Complete strangers say this to me all the time. They are talking about Miss Olivia and her gray-blue eyes. And the fact that they never close. Never. Ever.
Or at least that's how it seems to me on days like today. It's Saturday. Olivia woke up at 7 a.m. It's 12:32 p.m. And she STILL hasn't taken a morning nap. Sure she has yawned. And fussed like she's tired. But when I put her down in her crib, she screams bloody murder, as though I'm exposing her to some kind of shock treatment.
This display of tiredness without any sort of willingness to sleep didn't start today. It's been a daily occurrence for Olivia since she turned the ripe old age of 3 weeks old. Basically my mom left this island and Olivia decided she didn't need to nap anymore. Naps are for other babies, not Olivia.
This anti-sleep behavior isn't only at home.
There are many days when I pick up Olivia from daycare, and Marie (the super sweet Japanese woman in charge of the infant room) will apologize with the statement "Miss Olivia didn't sleep much today."
Her infant daily diary reads like this:
Sleeping Schedule
Sleep Time Wake-Up Time
7:30 7:45
8:05 9:20
12:30 1:05
2:30 2:55
3:45 4:15
If she takes one nap with a duration of two hours, I'm pleased.
So who is to blame for this problem? It's two people, my mom and Benny.
My mom's family is known for their short efficient naps. The Wille catnap is 20 minutes of intense and deep sleep, usually while lying on the living room floor following lunch. And without the aid of an alarm clock, my mom and her 10 brothers and sisters can wake up 20 minutes later completely refreshed and ready for many more hours of hard labor on the farm. This is the reason my mom couldn't sleep on her 14 hour flight here. Every 20 minutes she would wake up and be completely awake. And like Olivia, they have the ability to sleep through the night. It's a crash and burn mentality in the evening, I think.
The other reason she doesn't want to sleep is I think her personality may be active and social like Benny's personality. She doesn't want to sleep because she doesn't want miss anything. For example, the other day at daycare, she didn't want to sleep and cried until they moved her into the 2-year-olds' room. There she could watch the children play and was completely content for hours. Rested? No. Happy? Yes.
You are probably wondering "If Olivia isn't sleeping on Saturday, how is Michelle writing this post entry?"
After three hours of trying to gently rock Olivia to sleep, lull her to sleep, sing her to sleep and talk her to sleep, I pulled out my secret weapon: her swing.
She falls asleep in it on most days. Will it be for longer than 20 minutes this afternoon? That's anyone's guess.
2 comments:
She doesn't possibly have acid reflux does she? You say she screams every time you lay her down so maybe something is bothering her? Have you tried having her nap in a bouncy chair? still no luck? Guessing you've tried everything!
BTW, when you coming to Iowa? I need to make sure I pencil that in because I'm going to have to figure out a way to see this baby - and of course you and Benny :)
She has never napped in her bouncy chair, even at daycare. She loves her swing and car rides. She just doesn't fall asleep during them.
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