Adventures in Attachment Parenting: Naptime Limbo by Allison Silver
I apologize for not posting a blog for the past few weeks but over the past several weeks we have been in a bit of a naptime limbo in our house. For the past week our two and a half year old has napped two out of seven days. On the days she does not nap she has been going to sleep around 8:30 or 9:00 which has been sooooo nice! But as we begin the transition to no more naps I find myself scrambling to find time to get things done that I once completed while she was napping!
One item on my to do list that used to get completed during naptime was writing my weekly blog post. So now I have to try and carve out a time during the week when I can work on that. I typically tell myself, “I will write my blog after she goes to bed.” Well, let me tell you after entertaining a two year old all day, I’m pretty beat! So when bedtime arrives, I’m typically not in the best frame of mind to put my thoughts on paper. Many nights I’m actually in bed shortly after she is or I’m trying to get other things done such as managing my home business.
It’s funny because I can remember not too long ago when I was talking to several moms who have children a similar age to my daughter and we all commented on how we hoped our children would nap until they were four or five! I blatantly remember several of us saying, “No more naps! I would die!” Well, just so you know it’s been almost a week and I haven’t died yet! I’m actually pretty amazed at how busy we remain during the day and by the time I think about naptime it’s typically too late so we just do something else or start to get dinner ready. I’ve even caught myself thinking, “Hey, this isn’t so bad!” And one perk about no more naps is we don’t have to plan our whole day around going home to take a nap.
Don’t get me wrong I would love it if she would continue to take a nap and I envy those of you who have little ones who nap until they are four or five! I do miss that time in the middle of the afternoon of just me time! But I have also noticed that on days when she doesn’t nap she goes to bed earlier and easier which is nice too. It gives me a break in the evening but it also allows me to spend more quality time with my husband which is a relationship that has been on the back burner since the birth of our high needs child.
It’s interesting because since birth our daughter has always needed me to lay down with her in order for her to take a nap. And over the years we have had several friends and family members tell us how “intense” our parenting style is. But something that sticks with me and that just popped back up in my memory recently is a comment that a family friend made when our daughter was ten months old. She came to visit us for the afternoon and as I was showing her around the house she saw that our daughter’s crib was in our bedroom next to our bed and she straight out asked me “Do you nap with her?” And as I hesitantly said, “Yes, I do.” She looked at me and commented, “Nap with her as long as you can and cherish it.” Now that was not the comment I was expecting from this particular individual but as naptime begins to come to an end at our house I hear those words echoing in my thoughts.
Even though there were many days when I wanted to just slip away and do so many other things I am really glad that I spent all of that time laying with our daughter holding and nursing her during naptime. And perhaps I feel more comfortable now with naps coming to an end because I trusted my gut feelings and I spent that time with her for the past two years. So to all of you out there who question whether you should be laying with your child during naptime. Nap with them as long as you can! That is precious time that you are never going to look back on and regret!
Tags: Allison Silver, attachment parenting, insticts, milestones, nap time, transitions
