Okay, so it's becoming increasingly apparent that DD1 needs to start preschool. She is bored out of her mind staying at home with me and her baby sister all day, so she's being as difficult as she can be just to make it interesting. The preschool I really want to get her into has no openings for the two-year-old class, but may for the 3-year-old morning class starting in September (she must be three for that one) or the 3-4 year old afternoon class starting in June (she only has to be 2 years, 9 months and potty-trained, and she will be both). The afternoon class runs from 1:30-5:30, and that having that time would really help me out. I'd also love to get her in sooner rather than later. The trouble is, this would mean she'd have to forgo her nap if we kept the same routine. Hers currently looks like this:
8:00 am wake up
12:30-2:30 nap
8:30 lights out, and if I'm lucky she's asleep by 9
I've been doing lots of reading on baby and toddler sleep, and I'm convinced that she needs that nap as long as she will take it, as everything I've read has said that children who still nap have longer attention spans, better learning, and better behavior than those who don't. I'm wondering if I could shift her schedule to something like this:
6:30 wake up
11:00-12:30 nap
7:00-7:30 bedtime
I'm willing to bet she'd go down to sleep much easier after an afternoon at preschool than she is now. This would also give evenings back to DH and me.
BUT, I realize this will mean I'm getting up at 6:30 every single day, even the weekends. DD2 usually doesn't wake that early, so it would definitely be an adjustment for me. I'd love to have my evenings again, though, so it might be worth it to give up sleeping in occasionally for a nice evening with DH every night.
And if I decide to do this, will it even work? Will Lilah even go with it? Also, how should I go about it?
TIA!
