Strong Willed Child
Today was another frustrating day with Sweet Katherine. Once again, she did not want to take a nap. Actually, she did snooze this morning in the car on the way to take a friend to the airport but it was a short and early nap.
After lunch she was acting tired. So, I decided to try putting reading her some books and then putting her in her crib, determined not to get her out until she had taken a nap. I put her in her crib and sat in the rocker to read, thinking I would be there 30 minutes to an hour before she would fall asleep. I had a drink, a book, even the phone so that I would not have to leave the room since that makes her mad. So, she played really well in her crib. She even would lay down for a bit. Then she would cry some. NO SLEEP! I was in there for almost three hours. I finished a book which meant I read over 200 pages. Finally, I decided to go ahead and get her out of her crib. I nursed her and she fell asleep! But, when I put her in her crib she woke up and screamed. I tried to lay down with her and take a nap but no luck there either. Finally I just decided to get her up, play a little while, feed her dinner and get her to bed early.
Second day in a row without a real nap. What am I going to do with her? If I knew what time of day her nap would fall, I would make sure I was home to encourage it. But, they are never at the same time. I think my next strategy is to put her in her crib at the same time each day, regardless of if she is acting tired. She can choose to sleep, play or cry. But, I will get my quiet time and hopefully she will eventually learn to take her naps.