The Napping Experiment

The past two weeks I have been doing some experimentation with the older two kids' nap time. I have tried being strict with the time. I thought maybe a strict routine would help them more consistently fall asleep. I was wrong and they needed lots of help falling asleep each day and each night.

Then I tried alternating the nap days with "lay-down" days. These are days when they are required to lay down on the couch and watch a 90 minute movie. If they get up the are sent to bed but if they stay on the couch and "rest" they don't have to take a nap that day. This still gives me some personal time in the middle of the day, and most of these days Levi would fall asleep on the couch and I would just move him to his bed.

After two weeks I have come to the conclusion that my almost 4-year old, Levi needs a nap almost every day. He can skip 1 or 2 a week max. However, Rachel (who just turned 2) may only need to nap 2 or 3 times a week. The plus side to this is that she is falling asleep faster and easier when she doesn't nap. She is also not crabby most evenings even without the nap.

I am a bit surprised by these findings. The four year old seems like the one who would be outgrowing naps. Rachel (up until recently) was my sleeper. She would sleep 12 hours at night and take 4 hour naps each day. I was pretty spoiled. I guess this just goes to show how different each kid really is. I am sharing this info because there may be a parent out there with the same frustrations I was going through and this might be helpful. And I just like to capture these moments for myself to look back on in the years to come.