I finally figured it out..

For the past 6 months or so (up until about 6 weeks ago), Lauren has not taken a nap. Well, maybe like once a week. Maybe.

I was at my wit's end because not only was *I* not ready for her to give up naps, but based on her attitude in the afternoons, she wasn't ready to give them up either. So I did everything I knew to do; stay firm and enforce the "you don't have to sleep, but you do need to stay in your room and rest" rule. But it was a huge battle everyday and after about 2 months of this, it became clear this technique didn't work for us. I tried EVERYTHING; reading extra stories before nap time to make her sleepy, turning on soft classical music, letting her take quiet toys to nap with her, rubbing her back for a bit, bribing her with a Dora show if she napped, you name it-I did it.

Finally, I gave up completely on naps because after about 30 minutes in her room, she would lay in front of the cat door (on her door) and yell out to me that she was done "sleeping". And inevitably, she would wake Jake up, leaving me with two over-tired, cranky kiddos until the Hubster got home. It was not fun for any of us.

So about a month ago, I allowed her to lay on the sofa with her blankets, pillow and 'white b' while I did my bible study right next to her. The rule was she could lay next to me and either ready quietly by herself or watch a movie. But there was to be no talking, or playing, or anything like that. We were still there to rest.

The first week she napped twice. I was shocked because not only had she not napped in MONTHS, but she fell asleep watching a movie, which she never does. The second week she napped like 3-4 times. And the past month? She has napped almost every single day. After lunch we close all the blinds, bring out her blanket and pillow, and she lays on the sofa watching a quiet movie. And within 20 minutes, she's out like a light.


I know this isn't ideal because I do have to be quiet during this time. However, it forces me to rest a bit and heck, she's MUCH more pleasant in the afternoons now. Clearly she still needed her nap, but when I tried "forcing" her to nap, she was intent on winning that battle every day. But now, I'm not forcing her so she's much more relaxed and drifts off to sleep without any coaxing...

I'm just relieved I figured out how to win this battle!

::knocks on wood... HARD::

:)