Thank you all who responded with great tidbits to my naptime drama. I failed to mention that my inlaws have my daughter two days a week so I can job search, etc. My MIL has cited no problems with naps. She actually said that after lunch, she lets her run around and then brings her upstairs. She sings a song and puts her in the crib WIDE AWAKE and she goes to sleep!!
I guess my daughter has different expectations for each caregiver and mom has it the worst!
Anyway, I'm almost dreading quiet time already and it's not even tomorrow!
I might just go to a park a few towns away and see if she falls asleep in the car on the way home. I've had my most success that way.
If I come home and she's awake I will try again but won't go to battle if it doesn't work out.
Does this sound good?
**She doesn't do stroller rides anymore***
Is it ok if I say you should do it like your MIL so that she gets the same expectation of you?
I know how hard those 'hangovers' (of previous challenging times) are... if what you proposed is what you want to try, go for it. I know that when my husband was away on travel for a week or so and my son was your daughter's age, there were a few days I popped him in the stroller and walked my heels off because I SO needed him to nap. .... I still remember one warm afternoon when he'd finally gone to sleep in the stroller; I snuck into the house, grabbed a beer and then sat on the porch and stared at the side of my neighbor's house for a very long time because I was *so tired*.
I totally get it. If this works for you and helps alleviate the dread, go for it!
Added: um... I wasn't suggesting you do the stroller, but to say that the ride in the car sounds find. Just empathizing...:)
I haven't read your earlier post but it sounds like I could've written it. My son fought naps from about 5 months old to 10 months old. My mom or MIL would watch him 2 afternoons a week, and he would sleep...IN HIS CRIB! He wouldn't ever sleep in the crib with me, he'd just cry and cry, or play. I figured it was because they were different so he was more tired and ready for a little snooze rather than the same old day in and out with me. We finally got him into a good nap routine around 10 months where I could put him in the crib and he'd go to sleep, but it was a struggle. I decided to stop fighting it, I would get so stressed after trying for 2 hours to get him to sleep. I had to make a conscious decision to just stop trying. Those days he just doesn't take his nap, it makes for a long evening but we are both so much happier! Good luck!
I think you've seen that she CAN fall asleep on her own so you need to change your expectations of her. Imagine how well rested you feel after napping in the car versus napping in your own bed? I'm all about using parks to wear my son out before a nap, but I plan it so that he's not exhausted on the way home and we have a good half hour at home before nap time. She CAN do this, IF you expect it and IF you let it happen. If you work at this, you'll find yourself not dreading it and instead looking forward to an hour by yourself!
Hey, E.S. -- I responded earlier -- Go ahead and try the drive. My secret for the whole year between age two and three was that my girl's naps were all car naps! She was outgrowing napping but really still needed maybe a 45-minute to one hour nap on most days, so on weekdays, we would have lunch and then go for a drive around our little town. She almost always fell asleep within perhaps 15 minutes, and then I could pull over in a nice, shady spot and enjoy a book or the newspaper! I actually enjoyed the enforced reading time each day. I did find that (1) there was no hope of carrying her from the car into the house to sleep--she never even as an infant did that; and (2) I usually had to keep the car engine running as we sat parked somewhere, or she would wake up as soon as the engine went off (they like the "white noise" and vibration). I stopped doing when she was nearly three since I figured she was old enough to try going without naps and she was fine. But from two until just about three, car nap was the norm most weekdays, and she'd often fall asleep briefly on the way home from church Sundays, etc., around the same time.
So I'm saying -- do not be embarrassed if you end up with car napping. It won't last very long but will help if you need to do it. I made it a part of our daily routine and I really, really know our town very well as a result. No shame in it!
