Sunday, August 1, 2010

Sleeping Trama - Joy post

Letting go of naps for my son has been very difficult for me, even if it hasn't been difficult for Hyrum. I think that he was trying to let go of the last nap before we even got him his big boy bed [right], but the freedom that came with the big boy bed was a little more than I could handle perminently at first. I was desparate to hold on to that last nap feeling like when he napped I was a really good mother (for my peace of mind, but I felt for his health too). Well, after a few days or a week, I decided to have him sleep in the play pen for his nap, but I started in our bed room. That was commical, because after a couple of days he learned to tip the bed so that he could crawl out.

Then I tried putting him in the play pen in the bathroom. He would rock it something awful and still not go to sleep some days. Then I finally just had him stay in the play pen in his room (I don't know why I didn't try that in the first place. With this method he was getting more naps, but he stopped going right to sleep at night. Finally I acknowledged that I had done all that I could (durring those time I would also spend over a half hour singing to him and holding him in my arms or making him lay on the bed-it was really tramatic for me as well as a little for him-sometimes it was just a game for him).  He was showing by not going to sleep at night that he was really not needing those naps that I was just positive that he needed.  So, after trying some disapline techniques at night, we finally just gave up on the nap and started calling it quiet time and let him deal with wether he slept at night. We just let go of the control and it was peaceful for us too. He took a little time to readjust his schedule in the evenings, but without unneeded naps he finally got regularly to sleep at the normal times again. We just started putting him to bed a little earlier for night on days he didn't get a nap.

He does take a nap durring quiet time now, but it is his choice and we all seem to be happier about it now that I have let go of feeling trama about it. The letting go times have begun. Let the good times roll.

1 comment:

Grandma Jule said...

You are a very wise Mommy, Joy!

It is so difficult, to begin letting go when they are STILL *so* little!!! But you are right (of course!) --- letting go, and lettin ghim grow and make his own choices as it becomes appropriate for him to do so is what it's all about.

God bless you, my dear!