The Nap Conundrum

I think that at last, we've come to the end of the road with naps around here. Yes, Davis hit the ripe old age of 3, and can now go most days without a nap. This is good and bad. The good is that he goes to bed on time, usually no later than 7pm, and often as early as 6:15. He goes right to sleep. He sleeps 12-13 hours. All of this is great.

Now, let's discuss for a minute the upside of naps. I think I can sum it up pretty easily: Mommy Time. But let me tell you the down side.

When Davis naps, even if it's a relatively short nap, bedtime is a nightmare. He's not tired, and he's in and out of his crib (yes, still crib) about 64 times before finally falling asleep. The biggest excuse for getting up is wetting his Pull-Up. He's potty trained, and does great, but I still keep him in a Pull Up at night. I just don't think he's ready to go full throttle yet. So, he has this uncanny ability to produce urine at any moment that he chooses. He mostly chooses to do so after we've said good night. Then it's, "Mommy! I went pee-pee in my Pull-Up." And I am not kidding you when I say that there are evenings that we have changed at least 4 of these barely-wet Pull Ups.

The other night I told him it was too bad and that he would have to sleep in it anyway. He said okay and went back to bed. A few minutes later, Morgan walked past his room and the Pull-Up came flying out. Don't tell me that boy doesn't know what he's doing. I'm sure he'll use similar tactics when trying to sneak out of the house in about 10 years.

So, you may ask, if he's going to bed so nicely when he doesn't nap, what is the downside of no naps? Besides the lack of Mommy Time, it's this: I am forced to play with him much more than before. I know, I know. That sounds terrible. But I bet that deep down, you feel the same way if you have small kids. I can only make so many Play Doh animals or play with the Batcave so much before I sort of want to pull my hair out. And, while TV is kind of awesome, I  start feeling guilty when it's on for too long. And frankly, I kind of prefer to reserve TV time for early mornings and late afternoons.

fun with play doh

So, for now, I try to keep Davis up most days. He might doze off in carpool line, but I can usually limit that to 20 minutes or so, which will give him just enough of a charge to make dinner pleasant. Or at least as pleasant as dinner with a 3-year-old boy can be.

In other sleep news, Ava just booked her first ever sleepover for this Friday night. I wonder what time we'll get the phone call to come get her?