Sunday, July 27, 2008

Nap or no nap?

Anyone who knows Aidan knows that he does not like to sleep. He doesn't like to take a nap and he doesn't like to go to sleep at night. If he doesn't fall asleep in the car during the day it is a battle to get him to sleep. He could be dead tired and he will still fight sleep. At night it is the same. It could take up to an hour for him to fall asleep. It wouldn't be so bad if either Jon or I didn't have to be with him.

Aidan's doctor and a couple other people have suggested that we give up the nap. My reaction to that was "noooooo." When he doesn't take a nap he is usually miserable starting around 3. Doing anything and everything he knows he is not supposed to do. The upside is that when it comes time for bed at night he is asleep in 5 minutes. And asleep before 8 as compared to 9 or 10. So the question is, do I deal with a tired and miserable child for 4 hours so he will go to sleep easy and at a decent time at night, or do I still try for the nap and have a happy, rested child for the afternoon? Oh, and some quiet time for me. Although if he is asleep early at night I have more time for myself then. The trade offs you must make as a parent.

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