We’ve been having some nap problems at our house. Let me
tell you, there is something about nap problems that puts me over the edge—I can
handle a lot of trouble, but when naps are missed/shortened/interrupted—I flip
a lid. Sometimes I think Tommy’s lack of daytime sleep affects me more than it
affects him.
Anyway, like I said, we have been having some nap problems
at our house. For a while now, the babe will wake up about an hour into his
afternoon nap. I will rush upstairs and hold him for about a minute, after
which he will close his bleary eyes and I will put him down to finish up his
nap. I know, I know—this is a bad habit. But it is just so easy to hold him for
one or two minutes rather than go through a week of listening to him cry for an
hour to figure it out.
BUT! I have been thinking about the day that I need to just
let him figure out how to go back to sleep on his own. It will be good for him,
and good for me. I won’t have to be sure that the cookies aren’t in the oven
when he’s about to wake up (etc etc). I was thinking just these thoughts when I
heard the familiar cry (right in the middle of making bread, of course) and
walked up the stairs thinking that this would be the last time (maybe) and that
I needed to put my foot down about this particular nap problem. He needs to get
over me holding him every day to help him back to sleep.
And then I held him and rocked him by his crib. He almost
immediately closed his eyes in sleep. I looked at his perfect skin. I looked at
his pink cheeks, and his lips slightly puckered. I looked at the wrinkle lines
on his neck from his toddler chub. I felt his steady breathing in and out. I
felt him relax in my arms and lean in to my chest. And I thought, you know? What
is the problem with my little boy needing a little extra comfort from his mom
to help him sleep peacefully? He will not always want me to cradle him in my
arms to make him feel better. In that moment I had a distinct feeling that all
too soon I will remember these interrupted nap snuggles with fondness.
So I stood there and held my perfect, sleeping boy and
thought about how great it is that he wants his mom to hold him for a few
minutes every day.
 |
| unrelated...just cute |
These same thoughts are what get me through our sleep issues too. William still sleeps like a newborn (2-4 wakings a night) despite every cry out and such methods we've tried via all the research we've done. (He did sleep through the night for 5 months but no longer does.) Anyway, thanks for the reminder. These children are such precious children of God!
ReplyDelete