No nap crankies

[Carmela's Mom]

Well last night went better than I thought it would.  She was cranky at like 4 p.m. but got out of it when DAddy got home.  She had her bath, they played and then when we were reading her books she started yawning.  We gave her snack and put her to bed and she was asleep by 7:15.  She slept until 7:30 this morning YAY!!!!! 

But oh my LORD, do I have a cranky kid on my hands this morning.  She's been yawning, rubbing eyes all morning and just whining whining and more whining.  I think it's from the lack of nap yesterday. 

I think she may turn into an every other day napper or (what I'm hoping) is that she learns her lesson and naps for good now since she knows what it's like being sooo tired.

So anyway, my question is when did they get used to no naps and get over the crankiness. Carmela is only 20 months old so I am going to continue putting her down for 2 hours each day because I truly feel this is way to early to drop a nap, but is there a time that their body gets used to it and they aren't so cranky?

[sacmommy]

Oh, Jackie, I'm sorry. I was going to try to get back to you on some things you posted yesterday but haven't had time. I have often had those cranky day after no nap days!

Mostly, I wouldn't make no-nap assumptions based on our girls' current sleeping behaviors. They may grow out of this, or the naps may diminish. But generally they should nap til at least 2 1/2 or 3. Even my son, who was a terrible sleeper, napped until 3. Most of his friends STILL nap at 4. So I think these little girls of ours are working through their nap issues and they will get better.

I think your plan is perfect. Put Carmela down for at least 1 1/2 hrs every day, and then just get her up like normal if she doesn't nap. And try to get to a place where you don't stress the whole time about whether or not she'll sleep (I'm saying this to myself as well) - try to rest or get stuff done or whatever it is you like to do during nap.

There is another great book about sleeping that I lent to a friend - it's called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It has a lot of info on sleep habits by age, etc. Very wordy, but worth the read.

[Carmela's Mom]

Thanks for teh tip.  I so agree that I think this is a phase.  I'm hoping she learns her lesson.  Though my best friend's son started his phase at 19 months and now at 23 months he's still only napping every other day.  But he's not cranky at all and he sleeps 12.5 hours on nights that he doesn't nap so I think that's all he needs.  I think if they are so cranky and tired, then they still need the nap! 

Today is a good nap day and I'm praying tomorrow and Sunday are too so we can all enjoy our Christmas!

merry Christmas!

P.S. Did I tell you my daughter Carmela was almost a Karina (though I was spelling it with a C -- love the name