Set your goals high but not your expectations. ~Dove

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Transitioning 2 to 1

My 16 month old son goes to daycare five days a week.  It's not something I'm happy about but I need to work.  For now. 

For the past couple of weeks he has been transitioning from two naps and only taking one nap a day.  Sometimes, when he's home with me on the weekends, he only has his morning nap.  If it's a good nap he doesn't want to nap later in the day.  Sometimes the morning nap isn't quite restful so he ends up taking another nap in the afternoon.

Daycare has him on a different schedule.  He has been going down for his nap around the same time the other 2 year olds go down, which is around noon.  It was a struggle for a few days because some days he'd only sleep 45 minutes and would need another nap.  We thought it was how he was sleeping, which was in a swing.  (I should note here that J had been sleeping in a swing when he was sick a few months ago to help keep him elevated.  But I never knew he was still sleeping in the swing months later.) 

It took a few days at daycare and a new routine but he's adjusting to the one nap.  I still feel there will be days where he needs to go down earlier but I think being around the other kids he gets a second wind.  I need to trust the girls that work with him and listen to his signals.  But I also feel that if he's not going to nap well during the AM hours, he should probably skip the morning nap for a (hopeful) longer nap in the afternoon.

I get mixed emotions when thinking about his naps going from 2 to 1.  Is he really ready?  Or is it just me trying to hold on to my little baby boy.  As much as I miss my little baby, I'm excited to see him blossom into a young boy.

This week he has proved to me how fast he's growing by repeating words back to me.  For example:  mbella for umbrella.  We had a good week where he was very responsive and listening very well with no tantrums.  He had an off day on Sunday but it seemed like he was having teething issues.

But today we were back to the tantrums again, and it only happens to me.  This morning I went to give him a hug good morning and all he wanted to do was squeeze my nose, claw at my mouth, and kneel on the floor and scream.  He didn't want me near him at all.  It breaks my heart when he acts that way.  Within 10 minutes of his tantrum, he was running to me with his mouth open for a smooch.  I'm feeling the love again.

My little baby is growing up and I know he will have lots to say to me once he can use his words.  All I can hope for is more patience on my part because if this is the start of terrible two's I can only imagine what he'll be like in a few months. 

I'm curious to hear how others handled these transitions.  Do you hold back or let them transition when they're ready?

After a long visit with some friends, J has no problems sleeping on the ride home.

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