Two is too many and one is not enough…

Okay, Mommies – you KNOW what I’m talking about. Anyone who has a kiddo over 16 months knows the not-so-fun transition from two naps to one. The morning nap is rock solid - too solid in fact. I have to wake him up after an hour or there will be NO hope in an afternoon nap. Then, when it is time for an afternoon nap, he plays for 1.5 hours though he sounds like he’ll be asleep at any moment so I hold out hope. Then we get about 20 minutes of crying. At that point, I feel like a bad mommy whose child has spent a long time awake in his crib. You see my dilemma?? Yes, I’ve played with the timing of the naps and think the real cause is that he’s ready for one nap.

So, here is my plan… Ditch the morning nap and go for the gold with the afternoon nap (gold = 2 glorious hours!). We’ve done this for four days now with reasonable success. I hear the transition is not really a smooth one because they are not really getting all the sleep they need in the afternoon nap and that it may take a week or two until he really hits his stride with the one nap. So, bed time has been a little earlier these days.

But the real change is this… Mommy no longer gets an AM nap. You know the mantra of having babies, “sleep when they sleep.” Well, no more for me. It’s kind of, well, sad. I’ll get over this, I’m sure, if he’d had a fantastic afternoon nap. So, to keep him from asking all morning, “Nigh Nigh,” I have to get us out and moving. This is no small feat for me. To have us both dressed and me looking somewhat presentable and out the door by 9ish, that’s pretty big for us. And, to add to my woes, I know that soon, when my new son arrives, I will not have the luxury of always sleeping when the baby sleeps. I can, at best, hope for baby boy and Jon David to nap at the same time in the afternoon so that Mommy can sleep. Advice???

Two naps or one, it ain't no thing. I love my boy and just have to share with y'all how handsome he looked going to church Sunday. He and Daddy were quite a sight to see. I’m in love, love, love!