Nap Time Blues

Leo hasn't napped for a week.  Before that it had been going soooooooooo well.  I would lay between Leo and Zoe in our family bed and both of them would fall asleep pretty quickly and happily.  They would sleep for about an hour and a half (sometimes up to three hours!) - and usually I would nap with them.  Sometimes, I would try and get things done or enjoy some alone time during naptime - but they never slept as long if I wasn't there and I always felt tired, so napping with them seemed like the best option.  I didn't mind one bit.

Leo always enjoyed napping.  He would ask for a nap if he was feeling tired.  I remember one time we were at the playground and I called to him, "Leo, let's go home and nap!" and when he came running another mother commented how she's never seen anything like it.  He'd hop into bed, snuggle up and be asleep in under 15 minutes.  That's over.

Now it's a tantrum scene at nap time.  If I do manage to get him to lay down he will lay there awake and stubborn for an hour or more without falling asleep.  After a few days of either screaming matches or naps that started at four pm and stretched nearly to bedtime (or both) I gave up.  I offer him a nap.  Maybe I'll lay down with Zoe and tell him he can join us or stay awake if he colors quietly.  And now it's been a week without a nap.

I'm exhausted.  He's exhausted.  He clearly still needs the sleep - the two hours before bedtime are miserable.  I clearly still need the nap!  I don't want to move up his bedtime because that cuts into the few precious hours a day he gets to spend with jb.  But I also don't want those hours to be full of tantrums and crying.

To complicate things further?  Zoe has reached the stage where she can't sleep through noise.  Gone are the days where she would doze through music class.  I can no longer place her in her swing or hold her in the same room while Leo bangs his toys around and chatters. And the screaming fits that have become common place?  Forget about it.  So, I've been putting Zoe down in a different room so she can sleep in peace - but it feels like she is so far away.

I'm going to keep offering Leo naps - but not going to battle him for more than a few minutes if he is digging his heels in.  I'll encourage quiet and calm play for an hour or two in place of sleep.  And...I don't know.  Hope for the best.  The silver lining to all this nap mayhem?  Bedtime has been a breeze.