have daughters old enough to help out with their brother. So I planned on each of us taking a turn playing with the baby if he refused to sleep...

And he did. And he's awake... And it's not really in my control even though I'd like it to be.

Expectations.

When I expected to have 2 hours to myself to eat, watch a show, and work on my blogs I was incredibly frustrated when it didn't happen, but when I let go of that expectation, and even prepared for the opposite of what I wanted, I had a whole lot more peace.

Now, there's time to fight it (and I sure tried that) and there's times to let go and accept. We grow as people when things are tough and we love well anyway. It's hard to love my baby well, with action as well as feeling, when my day is going completely wrong! It's hard to be patient and gentle when things are not going well, but I grow and will continue to grow by the challenges motherhood bring. 

I hope I grow to be much more compassionate and patient and gentle person with every challenge I face.

Much love,
-Joy

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