I'm a napper. I love naps. I have always loved naps. My mother was so baffled by my affinity for naps when I was a child, she used to check to make sure I was still breathing when I was indulging in one of my marathon sleep sessions. Sunday after church naps are the best ever!
My husband, however, is not a napper. No matter how tired he is or how little sleep he had the night before, the man will not nap. His mother recalls his non-napping childhood days quite well.
Guess whose nap genes Madeline got?
I thought all two-month-old babies slept a lot. I was mistaken. There is one ten-week-old diva who lives in my house and only takes 10- 20 minute cat naps whenever she feels like it. Oh, it's not that she's not tired. She is tired. She just doesn't want to miss anything. She can have red-rimmed eyes that look as if they could slam shut at any moment, wailing to beat the band because she's so tired, but she is not going to sleep longer than 20 minutes lest she miss a moment of what's going on. UNLESS she's meeting someone new or someone wants to play with her. Then, she sleeps like she's had Ny-Quil.
Now, there are these wonderful inventions called pacifiers. Perhaps you're familiar with them. Their purpose is to satisfy babies' sucking reflex, thereby comforting them enough to at least stop crying and possibly to go to SLEEP. I wish Madeline liked her paci as much as I do. She's sort of like The Little Girl With the Curl about her paci. When she likes it, she really REALLY likes it, but when she doesn't want it she cries even louder. I do know that when she does take it, she is ever so quiet and content - and almost always takes a nap.
We've tried three different kinds, two of which she gave the thumbs up and one that she hated. I gave the icky one to my mother to take home for her Shih Tzu, who apparently takes a paci. She also has bows put in his hair but we love her so we try not to make it an issue. Sorry. I got a little sidetracked there.
So, what's the point of this little rant? Well, to be honest with you, I'm not sure. I just wish she would take the paci Santa was kind enough to bring her and the reasons are threefold. 1. When she remembers how much she likes it, it really makes her happy, 2. She might actually take a real nap, and 3. Although I know some people disapprove of the use of pacifiers, Madeline is a thumb-sucker and has been since she was in the womb. Later on, I can take a paci away and leave it for the Paci Fairy. I can't exactly remove her thumbs to keep her from sucking them. I fear this will be a hard habit to break.
What about you? What experiences have you had with naps & pacis? Any advice or anecdotes to share?
2 comments:
Ahhhhh....Ethan took a soother from the time he was born (which the hospital frowned on but too bad). He was a sleeper and at age five is still a sleeper to the point that I have to wake him up in the mornings!
Tash, well...she never took a soother. She could get great distance spitting it out! She slept well through the night but naps were not a priority in her little life and at age one and half I gave up on those!
I feel for you! It is a crazy life with babies and toddlers but it is also a wonderful life!
Lilah was a cat napper. She would go in and out of phases where she would either sleep 2 hours at a clip or no longer than 30 minutes. It drove me nuts. Just as I would get started doing something (like eating or taking a shower,) she'd start screaming awake.
And she wouldn't take a paci. I tried. She had what can only be described as a great disgust for them.
Since I've started working on weaning her (oh, brother, is THAT an ordeal!), I thought I'd go retroactive and try to make her take a paci now. She's always been a comfort nurser, and I thought I'd gladly give up a year of paci-free living if she'd trade my nipple for a fake one.
She thinks they are wildly amusing, loves to put it in her mouth, but then she also likes to offer it to you. She won't suck on it, though. Not a chance.
So, I feel your pain!
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