seriously, my good advisers are most likely to read this

[mh75]

Does anyone know how I can get Marie to nap

Comments

[angelbob]

Remind me how old Marie is now?

It's possible you're out of luck. The only way we can get Calli (barely 4) to nap is to utterly wear her out in the morning with something intensive like swimming, a mile or more of running or going to the trampoline place.

It's not an everyday thing :-)

[mh75]

She is only 2.5... but she is generally an insomniac. My other two had also given up naps at this point, but, she doesn't sleep as well at night, and still seems to get tired. *sigh*

[angelbob]

(Er, sorry -- that anonymous comment was me.)

[mh75]

And I appreciate your input. =)

[jedusor]

I read her a book, then stand up and hold her upright with her head resting on my shoulder for a while while rocking back and forth until her breathing evens out or my arms get tired, whichever comes first. Then I put her in bed, sit in the chair, and sing "The Ballad of Erica Levine" until she falls asleep. I used to only sing to settle her down if she was fidgeting, but lately she's been asking for that song every time I put her in bed. Maybe I've trained her to associate that particular tune with sleeping? I could make a recording if you want--the Frankie Armstrong original is available on YouTube, but I think that version is too upbeat to work. Just humming it might also work, I do that sometimes if my throat is dry.

[mh75]

Sigh. I read her a book. I don't rock her because it amps her up. I put her in bed. I sing her a song. (I sing her a song or two every night - not always the same one - she usually asks me for twinkle (something, sometimes star, sometimes something else), or abcd... She might associate singing with bed in general.) I put her in bed. If i stay in the room she won't settle, so I leave.
Yesterday she stayed in bed for 40 minutes, but never went to sleep. Today she wouldn't stay in bed, but she was obviously tired enough that I think she would have slept if she could have settled.
Naps are not my forte.

[jedusor]

I dunno then. Always works for me, and I have definitely never seen her get amped up from rocking. :/

[mh75]

She gets really manic with me if she can interact with me.

[katybeth]

If she's in bed for longer, would she eventually fall asleep? Ours nap about half the time now, but sometimes they don't fall asleep until an hour or more in, a few minutes before their quiet time would have been over. They definitely nap better on days they've had a lot of physical exercise in the morning.

[mh75]

Yeah, maybe. It might be part of why my subsequent kids have been even worse at napping - they don't have the consistency of hour long quiet times to work with.

[blk]

(unhelpful) Wait 10-15 years and then she'll love sleeping. :-P

(Nothing helpful, sorry. Sympathies and good luck!)

[mh75]

Oh, that's okay. I sort of think it is hopeless. I guess I'm trying to decide whether to keep forcing the issue or just formally give up.

[florahart]

Hi there

[mh75]

We have also done this, with all of our kids, on occasion. Its what I do at night if she is up far too late.