Finding The Balance Between Nap Time & Rest Time

At first, I let him go without naps.  Since so many parents told me it would happen, I just went with it. But after just a week of letting nap time go, I noticed that it was making my child a miserrbal brat from 4pm on, and a terrible sleeper at night!  Sure, he went to sleep by 7pm without issue, but he tossed and turned all night, waking at least three or four times.

Rather than force him to take a nap, I tried to make him have "Rest Time" in his room.  He could play quietly in his room for an hour.

This kind of proved to be worthless too.

We went back to taking naps the next week...

For those of you facing the nap transition period, I thought I would outline the difference I see in my child between Naps, Rest Time and  saying, Screw it.  Because, to just make the blanket statement, "children stop having naps after three," is TOTALLY CRAP! Just like with every other big change with your child, you have to find a comfortable balance to make the transition as smooth as possible.

NAPTIME

Ollie is nearly three-and-a-half and still NEEDS his naps. His nap begins after lunch between 12-1pm and lasts about two hours.

He wakes up refreshed and happy. And stays that way until bedtime at 7pm. I try to get him up to the bath by 6:30 but due to he and FTD playing and him getting a little older, I let it slide until 7-7:30. He is asleep by 8:30 every night. Though I shoot for 8pm.

Naps, by far, make for the best day for both Ollie and I.  Sure bed time is a little more difficult, but to have a nice guy all day, and a GREAT sleeper at night, it's worth it. When Ollie has his nap, he sleeps at night from 8pm-7am.

REST TIME

Rest time is that in-between nap and screw it phase. I usually resort to rest time when Ollie is being SUPER difficult about taking his nap. Or, we have had a crazy busy day that kept us out past nap time. I stick him in his room for an hour to play, which he rarely protests, since he is already tired from missing his nap.

Rest time only nets me an early easy bedtime that starts at 7pm. He tosses and turns all night long, and wakes up four or five times crying.

Needless to say, even though the early easy bedtime is awesome, it's not worth the horrible sleep we both get. Rest time is my last resort. Ollie falls asleep around 7:30pm and wakes around 6:30am

Confessions Of A First Time Mom

So, I'm nuts when it comes to my child.  My long time readers know that, but according to my sister, an avid reader and critiquer of my blog, I've been holding out on you. Apparently, I need to let the world know just how neurotic I am.

This past weekend, a church near my house had their annual picnic. Complete with carnival rides and kids games, and my personal favorite, a cake wheel where you place a dime on a number between 1-120 and if the spinning wheel lands on your number, you win a cake!

Unfortunately, the weather forecast was calling for 95 degrees with a heat index of 100-105.

All weekend long my phone was blowing up with text messages from the National Weather Service with heat advisories and a reminder to stay hydrated, and if possible, avoid going outside.

Needless to say, I was less than stoked about the weather.  My little fair skinned red-headed toddler definitely does not need to be out in that kind of heat, on a black top parking lot no less.

Being that the weekend long picnic is kind of the highlight of our summer, not going was not an option. So, I planned ahead for the heat.

My prep went like this:

In my handbag, I packed LOADS of sunblock, bug spray and a hand fan.

In a small cooler I packed:


Three large bottles of electrolyte water (partially frozen to keep extra cold)
Two frozen washcloths- for the back of my toddler's neck to keep cool
A Travel pack of baby wipes (storing them in the cooler meant that would be cool on his face and hands)
Frozen grapes and strawberries in snack bags

Clearly, I wasn't messing around.

Vacationing with our Tablet

The tablet is very travel friendly.  I didn’t have to pack/bring a larger laptop or use the small screen of my phone.  My Toshiba Encore™ 2 is super lightweight and thin but still has a nice and clear 10.1-inch screen.  I really liked being able to browse the internet and check on a few things online from the tablet.

I really try my best to stay unconnected with anything on the internet or work related when on vacation but I did have a couple of emails and blog related work I had to check on a few times really quick.  The tablet was great for this because it works more like a computer than my phone does and the screen is much easier to read.   I hate to bring my laptop on vacation so that is never an option.

Keeps the kids entertained with videos and apps.  My three young sons preferred the tablet over my phone for playing games and watching videos.  It came in handy a few times when the boys started asking if we there yet on the trip down and on the way back.