Sleep Struggles

I've often thought about how so many parents longed to have children ... and then equally long to have them sleep the day away once they arrive. I'm no different. I never feel like a better mom than when I can get Edith and Atticus to take their afternoon naps at the same time.

Sleep schedules are a delicate balance. I generally follow the traditional "rule" to never wake a sleeping child, but that rule gets broken when Atticus is still in bed after 9 a.m. or Edith is still napping at 6 p.m. The last thing I want to do is ruin the next sleep cycle!

We're in an interesting stage right now with Atticus. If he sleeps through the night, he's usually up by 7 a.m. But if he has woken up during the night, then he'll generally stay in bed until 8:30 a.m. or so. I hardly know which scenario is better. (And it's not like I get a choice anyway.)

If he's woken up early, he might take a morning nap. But if that morning nap is too late, he'll skip the afternoon one. So early wake up = early morning nap = regular afternoon nap. Or if he awakes late in the morning, he'll often skip the morning nap and take an afternoon nap, no problem. This is the easiest afternoon scenario, although it usually requires me to be up with him for a few minutes at around 4 or 5 in the morning. Sometimes that's a small price to pay for simplicity.

So while he transitions from two naps to one, each day is different. Edith, meanwhile, will skip a nap one or two afternoons a week but is generally still holding on to a nap that runs from 90 minutes to 3 hours.

Or maybe I'm the one holding on to it.

I began writing this as both kids were napping, but I hear Atticus calling. Gotta go!