Oh Snap, He Took Another Nap

Ah, nap time. Most of the time, it is a relief when your toddler naps. After all, many kids need at least one nap a day until they are about five years old. Of course, my oldest son, Dylan, gave up regular naps around the age of two and a half. He naps maybe once a week, if that, on days when there is a conveniently timed car trip involved. Blake is 17 months old now, and has been napping only once a day since around his first birthday.

When your child transitions from two naps a day down to just one, your first reaction is likely to be to mourn the loss of that extra down time that you used to have at our disposal. As time passes, though, you get used to the new amount of time that you have available during the day. Eventually, you reach a point where you realize that if your little guy or girl does manage to sneak in a second nap during the day, bed time is not going to be easy.

This evening, I took the boys out for a nice stroller ride after dinner. The weather was gorgeous, and I love to go walking with them. When we were about half way home, I realized that Blake had fallen asleep. He looked so happy and peaceful, but I knew that there could be trouble ahead. Bedtime was due to happen in an hour and a half, and he was likely to wake up feeling, um, refreshed when I took him out of the stroller.

When we got home, I put the stroller away in the basement as he kept on snoozing. As I carried him up the stairs, his sleepy head rested heavily on my shoulder and I felt a glimmer of hope that he might fall asleep once we got upstairs to the bedroom. We all went to the bedroom, and I started our nightly movie. As I cuddled with the boys, Blake fell asleep. I felt hopeful, and I snuggled up to Dylan in the hope that he would also fall asleep in short order.

Unfortunately, that was short lived. Dylan found many reasons to get up out of bed, and eventually Blake woke up. As I expected, he was full of energy and ready to go anywhere but to bed. Eventually, Dylan went to seep around 9:30 and Blake fell asleep around 10. That second nap really made for a longer evening than I was prepared for. I refuse to speculate on whether they will sleep late in the morning for fear that I may jinx myself.