Terrible two's do NOT exist!

[samijoe]

ok, so i've come here to affirm that there is NO such thing as the terrible two's.

nope- now that i am crossing that bridge into 'no more nap land', my daughter is a terror and i'm already longing for that daytime nap that seemingly just isn't happening anymore.  she'll still do rest time, but the times are getting shorter before she's kicking the walls and screaming to come out----when she does fall asleep, i have to wake her 1/2hr later, as it's usually too late in the day.

we aren't having ew'ings or nw'ings....so we aren't on that ot train yet.  but she is driving me crazy!!

some days, she's bananas before 5pm and i think we are never going to make it to bed time.  i know she's tired, but that's exactly when i have to start pulling out the time outs or just simply, taking toys away that she doesn't seem to be capable of playing with, without clobbering her brother!!


yep, so i'm thinking there really is no such thing as the 'terrible two's'....it's just a VERY unbalanced time of sleep they need and sleep they don't.  yep, i guess it's super unfair to me, but really the most unfair to her!  today has by far been the worst---and this week we've only had 1 successful 1/2hr of sleep of 7 attempts.

i'm thinking i could wake her in the morning...but she really isn't over compensating her night.  both my kids were slightly under the required sleep-needs for age, so i'm hoping her body will just make up its mind and do it.

in the mean time---- LORD give me the patience and strength to GET THRU IT!!!



ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


there , that feels better......




sami

[becky1969]

Whoo doggies, you have my sympathy! I think the only thing that has allowed me to survive the 2s is the mid-day nap! Without it, my child would have been sent out to get a job to support himself. Yikes!

And since my kid turns 3 at the end of the month, I've been reading books about 3 year olds.  My hair is turning gray just reading the BOOKS, so I don't know what will happen when we actually get there.  And knock wood, what if he drops nap too? EEEEEK!!!!

Lots of love your way, girl!  Hope she mellows out soon! Could you get a portable DVD player to put in her room? Maybe let her watch a video during 'rest time' so that at least she'd be quiet for a good hour or so?  I say do whatever you can to protect your sanity! 

[samijoe]

so i guess my question today is:

should i start waking her in the mornings, if i see her night begin to shorten ONLY??

then, still do a required REST time, but don't expect sleep.  if i started to wake her, i might get a nap---but then i wonder if i should be messing with her like that?
all week she has slept 13-13.5hrs at night.....and she always does so if she misses a nap.  so ya, Stacy, should i wake her??

i am finding that about one day a wk, she does go to sleep for a nap because she must need it....but then that 1/2hr that she does get, seems to make her WAY nastier than if she had no nap at all.  but it'll be like 3pm before she will even sleep, so that's why we do only 1/2hr.  maybe i should wake every other day??

what do you ladies think?


sami

[GG]

Sami, my ds stopped napping at 2.5 yo. He's taken only a few naps since then, most of them in the car if he's SUPER SUPER tired. So I understand how you're feeling. Sometimes he's so tired by the end of the day but, if he sleeps 12 hours at night, he doesn't need the nap during the day.

How many hours does she sleep at night?

[samijoe]

at least 12hrs....but i usually don't wake her, so we'll get 12.5hrs/13/13.5hrs too!

just depends.  i know if i cut back her nightsleep, maybe she'll nap.....just not sure i should, u know?

[samijoe]

guess i should mention that we have gone napless for periods of time before....but this time, it seems like it's for real.

[legend_018]

I hear ya. Chayse has started not taking naps. Sometimes she does ok and other times she doesnt. I used to be real strict about her napping, but now it's so hard and I'm so tired of all this napping stuff. Plus I still put chaunda down for naps. Chayse will fall asleep on the couch for her nap now as opposed to her bed and sometimes I make her nap with me if chaunda is down. It's different every day. What kills me is sometimes she doesn't nap and than doesnt' go to bed early. but other times she's konked out at like 7pm. She also isn't quite making up for it at night. Lately, she's been napping on the couch on the late side. One night it was from 5:30pm until 8pm and stayed up until 10pm. we don't really like it, but it happened. yesterday she napped late too and we started bedtime process close to 9pm but it was after 10pm by the time she fell asleep.

as far as her being awful. I do think it has to do with being tired and not napping. Maybe not all the time though. She's constantly teasing and bopping chaunda and can be QUITE fresh sometimes. A friend told me recently that my kids seem very challenging and it looks like they run the show. When Chayse is tired she will reallllly act up inside of stores. Recently she ran up like 2 isles before I could catch her and she was laughing like it was some game and than she blew this rasberry more like a spit on the bag lady at the register. I could go on "lol".

[legend_018]

I'm lucky if I get 11 hours out of her a night. oh and she'll nap in the car too. I'm much more flexible now that she's older and fighting naps.

[willowonyx]

Oh I hear ya!  My DD is 2.5 yrs old and ONLY naps at daycare during the week.  She refuses to nap on the weekends and she is still waking up at 6am!!!!!

[lilmonkey]

Personally I wouldn't wake her in the morning unless you know that she doesn't mind being woken up.  DD doesn't like being woken up.  lol  It took dd about 4/5 months to truly drop that last nap (28-33 mos).  I think that you can instill the quiet/rest time so that it becomes a habit for good in the later years.  DD wasn't very good at staying in her room during those times but she does respect the need for quiet times or rest times.  So I wasn't really bothered by it.  During the transition, she was a grump by the late afternoon so I gave her a bath then instead of in the evening if she didn't nap.  This worked out really well as it gave her enough energy to make it to bedtime. 

I know that some moms would shorten the night sleep so they can get a nap in but dd really needs at least 11hrs of sleep or she is a real bear as a short nap wouldn't be good enough to make up for the short night.

[GG]

I read that, by age 3, children should be sleeping 10 hours at night and taking a nap in the daytime. If your dd only now started dropping the nap, then she's still used to napping so I'd suggest waking her up in the morning - but only if you truly think that she's very tired by the time evening rolls around. Otherwise, she's getting a good amount of sleep (ave. 12.5 hours, it seems) so just give her "quiet time" in her room instead of a nap where she's playing with a quiet toy, that way you get some time for yourself, too.

Either way, you're not alone. (HUGS)  Boy, I really miss DS's naps. *LOL*

[samijoe]

a 10hr night would have her in a serious downward spiral all day.

we only get 10hrs if she was ot that night.  and that is almost never.


hmm....i've got some thinking to do i guess.




sami

[GG]

Stacy!!!  *LOL*  Didn't we all think that wake to sleep was a nutty idea when we were first introduced to it?    (I'm just teasing you sweetie! )

I, personally, would not wake up dc. I'm a stay-at-home mom so it doesn't bother me (much ) if he doesn't nap during the day as long as he sleeps enough at night. However, when he was a little monster, overtired after 8-9 hours awake and a few more hours to go to bedtime, I did seriously consider re-instituting the naps. (though, by that that time, it was too late. He wouldn't lay down even if I wanted him to.)

Just depends on what you want to do, Sami. And, keep in mind, just 16 (or so) more years until they leave for college. 

[samijoe]

well, yesterday i actually cut her day off at 10.5hrs in.   usually a no nap day would be about 11.5/12hrs total....but A)she was really driving me crazy (chose the 'talk to yourself' in your bedroom route), and b) something just said she was about to lose it.  i prayed that she would sleep 12hrs and be ok---or at least show me ot, get a nap in and feel a little better.

she slept from 7pm-835am~ out as soon as her head hit the pillow.  she layed down and watched Toy Story in my bed (i sooooo don't care if we do this every day, i just want like 1/2hr peace while X sleeps) from 245pm-330pm.  looked a bit tired, but never slept.  and really, today she isn't a sketch bag---no hitting (fingers crossed) yet and is actually playing very independently and creatively (she's Buzz Lightyear right now--screaming "to infinity and beyond!").

I LIKE HER TODAY.

Can i keep THIS one???




lol
sami



btw stacy--i'm pretty sure i won't be waking her in the am.   she'll be doing pm's at montessori 2days/wk in january, so the later she sleeps the less trouble she'll be for them.  lol, like i care how she is for them---j/k!    also, somedays i just really need to hear what you would do or what you think, to know i'm on the right track!

[GG]

i would like to order up those 13.5 hour night, where do i stand in line?

Yes... where does the line begin?