The Dreaded Nap Transition

 It seems Joe is ready to make the dreaded transition to one nap.  The one nap is not the

issue.  In fact, it's a great thing.  It frees up our morning to do other things outside of the

house.  The transition is the part I loathe.  I wish there was a magic switch when kids were

ready to drop their first nap.  You could flip it and "Poof", instantly adjusted.  

Unfortunately that's not how it works, at least not in my experiences. 

If someone knows the magic formula, please send it my way.

It all started about a week ago.  Joe had been sleeping great.  Two solid naps per day at

least an hour each, in bed around 7:00PM, awake at 6:00AM.  Then one afternoon, he

decided to scream in his bed during his second nap.  I tried to calm him a few times, left him

on his own, and when nothing else quieted him down went and got him so he wouldn't wake

 Owen.  I thought maybe it was an off day, but sure enough the next day the same thing.

The typical age when kids drop the second nap is 15-18 months.  Owen didn't drop his until he was almost two and Joe seemed to be following right in his footsteps.  

Clearly he has a different idea however.

What's so bad about the transition, you ask?  For starters, the 5:00AM or earlier wake up

calls.  His little body is all thrown off, over tired and is not quite sure what to do.  I try to keep

him awake until after lunch, but if we're out and about anywhere where he is sitting in the

car seat or stroller, he'll doze off.  The problem with that is then we run into the issue of

him not being tired when it's time to take an afternoon nap.  Or he's tired, but not tired

enough to resist fighting it.  This is what I frequently see on the monitor.  

Not willing to lay down, but too tired to keep his head up anymore. 

And the weirdest thing is when he does fall asleep in the afternoon, he'll sleep for a little less than an hour, wake up and scream, then fall back asleep on my lap as soon as I bring him downstairs.  I put on Frozen, snuggle under a blanket and he's out.  I could just let him cry and hopefully he would go back to sleep in his bed, but then I risk waking Owen.  And once both kids are up, break time is over.  Instead I savor my little snuggles with Joe.

You can never have too many of those anyway.

I'm not quite sure how long this craziness will last, but until he gets it figured out,

we're doing our best to enjoy the early morning bonding time.