I've NEVER Seen That Before!

The only person on the planet with more tenacity than a toddler is the mother of a toddler. Maya has yet to figure that one out. "Battle Nap Time" began today at 10:15am. I took Maya upstairs to let her run around a bit while I put away her clothes that were piled up out in the hallway (lately, laundry finds itself toward the bottom of my to-do list). As she was handing me the hangers, she started to get fussy, and I could tell that she was exhausted. I closed the closet doors, retrieved her paci, blanket, and bear out of her crib, turned on her fish aquarium, and settled into the rocking chair for just a little cuddling before her nap. She was pretty restless. She kept sitting up and trying to get down. She didn't want me to rub her back, hair, or hand. She couldn't get comfortable with her blanket. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this, I told her it was time to lay down in her bed. Well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. As I laid her in her crib, she started bawling, turned over onto her hands and knees, and proceeded to stand up. I tried to lay her back down, but that just made her cry harder. I decided that she would have to work it out herself, so I walked out of the room. Wrong answer. She rushed to the corner of her crib and cried her eyes out.

Now, let me explain why I didn't just rush in there and rescue her... While I do not believe in letting a baby or child "cry it out", I do believe that families are much better off when children are able to soothe themselves to sleep. Since Liam has been born (and especially since Maya's been sick these last few days), we have all let things slide with her that we would have never let her get away with pre-Liam. Call it guilt. I'd agree. Whatever the cause, it's started us on a slippery slope down a path of absolute destruction. I feel like if we don't buckle down and reinstate a schedule and rules, our household will be ran be a two year old. That's unacceptable, in my opinion. So while the ensuing battle may seem petty, it was the first step in regaining my authority.

I let her cry for about 10 minutes, and when I couldn't stand her crying out, "Mama!" over and over again, I returned to her room. She immediately put up her hands and pointed to the rocking chair. "Rock! Rock!" she sobbed. I sat down in the chair with her to rock and sing. After about 5 minutes, she was just about to fall asleep, so I picked her up and made a move to the crib. As soon as she touched the mattress, she lost her mind again. I told her that it was nap time and she needed to lay down. The sobbing intensified, and I walked out. She carried on and on, and eventually, I gave in again. As you can see, no matter how stern I try to be, I'm really a softy. I'm easily swayed by my baby crying, "Mama! Mama!" It's heart wrenching. I went back to her room for the third time, and she began shouting, "Waher, waher!" (Water, water) I couldn't deny her request for water, so I left her in her crib while I retrieved water from the bathroom. She gulped it down and requested to rock again. I told her we were done rocking, and she needed to lay down to rest. That is definitely NOT what she was trying to hear. She started screaming and jumping up and down in her bed. I turned around and walked out. This time I was determined not to return. Every time I went back to her bedside and didn't get her out of bed, it just escalated the situation. I went downstairs and just sat and listened. She cried and screamed and shouted, "Mama!" I wanted to cry.

Finally, silence. I got up and rushed to the monitor. I couldn't believe she had finally, finally settled down. What I saw on the monitor was quite a sight. Maya was still standing in the corner of her crib. She had her blanket balled up on the top of the railing, her head resting on top of it, her hands holding onto the rail. As I watched her stand there, I wondered why she had stopped crying. Not that it was a bad thing, I just wondered why she had given up. Soon I got my answer...

As she leaned on her rail, about every 20 seconds or so, her little knees would give out on her. Instinctively, she would quickly straighten her legs, not ever moving the top half of her body. It took me a minute to figure it out, but soon I realized, SHE WAS SOUND ASLEEP!! I could not believe it! In addition to her knees buckling, her blanket was slowly sliding toward the other side of her bed, so every couple of minutes, she had to take a small step to the side to keep from falling over like a tree! It was the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen!! I have seen some pretty crazy things, but I have NEVER seen somebody sleep in a standing position! After about 20 minutes of this, she reached the other end of her bed, at which point she woke up. She sat down in her bed and just started chatting away, like she just woke up from the most restful slumber. It was CRAZY! I decided I would go along with the escapade. I went upstairs to get her out of bed and said, "Did you have a good nap?" She answered, "Yeah!" Okay, whatever! The 20-minute-standing-power nap was all she needed. She was happy as a lark and ready to go have lunch!

Later that day, I laid her down for another (more effective) nap, and I didn't quite know what to expect. To my pleasant surprise, she went down without a fight or fuss. I read a couple of books, rocked for about 5 minutes, and she laid right down. She was exhausted. In retrospect, other than her just flat out being a stubborn toddler, I wonder if that was the ultimate indication that she is done with the morning nap. From now on, I'm ditching the morning nap, and we'll see how she does! I've said it before, and I'll say it again... she never ceases to amaze me!!