It turns out, once the child has figured out that I'm not going to party at 2am1 and sleeps like a champ through most of the night2, the same theories can be used during naps!
The last week or so, she's been SUPER cranky after waking up from most of her 30 minute naps. Like, "Mom, I didn't really want to be awake, it's just what I do, and so I did it, but I didn't want to." And we'd have to snuggle and really work at cheering her up. Usually achieving success at about the point she was ready for her next nap. Just like with nighttime sleeping, it was clear she was going to need a little parenting to solve the problem. I've tried a few times to give her five minutes of mild fussing when she woke up and hope she went back to sleep, but it hadn't really worked. And I know that what she wants is to get back to sleep - it's the same kind of cranky I could avoid by taking a nap with her or getting to her really fast and nursing her back to sleep. And I just couldn't keep taking naps with her3.
So, right now, she's on hour 2 of her nap. After just 4 minutes of mild fussiness at the 30 minute mark. Success!4 Which means that she'll only take 3 naps today - not 5.
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1 Only took 5 or 6 nights...
2 We only get up for one or two feedings a night, instead of three. This actually makes me a little sad in some ways. I never minded getting up to feed and snuggle, it was the two hours of, "no, really, we don't party at 3am" that got old.
3 Especially this week, since I'm supposed to be packing. Crap. The suitcases just don't pack themselves.
4 Double crap. Now I have no excuse for why the suitcases are not packing themselves.
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