Peanut is Putting Us Through Baby Training

Well, Peanut does not want to sleep at all anymore I guess. At least not at night. For the past couple of weeks she has been waking up in the middle of the night, hysterical. She runs to her door and yells for us, we put her in bed with us and most times she just sits there awake. She is very squirmy too so it is really hard to go back to sleep. The problem is, she is so tired from not sleeping at night that she takes like 3 1/2 hour naps at 2pm every day and then can't go to bed at night. I am praying that the new baby is a good sleeper because I have dealt with Peanut's inability to sleep like a normal human being since the day she was born.
I keep telling my husband that Peanut is putting us through training for the new baby. That we are getting used to waking up at all hours of the night and then putting ourselves back to sleep as soon as possible. But he tells me that he doesn't need any training. He KNOWS what to expect when the new baby is here and he doesn't need the practice right now. Always the optimist he is.
Yesterday was the best. Peanut went out for a while with her uncle and he took her to the park and the pet store. Then he was going to take her for ice cream but she fell asleep on the ride there so he took her home. I grabbed her and went to lay her in bed when she sat straight up and started chatting as if she never was asleep. The problem here is that when this happens, she thinks she has taken her nap for the day, even though she was only asleep for ten minutes. Then she fights me tooth and nail to take a nap for the rest of the day even though I know she is tired. She finally passed out at around 3pm and I had to wake her up at 5:30pm because I didn't want her going to bed at midnight. We put her to bed without a fight at 9pm, then she woke up at 1:30am and my hubby tried to get her to go back to sleep until 3:30am. Then I just yelled to put her in bed with us and she fell asleep until 6am. So that was pretty fun. She is just so off and I am off and we are all off together. And I know that in about a week things are just going to get worse.

Just Call Me Mommy: The Naptime Slayer

After writing two posts about how naptime is my nemesis, I am happy to report that for now (fingers crossed, knock on wood) I have defeated naptime. How did I do it you ask? Well, a few ways.
The first and most important thing in my opinion was patience. Anyone who knows me personally will report that I am not the most patient person in the world. I generally want what I want when I want it. Add to it the fact that I am a big, huge, cranky pregnant lady and you get someone who has no scrap of patience left in them. But at my wits end I vowed to take a breath and give my Peanut the patience she deserved. So every day at naptime I take the time to read her three books of her choosing, the same as at bedtime. I also had to realize that even though I may be ready for naptime to begin at noon, Peanut does not feel the same way.
Another thing I did was to distinguish naptime from bedtime. The first thing I did was call it our "quiet time" instead of "night, night" or "bed time." I tell Peanut that it is time for her quiet time and that Mommy needs her quiet time too. I turn out the lights, read her stories, and turn her music on. Then, instead of at bedtime, I put a gate in front of her door. That way she can see me and knows that she is not locked in her room for the rest of the day. This has eliminated the head banging on the floor or the door.
Finally, I have tried to keep the time for naps consistent. Generally we are taking naps at about 2pm. I try to be home around this time every day so that she can get a good nap in and doesn't lose her routine. While this does put some limitations on our schedule, I think it is important for now.
Peanut still cries sometimes, but not the hour long tantrum that used to accompany our old naptime routines. She doesn't bang her head or the door. Sometimes she falls asleep on the floor in front of the door which really touches my heart because I know she just wants to hang out with me. She generally wakes up about a half an hour later when I tell her to go lay in her bed and she does. I am totally amazed by this because this is a complete 180 from previous naptime experiences.
Maybe before was a phase that she was growing out of. Maybe she was in pain from getting her last few teeth. Maybe some of the things I am doing are actually working. I don't really care if is any or all of these things. For now, naptime is no longer my nemesis.

How to Terrify Your Daughter Without Really Trying

So last night when we put Peanut to bed we realized that Cash, one of our dogs, was still laying in her bed. We decided, for fear of waking her up, that we would let him sleep in her bed. After all, what was the worst that could happen? She loves snuggling with him during the day and now is so proud that she can even say his name. So we went to bed and....at 2am awoke to the sounds of our daughter screaming. You see, when you are a two year old who is not used to a dog sleeping in your bed, it may terrify you when what you believe is one of your stuffed animals starts to move. And, seeing as Cash is all black, it may terrify you even more when a black figure mysteriously moves around in your bed. So as my wonderful husband leaped out of bed to see what was the matter, Peanut was running toward him from her room. He put her back into bed, put Cash in our bed, and all was calm again. Oh well, lesson learned. Do not allow dog to sleep in a two year-old's bed. Got to add that one to my list.

Naptime is My Nemesis

So every since Peanut was born, she has never been a napper. Or should I say an independent napper. Oh, she took naps alright. Only when she was a baby she was firmly attached to my boob. Then as she got older she fell asleep in her infant car seat and I could bring her into stores or back into the house with no problem. She never, I mean never, took a nap in her crib or pack and play. I tried so many times to get her to sleep in her crib. I would let her cry it out, sometimes for hours on end. She would take a small nap here or there, but never the hour or more that I desperately needed.
Now we are in the beginnings of the terrible twos and the nap problem is rearing its ugly head again. The problem is now we have moved her into a big-girl bed in preparation for new baby's arrival. Nap time now involves me putting her in her bed, waiting for her to fall asleep, and then trying like a CIA operative to stealthily sneak out of her room, praying that I do not step on a creak on the floor. But, as most often happens when you live in a 100+ year old house with all wood floors, the floor creaks and Peanut wakes up. And then I am in for it. See Peanut will sleep, only as long as I am lying on the floor next to her, holding her hand the entire time. Yeah, I'm not going to be doing that. Seeing as there are a million and one things that need to get done around the house, including eating a meal without having to share it or using the bathroom with out the door open to name a few. And on top of that, I am seven months pregnant and would like to occasionally take a nap that doesn't involve being curled up on the floor of my daughter's room like a dog. So most days recently involve the biggest temper tantrum in the world complete with head banging on the floor and her door which inevitably leads to her passing out in a heap of tears in front of her door and me ready to pull my hair out. I spoke with the pediatrician about the head banging and she said it was perfectly normal and the only way to stop it was to ignore it. Yeah, not my daughter. She will bang her head until it is black and blue to get her way. So for now I am at a loss. I am trying to be more patient and understanding, but all I really want is a cocktail. I am praying for the day that the nap thing will one day click. For now, in the battle of wills, Peanut is winning.