I don’t claim to be the perfect person, or mother. I had a baby at a young age, and probably wasn’t a responsible as I should have been at times, however I have learned a few things. Within my limited amount of parenting it seems like some days I’ve seen it all. There’s a few things that I can now appreciate now that I am a mom of two. I never took nap-time as seriously as I should have. I now understand the importance of nap.
My oldest sister is much different then me, I can’t believe now that I once called her the “nap natzi”. She’s very on time when it comes to naps. Even putting her own self aside and things she rather do, to make sure her son is home. Napping.
Maybe being a stay at home mom I never had much of a schedule. Kaila always slept in so as a toddler she didn’t nap, sleep in, no nap means early bedtime. So now that Kai entered preschool we’ve had to deal with nap. Kai’s teacher came to me last week with concerns, nap time at school had gotten so bad that when Kaila knew it was coming she would throw a major fit, not eat lunch, or use the restroom. My sweet girl had totally flipped and she wasn’t listening to anyone.
I don’t know what the issue with nap is. A power struggle I think. Not wanting to be told what to do, she knew knows no matter what at her school she will take a nap. She will have to lay down. Maybe it was being forced to do it. Whatever it was Kaila wasn’t having any part in it. So we had to find a solution.
Kai’s teacher asked me what I wanted to do, and honestly she has to stick it out. Sometimes in life we have to do things we don’t want to. It’s responsibility and I believe she will learn a real lesson form all this. We decided to put her on a strict schedule her teacher would reinforce her good behavior like normal but this time she knew what we were expecting. She was going to stay for nap and I would be there to get her right after.Her teacher said to reward her, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.
So far she hasn’t had a breakdown. Has eaten all her lunch again. It’s like nap time was never an issue. It’s a great lesson in working with her teachers and me communicating more with her school.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmmm, Let’s see. Its funny b/c I was a teen when I had Johnny and he hated naps his schedule was around my school schedule. He was never a napper though. When I started working full time he had no choice but to go to daycare full time and with that came nap time. I found out that he was fighting it and the staff was actually holding him down forcing him to nap. I flipped my lid (more about the pinning him down [leg over body]). I don’t think a child should be forced to take a nap at all. I do believe however a child should learn to respect that time as quiet time but I think if she were to lay on a mat looking at books or playing puzzles (basically something quiet and non distracting that would suffice.
Gavin is the complete opposite and can’t function the day without one. Even at 3.5 years old I can still get a good 2-3 hour nap out of him and it usually ends with me having to wake him up.
I guess as a parent its your call as to what to do but I don’t think all children are the same so why treat them so. If Kai wasn’t a napper as a child why force her to be one now, especially when she’s going to have to unlearn it soon.
It sounds totally bat shit crazy but kids and people THRIVE on organization. Especially kids. The structure is so important to them so that when they get older they are already in a routine which makes them that much easier to deal with and their behavior also shows. I was lucky with Grant. He went to daycare from 6wks until 2 1/2 and they put him on schedule for me (because I had to work) so when I stayed home with him from 2 1/2 on, he was already in a routine. Life will be a breeze for you from here on out…its tough to get them on the schedule, but WELL worth all the hard work.
I think Karie’s right about routine and organization, but I also think that we would ALL be better off if we were taking naps. In fact, other than toddlers, everyone I know from teenagers through seniors wish they could nap!
When my girl was little, I always napped when she did. It might have only been 10-15 minutes, but it was soooo sweet.