Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Solution to the Afternoon Nap Boycott
Oh the afternoon nap. The blissful time when the kids go to bed and I can eat my lunch quietly while watching my guilty TV for 10 peaceful minutes (Bachelor, Real Housewives, etc. Yes, I need help, these shows are eating my brain). Then, after my 10 minutes of downtime, I get to work, and spend the next hour and a half frantically cleaning, doing emails, calling customers, etc. Unfortunately, Munchkin Girl has decided that sleeping is for losers (my words, not hers).
Several months ago she started only taking naps three or four times a week. Now it's down to 0 or 1. The problem is that not only do I really need that time, she also needs to have some quiet time or she's crabby later! It's no fun to have Daddy come home from work and have her whining all night. Plus, the more she cries, the more Little Buddy gets fussy too. So, I have vowed that she WILL go to her room for an hour. However, she doesn't seem to like this plan. For several weeks now we (the nanny and I, depending on the day) have fought her during "naptime". I tell her she MUST be quiet. We have a sticker program too and she does like to earn those stickers, but after awhile, she can't help herself, "Mommy!!!! I want to be awaaaaaaaaake!!!!"
Sometimes she even wakes up Little Buddy too so I really had to do something. My friend told me about a clock you can get that lights up blue when they are supposed to be sleeping and then yellow when it's time to wake up. There are lots of choices out there, but I did some research and found THE BEST PRODUCT EVER!!! You can configure it for however long you want. I did it for 1.5 hours. After some coaching on what we expected, she is now quiet (or moderately quiet. Sometimes she sings at the top of her lungs, but I figure that is playing by herself, right??) until the clock turns yellow. It's SOOO wonderful to know that I have a full 1.5 hour block in the afternoon even if she doesn't nap. You can set it to light up blue during night too. I chose 7:30pm-7:30am. Then at 7:30am, it changes to yellow. That's really great too because she used to wake up around 6:00, right while I was in the shower. Now she plays until 7:30 and as soon as it turns yellow, "Mommy, it's yellow, good moooorning!!!
I actually bought this product myself almost six months ago and liked it so much that I wrote away to them and asked if I could give one away to one of my readers and they said yes!! So, if you want your own Tot Clock, just use the form below to enter. Rules are below. Good luck!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Oh, I am so missing nap time. I would love something like this. Thank you for the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome idea! Thanks for the opportunity to win. I still have some time before this clock would be useful, but it would be awesome to have "a trick up my sleeve" ready to go! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great idea! I myself, still have time before I need a clock like that too :) People come up with the craziest things these days!
ReplyDeleteThat is cool :) Gotta love visual helpers like that.
ReplyDeleteI think this clock would work so well for my toddler daughter, who is a little OCD!
ReplyDeleteIf I slept more I would dream of this clock! Seriously, my 2 1/2 year-old daughter asks me to check the clock to see if it is 6:30am yet. It would be AWESOME for her to have some ability to check the clock.
ReplyDeleteKim
Oh god bless you. My little one has gone from napping everyday to 0, zilch and nada. I need a break even if it is for 1/2 hour. I am so over it I am about to bust a nut.....
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever clock! I love it!
ReplyDeleteSweet! My daughter doesn't believe in sleep all together! No naps and up past midnight! The days are a blur! Thank goodness for coffee!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis Tot Clock is interesting to me because I don't know how to follow through with quiet time. I guess it's because she's the only child (right now) that I don't know how valuable nap time/quiet time is! My favorite sleep deprivation story is when we just brought our newborn home. In the beginning I would set my alarm (buzzing) three or four hours from when I would crawl into bed after breastfeeding. I would wake up to my daughter's cries, look at the clock and realize that I slept through 1 hour of buzzing! Truly amazing that I slept through the alarm and woke up to my baby's crying down the hallway.
DeleteI'm in desperate need of naptime working out too, which is rough with 3 kids, 4 years and under. I love the clock idea.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any children yet..but I am a guidance counselor and I think this clock would be wonderful for some of the kindergarten students that hate nap time!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. My son is still pretty young and is napping well at the moment...maybe I should knock on wood! I might just go ahead and get one of these for later when he does drop his nap. I'll still need my nap time!
ReplyDeleteMy son sounds like your daughter in this story! Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteI have 3 children 16 months apart... need I say more! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a 3 year old and a 7month old so naptIme is always a struggle!! I would love this!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't ever had a problem with Tristan sleeping - ever. But my mother told me I stopped taking naps at 6 months....so we are on 23 months today...hope he still likes to sleep. If not, hope I win this clock so that I can use it! XOXO
ReplyDeleteDr. Briana Kems Walts
I'm curious how easy it is to change though. I have an engineer in the making and he can't keep his hands off of anything!
ReplyDeleteWe use a similar technique at bedtime, a lamp plugged into a Christmas light timer that turns on when it's time to get up. But i love this idea, especially for naptime!
ReplyDeleteohhhh I love it!!!!! We're in nap time warzone right now!!! My 3yr old doesn't think he needs a nap but is so tired 24/7 from lack of sleep that all he does is cry {24/7! ok, maybe not 24hrs, but A LOT!} He points outside and tells me it's not dark time so he doesn't have to sleep...This would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteOh my... I so need this. My son has been on a nap strike most of this week... and for a little boy who sleeps from 9pm to 6am it really sucks for the whole lot of us!
ReplyDeleteCrap... I'm not in the states :( please disregard my entries :(
ReplyDeleteI want to enter but do not want to sign up for twitter. Is there another way?
ReplyDeleteWow a tot clock! Finally, the answer to every sleep-deprived mom's prayer.
ReplyDeleteI am going to be sleep deprived soon. About to have a baby!
ReplyDeleteOMG. This would be a sanity-saver. "Is it time to come out yet?"
ReplyDeleteI would love this for my early bird 4 year old!
ReplyDeleteThis is the story of my life with my 3 year old. I will buy this clock if I don't win, because isn't my sanity the most important. LOL
ReplyDeleteAmy kort_amy@cox.net
This would be a perfect gift for my wife.
ReplyDeleteKort
Kort.amy@gmail.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness this sounds like something that would make my life so much easier! my 4 year old has quit her naps too, after she gets home from preschool she is so crabby and i need her to nap but nothing has been working! uggg!!! i would love this for my daughter so i can get some time to myself to nap as well!
ReplyDeleteKathy
ulrich.kathy@gmail.com
With a soon-to-be 2-yr old as well as a 3-yr old who doesn't want to nap, this would be wonderful! Naturally, the girls wake each other up daily so somebody always seems to be cranky after nap...if this would work to keep the older one "quiet" it would be amazing :)
ReplyDeleteOh, my son is DOING THE SAME THING! He really does need a rest time but he is up and done and claiming he has to use the bathroom or that something hurts etc. etc. etc. And then he's cranky all evening. This clock would be a wonderful way to show him when it's time to get up. Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteMaggie at tethered mommy dot com
My 2 year old has begun this. Which I think is too young.
ReplyDeleteWe fight nap time all the time. This is a great idea!!!
ReplyDeleteLove this. This is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! Those naps are so vital...
ReplyDeleteSometimes I need her to take a nap so that I can too!
ReplyDeleteI would so love to win this! Have been thinking about getting something like this for awhile as my 3 year old only naps about once every couple of weeks and rarely stays in her room for her entire quiet time.
ReplyDeleteMy soon-to-be three year old is fighting sleep all of the time now. This sounds like a wonderful idea!!
ReplyDeleteMy two-year-old ditched two naps at 10 months. Now he's trying to ditch his nap all together. I have an eight-month-old too who wakes at the slightest noise. I really look forward to an afternoon break...especially during daddy's deployments. Thanks for a great suggestion!
ReplyDeleteThe worst story I have is when my, now 3 1/2 year old, took ALL of his clothes off his shelves and put them ALL over his room. It was terrible. I need afternoon breaks and look forward to them especially since my husband is stationed 2 hours away. This is a great suggestion even for morning and not talking or waking up until a certain time!
ReplyDeleteI taught my daughter to not get out of bed until 7 in the morning but rest time is still a struggle.
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! Thank you for the chance to win!
ReplyDeletecherriesjessilee at gmail dot com
Yep, sign me up!
ReplyDeleteSleep?! What's sleep?!
ReplyDeletevschilke at gmail dot com
We NEED one of these... That way K can tell when it is nap time & bedtime and there won't be any arguments about what time it is from a kid who can't even tell time...
ReplyDeleteOh My Goodness! This is definately going onto my must haves list. My hubby had a similar rule when he was a little older this makes it perfect to learn that rule and time telling too!!!
ReplyDeletesuch a great idea
ReplyDeleteI need this! My two yr old started to refuse naps about 2 weeks ago! It's killing me!!
ReplyDeleteMy son naps pretty well but it is always at different times and it makes it impossible to plan anything! It also causes issues like naps that start at 4:30pm and then a toddler that doesn't go to sleep until midnight. I think something like this would really help to get him on a schedule.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter stopped taking naps when she was 2! Now, she drifts off when she is sick and that's it!
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