Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The end of another era...

Sigh. I fear the napping days in my household are coming to a close. BubTar has been a faithful napper since birth. He is five and a half. Yes, I know how lucky I am. KayTar is almost three and has been a faithful napper for the most part. Until recently.

Three out of five weekdays, they are no longer sleeping. Yesterday they napped. Today they are not. I am still putting them down, but they just aren't dozing off. On days like today I opt for quiet time in separate rooms. They lay down around 12:30, if they aren't asleep by 1:30-2, then we make the switch to quiet time. I pass out books or children's magazines and put music on for them in their respective rooms. Today BubTar is enjoying Christmas music and KayTar is dancing and singing to her old standby Laurie Berkner. I am still getting my break, but it just isn't the same as naptime.

Naptime can last for hours; one, two, sometimes even three hours of blissful solitude. Quiet time is limited. Conscious children are not quite as content as the unconscious variety. But at the same time, there is freedom in this new stage. If we have plans, we can opt out of nap and quiet time altogether without suffering too many consequences. Bedtime goes infinitely easier. We lay them down and they are out. On nights when KayTar naps, she lies in her bed until 11 or later, chatting and fussing. No nap night, she is out by 8:30 without a peep.

I wonder how much of this has to do with our recent vacation, our days have been slower and more restful, not much need for mid-day recuperation. Now that we are starting up again, I wonder if it will become necessary again. Regardless, I'll keep lying them down with opportunities to rest and modifying when it is clear nap isn't a happening thing. I'll just take cues from the wee ones. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of vacation, now that we are back, we now have therapy all FIVE days per week. Monday through Friday, she has something every day. Deaf co-op, developmental therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. Sigh. It is all good. It is just so much for one small girlie. But we only have three months of these services left and I want her to have the full benefit from them. Today she was ready for her therapist to leave almost from the time she got there. We were working on paperwork, so she didn't even interact with her much, but she was very clingy while she was here. Before she arrived, KayTar was saying, "Want B (therapist)? Yes or no? NO!" over and over. During the session, she said, "Bye doctors." a few times, which is the first I've heard of that in a little while. I suppose starting back is going to be a bit tricky for her, but I hope she will find her groove and enjoy therapy again. It really is fun, it is just play guided towards a specific goal. Nothing frightening about it. Perhaps the continued vacation from doctors will ease her mind a bit, too. It was a good start, though, and she's happily talking about seeing M (therapist) tomorrow, and that is a good sign.

Ready or not, here I come!

18 comments:

Cristina said...

That is great that you are doing quiet time with them now that they are outgrowing their naps. At least you'll get a little break - even if it's not quite the same as when they were unconscious. :)

Run ANC said...

No nap would kill me - the Boy is not content to do quiet time.

Family Adventure said...

Kyla, she is adorable. I love the way your transcribe her speaking. Hopefully she'll get into the therapy sessions soon enough. They sound like they could be a lot of fun.

Giving up nap time is hard on the parent, but my youngest was never a good napper. He is, however, an excellent sleeper at night. And has been from week 10. So I really can't complain too much...

Love the picture.

Heidi

InTheFastLane said...

I am impressed with you nappers! My older two were always terrible sleepers. Jack Jack is the first to be really good at sleeping (naps and at night).

Aliki2006 said...

I'm completely weird in that the passage of naps around here was a welcome change. Liam stopped cold turkey at 2, and Tessa gave them up entirely by 3. Both kids did MUCH better with no naps. With naps they didn't fall asleep until 9:00 or 9:30, without naps Tessa is fast asleep by 7:15 on the dot. And neither one of them pulled marathon naps anyway. Sigh.

I hope KayTar is back in the therapy saddle soon and enjoying the games! I know OT is the one extracurricular activity Liam truly enjoys.

Christine said...

giving up naptime is PAINFUL to say the least. but i agree that it makes bedtime SO much more manageable.

and 5 days of therapy? that is a lot, but i hope she grows to enjoy it more.

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about pulling naps out of our routine, simply because E-boy doesn't go to sleep until 10:30 or 11 p.m. and it's driving us crazy! It's a tough call though, he loves to sleep in the afternoons and I love my time off.

Anonymous said...

I used to love naptime too. You sound like you are a very routine person ( I like that ). I can see your children are getting older and prefer not to nap now. Maybe those days are coming to a close. But I bet those were the nice days.

Becca said...

I live in fear of that day when naps are no more! I'll remember this quiet time trick.

Gretchen said...

Kyla--what is developmental therapy? You may email me if you'd rather. gertyp at sbcglobal dot net Thanks! I love how Kaytar talks!! :)

Bea said...

I feel your pain. Bub hasn't really napped for a year, but until September we were in a good routine of quiet time. Now, that's over - at daycare he gets to "play quietly" - i.e. have all the toys to himself and/or watch a video, so now when he's at home in the afternoons he has absolutely no intention of being confined to his playpen. He's pretty good at playing independently, but STILL. Not the same thing as a nap.

Mimi said...

Naps are important! Quiet time is not the same! But it's great you're able to separate them and get them to entertain themselves. Still. Well, at least bedtime is easier.

Nap? yes or no? YES!

Julie Pippert said...

Well speaking as one who has one who hasn't napped in what feels like forever and another who naps increasingly rarely...you'll get used to the new way and the freedom. yes, conscious children are not as content as unconscious ones, but it evens out.

Yesterday we did not even have quiet time. There was too much excitement with good weather and all the children in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD playing on our front lawn.

In princess dress, of course.

Glad the transition back into therapy is okay.

Julie
Using My Words

dawn224 said...

I was always a non napper ... my mother loves that I'm getting it back in spades now! Good luck with quiet time!

Janet said...

Losing the nap is so bittersweet! I have already had to cut Elyse's to two hours, although she would sleep three. I just can't handle the 10 p.m. bedtime that goes with the long afternoon nap.

~aj~ said...

I hope the naps will continue for a while, although I'm with you 100% on how easy bedtime is with no naps. Can't believe BubTar has napped for so long. I need him to teach this skill to Adam!

Junie's Blog said...

ohi'll be so sad when the naps are gone! Mia still needs hers desperately and well Gillian is still an eratic napper at best but every little bit helps! However it does sound like the time has come at your house to bid fare-thee-well to precious naps!

Anonymous said...

I have to say I miss my nap times with the kids:) I love my routine also, so I have to make it happen without the naps now!:)