No nap raid

Johnny stopped taking regular daytime naps right before he turned two. I mean, I still NEEDED to nap, but the fight to get him down along with the stress of dealing with an infant Hank just became too much for me, so I stopped putting him down for his afternoon nap. For awhile there, he would still pass out almost daily in the car, or being held by a parent, or occasionally on the floor of a room other than his bedroom.

These days, he still needs a nap every once in awhile, but certainly not daily. It doesn't mean that he takes one when he needs one though. The kid hates sleep. This has not changed since day 1. So, I still don't push naps, but if it's been more than five days and he hasn't napped, I'll try to take a well-timed car ride to help him out. He becomes an entirely different kid after he sleeps a little. Even though his night sleep is pretty good these days, a nap will transform him from whiny, meltdown-prone, unhappy child to a happy, laughing, playing kid. Which is why I wish he would take a nap when he needs one.

Today he woke up really early and even though we didn't do much but putz around the house, he was falling apart by 3pm. He really really really needed to sleep, but didn't want to give in. I tried to get him to get in the car, but that was a resounding "NO!". I tried to hold him and rock, but he squirmed away. I finally got down on his level and said, "Johnny, don't you want to feel better?" To which he replied, "Yeah! I wanna feel better!" with tears streaming down his cheeks. Then I told him, "If you sleep a little bit, just a little, I think it's going to make you feel better." He gave me one look, turned away, walked into his room and laid down. I came in to cover him with a blanket and turn his fan on and then he was OUT.

It. was. amazing. In bed, without a fight? Bliss. Accepting logic without a fight? I guess that means he's getting older.