Naptime 'round here

And so goes the saga of naptime woes. 

I've been fighting back against my nap resistant two year old since the end of November. The little guy who at one time was cool with a couple of songs and a goodnight kiss has been screaming, crying, kicking and trying to negotiate a way out of naps for four whole months now. 

I refuse to give in. He's two. Two year olds need naps. 

Admittedly, I have reached the point where I don't expect him to sleep anymore. I have tried letting him "sleep" in our bed the past week and although he no longer screams bloody murder at the mention of "resting time", I'm convinced he will make the Olympic team for trampolining in 2028 if the tricks he pulls on our bed during naptime are any indication. 

If he is caught trampolining (which is every single day), he's moved back into his crib and given a book and a stuffed toy to cuddle with. I tell him he needs to lie quietly with his buddy and help the stuffed animal fall asleep. This has been successful twice in the last three weeks. That's a terrible average. 

And now what do I do now that I'm really desperate?

Once naptime fails  (we're usually at least 90 minutes into the battle at this point ), I've been loading the kids in the stroller for a walk. I face his seat towards me and underneath his sister so all he can see is pavement passing and hear my flip flops flipping. 

And this my friends has been a home run for us seven days in a row. 

I hate that he's not an easy napper anymore, but on the bright side, I'm getting some exercise and sunshine while he sleeps. I can already picture summer time. Over one hundred degrees with equal humidity--sweating buckets in an attempt to get my handsome little man to catch a few zzzz's. 

What have I gotten myself into? 

The cold hard truth

It's been coming for a while.

I think I've been in denial.

My once awesome napper, has been resisting his only nap since end of November. I originally found the solution of rocking him to sleep (hello 26 lbs!) worked, and swore I would only do it for a week, and then it would be back to our routine of two songs, a hug, kiss and bed. Well, that didn't happen. 

I rocked him well into my 38th week of pregnancy. Big belly and all. 

He needed sleep. Hell, I needed sleep.

And now, since the arrival of his little sister, we've had a grand total of five naps in ten days. That's not a very good average. Those naps came at the price of listening to a child scream like he's on fire for over an hour. Both NZ and I have attempted to go calm him down (NZ was successful, I was not) enough to sleep. 

I'm beside myself. I feel like two is too young to give up naptime. Everything I read says that two year olds need naps (or at least benefit from them). He is still in a crib, but from the looks of things today, he is one leg away from getting over it (I found him straddled and perched on top this afternoon). 

I succeeded in giving him a book and telling him he didn't need to sleep but did need to sit quiet in his crib and read until I come to get him. It seems to be working. Ten minutes so far and not a peep, but I do hear pages turning. 

The tough part is knowing if he is just going through a phase because the family dynamic has changed, or if he is legitimately not tired. He seems to operate okay on his napless days, although evenings get a bit sloppy and delirious. 

I'm tending to think he is just growing out of them, and that's the cold hard truth.

Anyone have any tips, advice, magic potions?