Riddle me this: you have a son who is the King of all Cat-Nappers, struggling each day to put together a decent stretch of daytime sleep, instead preferring to nap only in short bursts (and therefore also drive his Mummy mad when so many other kiddies can successfully snooze in long stretches). Why then, when we put our son into Daycare, does he miraculously learn the skill to sleep for over four hours in a seven hour day?!
The mind boggles, it truly does. So many mothers have previously felt duty bound to forewarn me how little their loved ones sleep once day-care commences. No problem, I thought. I know for a fact my son can still operate on two 45 minute naps in a 12 hour period if need be, so I was not perturbed by this usually unwelcome information at all. In fact, I thought, almost with guilty relief, for once its going to be someone else’s problem trying to keep Harrison happily amused for all those sometimes endless hours!
Just goes to show, they are ever changing little creatures. I nearly fell off the chair the first time I heard he’d slept for TWO AND A HALF HOURS in one stretch one morning. In 11 months I do not think I have EVER experienced such a mammoth day sleep from him in the supposed comforts of home. And then the next day, just to keep playing to suit, he put together 2 hours in the morning, and was working on another two that afternoon when Mummy strolled in at 4.10pm to collect him, thinking he’d well and truly be awake from him 2.15pm nap. Seems not!
So I put this miraculous feat down to one of three factors:
1. Such is his desire NOT to be in Day-care that the only alternative is to doze away the day. I can only imagine his line of thinking goes something like this: “Maybe if I keep pushing out the zzzzzz’s for a few hours on end, this place wont seem so bad, nor the day long. All the sooner for Mummy to come back to rescue me!”
2. Perhaps the vast array of social interaction and copious distractions work a treat to tire out my over active child. Sleep then would be a grateful relief after being so busy, busy, busy
3. He’s just doing it to taunt me as payback for putting him in Childcare. Not even one year old and already playing emotional mind games with Mummy.
Back on the home front and I am yet to experience one of these sleeps of myth and legend that I have heard so much about. But I tell you, he has created a rod for his own sweet little back. Now I know he can do it, I’ll be doing all in my power to encourage this cracking pace he has set at school is continued in the home… Wish me luck!
