It’s Just a Nap!

For some reason, nap time has suddenly become a huge battle in our house. Allison has decided that she no longer needs to nap (or sleep at night for that matter). Our sweet little girl, who started sleeping through the night at just 12 weeks old, has now become a sleep tyrant.

It used to be that when she got that sleepy, droopy eyes, staring off into space look we could simply lay her down in her crib and she’d peacefully drift off to dreamland. In the last week or so she has decided that instead of a peaceful calm approach to sleep that’s it’s better to scream at the top of her lungs until exhausted she collapses in a mound on top of her blanket.

This same scenario plays out each evening as well. We had a great routine of bath, bottle and then bed. We literally would rock her for two to three minutes and then put her down to sleep. She’d sometimes play and babble a little but not for too long before falling into the sleepy bliss.

We’ve tried rocking, humming, singing, walking and even just letting her play until she crashes to no avail. We have once again consulted our favorite sleep book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child,” and are following the plan to a tee. Unfortunately that means letting her work out the issues herself. We have to maintain a consistent approach and close the doors so that the screaming doesn’t get to us.

I just don’t understand why she takes such offense to sleeping. Lord knows that if someone would let me curl up on their lap while they sang to me, rocked me and patted my bottom I would happily drift off to dreamland in a matter of seconds!