Sleep Chronicles {Part 2}

Bedtime is easy! Naptime is .... What's naptime?

Tonight, Owen was asleep within minutes. I didn't even stay in the room.

Naptime was more like a game, but not a fun one. I kept thinking of Dane Cook's comedy skit, where he talked about how it feels after you've played Monopoly until 4 in the morning and you just want to quit.  Who cares who wins?! Let's just end the misery.

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting a little.  First, I'd like to say that I'm thankful that nap time is the struggle and not bedtime. I'm full of patience at noon, but it would be much harder to stay calm after a full day.  Today, I stayed in the room with Owen for two hours. There's no clock in his room, so until I walked out, I didn't know so much time had past. He is learning to stay in the toddler bed, but just doesn't stay down long enough to fall asleep.  I would just skip naps altogether, but his no-afternoon-nap-behavior is like nothing I've ever seen before.  He needs a nap because I need my sweet little boy back.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try a few things differently.

1. Start slowing down and preparing for nap prior to actually going in his room to sleep.
2.  No toys or books in bed.  They haven't been an issue before, but now they're an unnecessary distraction.
3. Tuck in bed, one warm warning, then silent warning, and silence after that.  Today, I tucked him in and then didn't say anything else, just kept putting him back in bed.... maybe a warning will help.

I looked up a few techniques online, but nothing was super helpful.  Some said The Super Nanny method works and others said they locked the child in and waited for them to cry it out. I really don't want to use the door knob locks to trap him in his room. It just doesn't seem safe to lock him in a room with no way of getting out. I am using the door knob locks to keep him out of his closet and the office (where we keep the tools), but that's just for safety purposes.

We'll see how it goes!