![\"\"](\"http:\/\/boydsnest.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/IMG_1528.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1528\\"")
<\/p>\nWe’ve been mystified by Rosie’s ever-changing sleep patterns for a few months now, but things are starting to take shape: no nap. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Back in the spring and summer, Rosie’s “early-morning wakings”:\/news\/2010\/summer-morning\/ drove us (especially Jon) to distraction. She woke regularly for several months, without any chance of falling back asleep, between 5:00 and 5:30, and even as early as 4:22.<\/p>\n
p{color:gray}. Photo: Rosie at Buckingham Fountain by the dawn’s early light.<\/p>\n
She seemed to wake especially early on weekends, so she and Jon would hit the road to give Lucy and me a couple more hours’ sleep. They used the dawn hours to explore Chicago’s neighborhoods, from far south to the far northwest suburbs, enjoying the feeling of being the only ones out and about. (Just the other day, Jon admitted to missing these driving tours, now that they seem to be history. He really should post about some of the highlights they explored, especially the donut shops.)<\/p>\n
Then a few weeks ago, Rosie started to shed her early-bird habit and traded it in for fussy bedtimes: one or two hours (yes, _hours)_ of intermittent cries, pleas for water, requests for potty sits, etc. She then began to climb out of the crib, so “we put together her toddler bed”:http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drboyd?v=wall&story_fbid=606299059715&ref=mf — but then she climbed out even more and started weeping to have her “biggie crib” back. Last week, we rebuilt the crib and took down the toddler bed, but Rosie continued to protest for an hour or two at bedtime.<\/p>\n
During a recent staycation week, we experimented with skipping Rosie’s afternoon nap on a couple of days — and with surprising success. She did seem a smidge overtired at dinnertime, but those evenings she fell asleep straight away and slept for twelve solid hours. But it was puzzling, because when we tried the nap again (even when beginning it earlier in the day), she slept happily for two hours. Alas, then she went straight back to resisting bedtime until 9:45 pm. My guess is that Rosie would benefit from a 45-minute daily nap, but since she sleeps like a rock in the afternoon, it is quite difficult to rouse her in the middle of her sleep cycle.<\/p>\n
So we’re pretty sure the no-nap stage has arrived for our family. (As long as Rosie doesn’t start waking up early again. So far so good.)<\/p>\n
In some ways, I’ve been looking forward to the end of Rosie’s napping days. Since Lucy does not need a nap, our midday routines have been a little cramped by the enforced quiet — and I’m not completely happy with the way we’ve required the aid of videos to keep the peace in our tiny bungalow. Our options for daytime fun dramatically increase without a three-hour block of required “home time.” Think of the museums! the errands! the swimming pools! the parties! the baseball games! the visits with friends! There is definitely a lot of fun to be had.<\/p>\n
But there is one point I’m having difficulty letting go of: *I had a plan for this year.* I had a fabulous plan that Lucy would go to preschool Monday through Thursday from 12:45-3:15, Rosie would nap, and I would have quiet! Time to work, time to sleep, time to eat bonbons and paint my nails. I’ve been really working to preserve this plan, but it looks like I’ll need to let it go — unless we’re willing to give Rosie a 10 pm bedtime each night (which we’re not).<\/p>\n
I am also slightly concerned that Rosie is getting enough sleep on this new regime. (Do two-and-a-half-year-olds really give up their naps? Lucy was three before that settled in for her.) But considering she was getting ten hours plus two hours of nap with her 5:30 am wake-ups, and now she is getting twelve or more, I’m guessing she is fine.<\/p>\n
My current question is this: what will become of the shape of our day? It feels like uncharted territory for us. I know that, even though being at home for Rosie’s nap was sometimes inconvenient, I benefited from the down time. This week we’ve been experimenting with “peaceful playtime”: I put the girls in separate rooms, let them listen to their favorite music, and instruct them to play with toys. It has been a good trial. We have probably 45 minutes of quiet play, not completely interruption-free, but I’ve been able to read a couple of chapters in my novel. Even with this little break, however, the afternoon can feel like a lot of time to fill, just something I’m not used to. I want to think carefully about how to restructure our day to include fun, quiet, and enough rest for everyone. Any ideas from seasoned moms?<\/p>\n
Thus ends the napping season for Rosalind Hazel Boyd, age 2½. I guess what she always says really is true: “Me no baby. Me big girl!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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