Naps at daycare: a pyrrhic victory

Last weekend we observed that whenever we said, "Dyls, you want to go take a nap?" right around nap time, she would stand up and toddle over to the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and yell.  Her bedroom is upstairs, so we guessed that maybe she was saying, "YES!!  Please take me upstairs so I can go to bed.  I'm TIRED!!"

This was reinforced by the fact that she went to sleep immediately and stayed asleep for 2-3 hours each time this happened.

(She also does this at night at bedtime -- she will yell and arch her back when we're holding her until we put-her-in-her-crib-RIGHT-NOW-goddammit.)

I suspected that if we had a cot / nap space downstairs in a quiet location, she would be like, "Forget you, mommy and daddy.  I am putting MYSELF to sleep," and would crawl / toddle over to her cot and sack out.  I had no proof of this though.  I just suspected.

We told daycare that we thought she knew the word, "nap," but I sort of suspect they were like, "Oh silly parents, you think your baby is smart but she is not and we know better."

Fast forward to this week.

So.  In the young toddler room, the children sleep on cots.  So, in preparation for her move in a few weeks, Dyls's infant classroom is teaching her to take naps on a cot rather than in a crib.  This was another reason I didn't want them to go to one nap with her right now: I felt one change at a time would work better than just switching over everything at the same time, especially since she's been a fitful napper at daycare all along.

I did get my way on that at least.  They have been putting her down for two naps a day this week on the cot, and while she has been sleeping like crap, it has been getting better as the week has progressed.

And then there was yesterday.

When I arrived to pick Dyls up, I ended up talking to one of the new teachers.  NOT one of the ones who gives me attitude up the wazoo.  And she told me that at about 9 that morning, Dyls had toddled over to the cot on her own volition and laid down and gone to sleep.  And then she did it again at 1:30.  She actually even took a third nap at 4:15.  The teacher said she knew Dyls wanted to nap that time because she crawled over to her lovey, started sucking her thumb and shouted, while pointing with her other arm in the direction of the cot. 

To say that I felt vindicated would be the understatement of the century. 

Ha.

I suspect when Dylan is ready to drop that morning nap, she will tell us loud and clear.  We just have to make sure we're listening.