This Sunday, Blake will officially be old enough to attend nursery during church. This is a day that parents eagerly look forward to. It means that they are no longer sitting through Sunday School and other meetings trying to entertain, feed, and keep a restless toddler quiet. It symbolizes the end of strolling the hallways in a desperate attempt to get the wiggles out and return to class. It means being able to actually listen to the lessons being taught and maybe even participate. It results in toys, friends, space, and snacks for the inquisitive and fidgety toddler. It is truly an anticipated milestone.
For us, the privilege of nursery is the opposite of anticipated, in fact, it is completely dreaded. Since we rotate church times, we have the awful meeting time of 1:00pm this year. Being in church from 1-4pm is basically a nightmare for trying to fit in nap time.
- Try to get Blake to take a nap from 10:30am to 1pm, just before church. This is my favorite option, but I am worried that Blake will just play in his crib, will barely fall asleep, and then we’ll have to wake him up again.
- Skip the nap altogether and put him down super early for bed. This is my least favorite option. First of all, an overtired, cautious child in nursery is not a good idea. Also, when Blake’s bedtime is adjusted, he generally gets thrown off for several days, and will start getting up several hours earlier. I don’t want to spend half of the week making up for missed sleep on Sunday.
6 Comments
oh boy do I relate!!! I am the same way with naps!!! It is not an option in our house and dave and i spent countless Sundays switching back and forth. I have also spent about 6 months spending an hour in nursery with her because of her stranger anxiety and apprehension to leave me. We started doing an early nap before church. She can easily nap from 11-12 now, but that sounds like it won’t work for you since Blake will nap for longer (Quinn has never been a long napper). One good thing to look forward to: since Quinn has gotten a little older (she’s 2) she is more flexible with her naps. I was going to skip her nap altogether yesterday, but as soon as we got home at 2:30 she said she wanted to lay down. And then she still went to bed at her usual 7 pm. That would not have worked 6 months ago!!! So hopefully you don’t have to struggle with this for too long. But it’s crazy how much Blake sounds like Quinn with sleep/separation/and routine. Good luck!!! (and oh–yesterday Quinn actually TOLD me to leave and go to class after about 15 minutes…ha, I never saw that coming!!!)
I’m having much the same problem with Joanthan, however I have one twist, I have been in the nursurey with him for the last 5 months. So we are used to not taking naps (kind of) but he is also used to having me in there. Yesterday was his first time without me…he cried for 20 minutes and I finally went and got him, poor little guy. He was extra tired yesterday and took a 4 hour nap when we got home, I couldn’t believe it! I’m hoping next week will go better. Good luck, I’m praying for you.
First of all…that is a super cute picture of Blake!
I wish I had some advice that would make it easier on you, but I think you have thought of it from just about as many angles as you could possibly. I hope all works out for you and things will get easier. I agree, though, that it is important for him to go to nursery. Have you thought of maybe easing him into it (like 15-30 minutes then home for a nap and increase it as he allows?)
Good luck!
So we would put Ryland to bed before church, like you have listed. I was concerned about the changed nap time, but when we went through is sleep time routine (story, rocking, singing) and gave him his lovey, he knew right what to do, even if it wasn’t the usual time. Ryland is spirited and sticks to a routine. But this worked for us. Good luck. Our nursery is creeping up on us too.
So many dilemmas and issues with toddlers!! I so feel you pain. We have experienced some major adjustments to Brody’s naps since he stopped sleeping in a crib. He was an amazingly content and wonderful baby with sleeping and eating and now as he has grown up he has completely changed. I feel as much as children get used to a daily routine they get used to things that happen weekly. Brody knows what is in store for him when we go to church. The first few months Brody was great in nursery THEN he went through separation anxiety problem and honestly me staying in nursery didn’t help – it just prolonged the separation. So I followed the logic of just ripping off the bandaid and just left him. The first 6 weeks or so he would cry and be sad when I first left him but he would stop after about 10 minutes and then hang by the door the rest of the time. Then after that phase he was fine. Its also a great introduction to a classroom setting away from parents and depending on if you and Troy will have him go to preschool it could be the only classroom setting till kindergarden. I would give each option you listed a try for about a month and see how he takes to each one. It will suck and it will be a big adjustment cause you have to deal with the after-effects of each option but at least you can see how Blake reacts to each one.I am sure after a couple months he will adjust to the change. Especially with how cautious Blake sounds perhaps seeing how kids are and being around them for 2 hours could brake down some barriers and help him adjust to changes better as he gets older. Good luck to you both!!
We have already talked a lot about this on the phone, so I don't have much new to add. I was just going to remind you that you are a child development major, and this is YOUR child, so no one is going to know better than you what to do. However, some things just have to be figured out by trial and error. There are probably going to be some rough weeks ahead, but you'll all get through it, and eventually he'll do great.
Hopefully you can find a way to make nursery work. I agree that naps are super important, but this is also his first chance to get his feet wet before a long string of new situations, like pre-school, kindergarten, etc. Since he does struggle with separation, probably better not to put it off any longer!
I thought everyone else had good suggestions and advice. Hope you can figure out a plan. Good luck!