No rest - even for the weary

Scott has never been a good napper at daycare.
He is consistent about his beauty rest at home, sleeping well in both his swing, and now his beautifully-decked-out-in-a-fun-and-colorful-sports-themed crib, but we've had an ongoing problem getting him to shut his pretty little eyes at "school."

On a good day -- at home -- he wakes up around 6 a.m., goes back to bed at 7 a.m. and sleeps until about 8:30, and sometimes, as late as 9:15.

He takes his second nap around noon, and that lasts anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. Somedays he'll take a third nap -- a quick 30 to 45 minute snooze, around 5:30.

This schedule makes for a happy baby and, therefore, happy parents.

A well-rested Scott wakes his parents up bright and early on Saturday morning.

Then there's the other five days a week. The days he's at daycare. I don't know what the issue is, nor do I know how to solve it.

On a good day, he'll sleep for 40 minutes. TOTAL. As in from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Forty minutes people.
On a bad day -- like the last two days -- he won't sleep at all.

We've tried moving him to a crib in the back of the room, having his teachers put him in the daycare swing, given him a security blanket to hold while he sleeps. Nothing works. He refuses to go to sleep. It's like he's afraid he's going to miss something.

Sometimes, his daddy leaves work early, just so he can get him a late afternoon nap just before dinner.

But most days it's the end of a long workday when I pick up my little Tank. He always gives me a big smile, (which I love), but, then, without fail, he turns into a blank zombie-like blob as we walk to the car. I strap him into the carseat, and by the time I hit the freeway, he's zonked out, snoring lightly to the sound of the radio.

It takes me 20 minutes to get home, which isn't a very long nap, so I've gotten in the habit of leaving him in the car, with it running and locked in the garage (door open, of course), while I unload the diaper bag, lay out his pajamas and prep his dinner.

This typically gives him an extra 10-15 minutes of nap time - enough to get him through the rest of the evening and into bed.

Last night, he was such a mess after a no-sleep day that that tactic did me no good. I put him in his high-chair and he melted down. He was so tired, he couldn't even eat. He tried to put food in his mouth and when he missed, he'd scream and rub his eyes and lay his head on the tray.

When I got to daycare today (at 4:30, after learning we were on Day 2 of no sleep), Scott was laying on his belly, too tired to move or do much of anything. His eyes were irritated, rimmed red. But he wouldn't close them. He just laid there, with his hand outstretched through the slats of the crib, trying to play and hold hands with little Hailey.

I could insert a joke here about Scott being his father's son, and his utter determination to hang with the ladies, no matter the cost, but I am too frustrated. There has to be SOMETHING I can do to get him to sleep.

Any suggestions?

P.S. (For those wondering, Scott did pass out instantly in the car. This time, I woke him up and gave him a bottle while I rocked him. He fell asleep again and I moved him to the swing, where he has been napping peacefully for the past 45 minutes.)

Succumbing to utter exhaustion -- finally -- after going all day without a nap.

Embracing the crib - for real!

We've had a momentous development here in the Rough household -- one I didn't think I'd EVER see.

Scott has learned to sleep in his crib. 

Now... I should clarify. Scott learned months ago that bedtime = cribtime. He's been very good about putting himself to sleep each evening and staying there until the wee hours of the morning.

But for some reason, he's been a bit learning impaired when translating that lesson over to his two or three daily napping sessions.

It usually goes something like this. Mommy or Daddy puts Scott in his crib. Scott screams. Then Scott rolls around and talks to himself. Then Scott cries. Then Scott slams both of his legs repeatedly against the crib mattress. Then Scott cries again. Then, finally, after about 30 minutes of us ignoring him, Scott finally sleeps.

All is blissfully quiet. For about 25 minutes. Then, Scott awakes. And refuses to go back to sleep.

As an adult, I don't really understand this. I would PAY for someone to force me to go to sleep two or three times a day. But I just can't seem to reason with him and make him understand how lucky he is.

Stubborn child. I think he takes after his father.

Since Scott was about two months old, the only way we could get him to take a decent nap (that's code for anything lasting an hour or longer) was to put him in his Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Swing. Dear readers of this blog might remember that this is our Holy Grail of baby items.

Put the Tank in the swing and he is guaranteed to sleep for at least an hour, and sometimes as long as three.

I wish they had one in my size.

But as much as I enjoy having a happy, well-rested baby, I've been actively trying to break him of the swing/sleep habit. This is primarily because my cherubic munchkin is now tipping the scales at 21 pounds and 6 oz. The swing has a maximum capacity of 25 pounds.

The swing says its good for babies and toddlers "up to two years." Yeah right. Somehow, I don't see us making that. I am not sure we'll make it to July 4.

So clearly, we had to make adjustments.

I'd love to take credit for it. But I don't think I did anything. For some reason, Scott simply decided that he could -- and would -- nap in his crib.

He first did it last week in the morning. I put him back to bed after an early wake-up call (on a Saturday  no less) at 6:45. He slept until 8:30. Unheard of!

I see the sleeping baby on the monitor, but I don't believe it!

It's true! Incidentally, I woke him up by taking this picture, but he'd already been sleeping for two hours, so I didn't feel too bad. Okay, I felt kinda bad.

The next day, he slept for an hour and fifteen minutes in his crib. Later that week, he took a three-hour marathon snooze at the crib in my mom's house.

Mid-way through the 3-hour marathon. Grandma is a stealth photographer. She didn't wake him up.

It's not foolproof yet - he still prefers to take his late afternoon, 30 to 45 minute power naps in the swing.

But it foolishly has given me hope that someday - hopefully SOON - he'll sleep through the night.

Silly mommy.