Sunday, March 15, 2009

Naptime Nonsense

Some of you know that Rhett is a little on the stubborn, hard-headed, side. One thing he has been fighting me on (and that is an understatement) is nap time. I have tried everything! He absolutely refuses! I have sat in a chair at his doorway, so I could order him back down the moment his head came off the pillow. There were days I sat there for over an hour and a half, and he did not sleep. There were days he got so many spankings during nap time, I was sure DHS was going to show up on my doorstep. I tried the child proof door-knobs on his door and you saw here how well that worked. I finally came to the conclusion, that you CANNOT make a child sleep. You can make them stay in their room, even in their bed, but you CANNOT make them sleep. At first I thought he just didn't need naps anymore, but this was dis-proven by his crankiness in the evenings and the fact that he falls asleep in the car almost every day. He needs naps, he just doesn't WANT to take them, maybe for the simple fact that I WANT him too. While it is not in my nature to give up or to let him win (I may be just a tad hard-headed myself), I decided, it wasn't worth it. I wasn't really winning anyway, because I just ended up exhausted and frustrated and wasted half my afternoons trying to get him to sleep. SO, I gave up. There is no nap time at our house.

How is this going you ask?


Well many days this is what I find..................................


Rhett sleeping on the den floor

or on the living room floor

Or even on the kitchen floor


What makes him decide to take a nap? Well, he's exhausted......and I quit trying to make him.


While we're on the napping theme, here is little Thad napping. Yes, I am aware of SIDS. He only sleeps on his tummy for short naps when I am watching.


7 comments:

Leslie said...

Love this post. Made me giggle out loud a few times.

Kristen said...

I don't mean to laugh because I feel your frustration...but it is pretty funny! Layne is figuring out how to open doors, so I was going to look into those knob covers, but I just keep remembering what Rhett did to the ones you bought!

Janice said...

Yes, the little guy still needs a nap, but only his own terms...

Annie said...

How funny is that Rhett. I love the one where he fell asleep on the kitchen floor. He must have been pooped!!!

The Garvie Family said...

Cute pictures. Kamryn still hasn't out grown fighting sleep. I find her in random places asleep in our house also.

Hutton Family said...

I am not looking forward to that stage...but my cousin sent me this book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD. She has 3 children 7, 3, and 8 months. She swears by this and only wishes she would of discovered this with the first two, but she has instilled the sleeping habits with the older two and has been successful so far. Her third one is an excellent sleeper and has been from day one. I have read only the beginning and the first 4 months and so far it seems to be an easy system to follow. ( especially for stay at home moms) You might want to check it out. I am going to try some of his suggestions myself and see. But, you never know I may be posting funny sleeping places of Caleb soon too!!!

Becky said...

Oh, Hilary, too funny! Although it may have taken you awhile to appreciate the humor! Naps are over rated anyway :) Actually, I don't think I believe that, for myself anyway....