Sleep Drama

I've come to the realization that I need to accept the fact that nap times for Evelyn are gone. Woe. Is. Me.

This all started about 6 months ago. Evelyn was skipping naps occasionally in her crib. I didn't think much of it, chalked it up to being a phase, and ignored it. Then we moved her to a big bed since Adam would be needing the crib and that only exacerbated the problem. We tried timing her to sleep, laying next to her in bed, ignoring her, etc. She still wouldn't sleep.

Then, about 3 weeks ago I decided I needed to make one last-ditch effort to save nap time (in the midst of my sleep-deprived survival-mode) and we called a sleep specialist. I firmly believed my two year old should still be napping and the bags under her eyes proved it.

The "Sleep Lady," as she's known around here, put us on a strict schedule. We essentially shortened her night time sleep by putting her to bed later and walking her up at a specific time everyday in hopes that she would then feel tired enough to nap in the afternoon. You guys, I needed my sanity. At least an hour of quiet everyday.

She showed slight improvement in the first couple of weeks. Then she plateaued. Then she regressed. She has mapped once in the past 10 days. Once.

So I called the sleep lady again and asked what I should do. She was shocked that she still wasn't sleeping. She thought the fact that she wasn't in a crib was the problem, but when I told her that she goes to sleep in her bed at night without a problem everyday, she discounted that idea. She said she would give me one last suggestion and then she wouldn't really know what we could do from there.

That's where I am now. I'm trying to decide if I want to limit her already minimal nighttime sleep even more and try to manage dual car naps for a week or if I want to just let it go. I think if I can get Adam to keep taking consistent afternoon naps it won't be so bad, but feel like I'm done fighting this battle. The Sleep Lady said she has only seen 4 or 5 kids in 24 years do what Evelyn has done.

It's been hard. I've had very little patience and my sleep-deprived brain needs the respite from toddler babble and being a human jungle gym. But I think if I change my mindset, it will be okay. If we can get her rested with nighttime sleep, we'll survive.

Hopefully.