Nap Time Struggles

In the past week, I've really come to appreciate the old saying, "You don't know what you've got til it's gone." I'm talking about nap time here, and I really miss it.

2 weeks ago, I took the bottle away from Cohen. We actually just threw them all away. It was time; it was actually past time, but Cohen has never had a lovie or a pacifier or any sort of comfort item. Except his bottle. So I let him keep it for longer than I was comfortable with. But when he began to wake up every 2 hours asking for water in his bottle (and subsequently peeing outside his diaper every night), I knew enough was enough. So we got rid of the bottles cold turkey. And while we were at it, we said no more milk or water in the bed.

And now his whole bedtime world has changed, and we're paying the consequences.

Even though we give him the same amount of milk (and added in a quiet time with cuddles) before nap time, this poor kid is all out of sorts. He can be half-asleep on my lap with his empty sippy cup, but the minute I put him in his crib, he is wide awake again. Singing, jumping, dancing. Anything but sleeping.

And I let him sit in there for the entire 2-3 hours that he should be napping, praying he'll pass out from exhaustion and feeling like I should be doing something to get him to sleep. I am pretty sure this nap time refusal is a direct result of him losing his source of comfort in the crib. The milk made him lay down and be still in order to drink it, and before he could do anything about it, he was asleep. I'm hoping he will figure out a new way to calm himself down and put himself to sleep. I'm praying it's soon.

Because if it's not? I may well go crazy.

Well, yesterday afternoon, as I was driving home, he fell asleep in his car seat. And I swear I was so excited to see my kid sleeping that I parked the car and sat there until he woke up an hour later. And when he woke up? He was my angel child once again, not the limit-testing, whining, over-tired toddler who had come to visit for the past week.

I love naptime. Cohen needs naptime, even if he doesn't know it. And I'm not giving it up without a fight.