Interrupting nap times?

[mrspopo]

My 20 month old is napping more or less when needed. It gets frustrating when I know it's important for her to sleep but it interferes with fun things. And it's really frustrating when others tell me to just not worry about it - they aren't going to be the ones up in the middle of the night with a fussy baby, or dealing with a cranky baby the next day!

We were doing a set time a couple of months ago because in my throws of horrible nausea I was curled up in a ball all day and miserable and counting down the time til she would be napping. I was very specific about the time, and she became very reliant on napping at that time every day. Since then I've gone back to more or less letting her nap as needed. When she shows signs of being tired. And it really works for us because we can move the time around and do the activities we want to do. Luckily she's awesome about making up sleep later on. If she doesn't get enough of a nap she's been known to sleep in until noon the next day. Not all babies can do that!

[Kabuki24]

Originally Posted by mrspopo My 20 month old is napping more or less when needed. It gets frustrating when I know it's important for her to sleep but it interferes with fun things. And it's really frustrating when others tell me to just not worry about it - they aren't going to be the ones up in the middle of the night with a fussy baby, or dealing with a cranky baby the next day! We were doing a set time a couple of months ago because in my throws of horrible nausea I was curled up in a ball all day and miserable and counting down the time til she would be napping. I was very specific about the time, and she became very reliant on napping at that time every day. Since then I've gone back to more or less letting her nap as needed. When she shows signs of being tired. And it really works for us because we can move the time around and do the activities we want to do. Luckily she's awesome about making up sleep later on. If she doesn't get enough of a nap she's been known to sleep in until noon the next day. Not all babies can do that!

WOW! I my son is up at 4:30 or 5 daily no matter what!

[luvsviola]

We would interrupt the nap, go at noon, and stay til kiddo can't handle it anymore. Kids are more flexible than we give them credit for.

[cdeweese]

I think what you've decided (going at 11:30 and staying until he's tired) is fair for everyone. They have to know that you will do what's best for your child whether they like it or not. Changing the time "to make more sense" shows a little bit of disrespect in my opinion. If it was supposed to be at 11:00, why change it? Children shouldn't be made uncomfortable so adults can "enjoy" them. What is enjoyable about a tired/cranky child. They should expect that you will leave when your child is ready. Can you tell we have this problem in my family, lol!!!

[cmarsh31]

If it's my family, DH & I would take separate cars, he'd just leave with the napping one and I'd stay.

[Kabuki24]

Originally Posted by cdeweese I think what you've decided (going at 11:30 and staying until he's tired) is fair for everyone. They have to know that you will do what's best for your child whether they like it or not. Changing the time "to make more sense" shows a little bit of disrespect in my opinion. If it was supposed to be at 11:00, why change it? Children shouldn't be made uncomfortable so adults can "enjoy" them. What is enjoyable about a tired/cranky child. They should expect that you will leave when your child is ready. Can you tell we have this problem in my family, lol!!!

Yep, and that's exactly what we will do! We think alike!

[ajane]

Originally Posted by luvsviola We would interrupt the nap, go at noon, and stay til kiddo can't handle it anymore. Kids are more flexible than we give them credit for.

[EmilytheStrange]

unless it's really far away, I'd go and just see how he does. And if he doesn't do well, then I'd leave.

DD loves her naps and will tell me when she's ready to go down, but she can also skip it if she's well occupied and for 1 day, she's fine. Try for 2 days in a row and you'll create a monster.. but the occasional day here and there doesn't seem to affect her as much as I used to fear it would.

[Teexie]

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange unless it's really far away, I'd go and just see how he does. And if he doesn't do well, then I'd leave. DD loves her naps and will tell me when she's ready to go down, but she can also skip it if she's well occupied and for 1 day, she's fine. Try for 2 days in a row and you'll create a monster.. but the occasional day here and there doesn't seem to affect her as much as I used to fear it would.

This is my DD lately too (but now that I've said that she's probably going to wake up tomorrow hating naps). But if you know its definitely not gonna happen, then in your shoes I would go alone, and if the party was still going on, have DH come whenever your son wakes up.

[isabelsmummy]

What we used to do a lot with dd1 was us all go and try and put her down in the pack 'n play. We did it often enough that usually she would. If she wouldn't, then one of us leave early with the baby and the other go home later by bus or with someone else at the party. She had to have her nap too.

dd2 wasn't as fussy and we'd just usually keep her up and she'd be fine. She's just never needed as much sleep. She's 3 now and dd1 is 8 and she's always the last asleep.