Naptime Strategies

Over the last few months, Zara's daily routine has been pretty shaken up by my new business (all that travelling), the addition of an extra meal into her day, and perhaps also because she's getting older and wants to do as much as possible with her awake time.

As a result, her naptimes have gone a little bonkers, and getting her to bed during the day has gotten so much tougher.

I tried using all the methods we'd tried before (rocking, singing, holding her tight and patting her) but to no avail. She would scream for as long as I tried to force her to sleep, no matter how tired she was. She would fight sleep by slapping me, biting me, kicking me, banging her head repeatedly on my chest, while displaying all the signs of exhaustion (tugging at her hair and eye-rubbing). But still she would not sleep!

And so her Abah and I have had to devise new (and rather strange) ways of getting her to bed at naptime. Among them...

Mummy's Sleep Tent - A single sized bedsheet stretched over her playpen...

And Abah's Sleep Cocoon - Put on Sesame Street, ensconce

her between two pillows, and leave alone for 5 minutes...

Another method that has worked pretty well this last week has been to hug her and blast a fan in her face. The breeze from the fan makes her blink, which makes her 'rasa nyaman' and sleepy, and she's out like a light in 2 minutes.  

Failing all of the above, a car ride usually works pretty well, but again, like the trip to Aquaria proved, nothing is ever fool-proof when it comes to Zara!