As sad as I am to admit it, I think that Liam is done taking naps. He is only three and I never thought I would stop napping one of my children at such a young age. But after weeks of fighting him to actually fall asleep for naps and months of him taking up to two hours each night to fall asleep...I think the time has come to just stop napping him and then just put him to bed at 7:30.
Now I have to figure out a "quiet time" routine for him during the day. He is still little and needs to rest but he doesn't like to stay in his room by himself. He feels like he is being punished, being put in some sort of time out. I tried it yesterday for the first time and it was very much a total disaster. He spent all of about five minutes reading his books on his bed happily and then wanted to go play with me. When I tried to teach him what he needed to do, he fell to the floor crying hysterically, saying over and over again "I'm sorry Mommy!" because he thought he had done something wrong and was therefore in a "time-out" in his room.
I can see many days of me needing to be filled with extra patience up ahead. Training a child a new routine is not always the easiest task but I want to stay calm with him and be patient. I have been browsing Pinterest for lots of ideas on "quiet-time boxes" and "busy bags." I will have to sit down next week and figure it all out. This weekend is too busy to get anything of the sort accomplished.
If you have had a child that stopped napping at a young age as well, I'd love to hear about what you did to make the transition easier.
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