Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Dropping the third nap

For the new year DH and I decided to change things up when it comes to pick up/drop off at daycare. For the past 6 months I had primarily done pick up and he got the AM drop off. What that meant for me was I rushed to get to work by 7:30 AM so I could leave by 4:30 PM, get Cameron and get her down by 5 PM for a 30 minute third nap. If I was lucky and hit mostly green lights I could do it. On the weekends Cameron rarely needs a third nap but that's because her AM and PM naps are so much longer than they are at daycare.

The problem with our original schedule is that it gave me zero flexibility. DH works from home so I'd get Cameron home and put her down for a nap and he could keep working until 6 if needed. On my end I'd have to boot up my computer or keep checking my Blackberry. Additionally BigFinance rarely has meetings before 8 AM but more after 5 PM to accommodate the West Coast workers.

With bonus discussions right around the corner I've started being the primary parent for drop off and DH will do pick up. A little later face time in the office never hurts! Fortunately we both have flexibility in our calendars so if DH has a meeting in the late afternoon I can pick her up and vice versa. For drop off I like that I can peruse the daily menu and list the foods I'd like Cameron to try. I don't like how rushed I feel or the fact that she's started crying if I don't just plop her down and take off. Any lingering could result in a breakdown. I also don't like that I can't ask about her day. And let's be honest, how many fathers are good at asking lots of questions?

Somehow this post went off on a tangent about drop off/pick up but what I really wanted to write about is the third nap. So getting back on topic....Monday DH was a little late getting Cameron so by the time she got home it was almost 5:30 PM. Too late, in my opinion, for a third nap. We usually put her down for the night by 6:45 PM so I figured by moving it back to 6:30 PM we would be OK. And for the most part we were. Cameron was a little fussy but as long as I gave her my complete, undivided attention for the hour before bed she was reasonable happy. I'm just not sure I'm ready to have her drop that third nap permanently. So for the other parents out there when did your kids stop taking that third nap? Was it a gradual extinction or a planned deadline?

Also, how did you decide who does pick up or drop off in your household when both parents work? Did it change over time as your little one(s) got older?

6 comments:

Jen said...

Oh my gosh, I love your blog! This is giving me flashbacks to my first year with a baby and how complicated the work shenanigans were!

I forget when my daughter dropped her 3rd nap, but it was a gradual thing and we weren't organized about it. And yes, we switched drop off and pick up a bunch of times so I'm no help. But thanks for commenting on my blog! I'm glad to have found yours!

LauraC said...

Jon and I switch off who does what. I can't even say there is a rhyme or reason to it at this point. When he's gone, I get double duty so when he's here he often does double duty. Plus we trade off who gets up with the kids so if he's up with them, he'll do drop off.

I do hate pick up in the winter bc of the bundling of the kids. One always gets loose and it seems to take forever to corral them to get out the door!

Donna said...

I have to do both drop off and pick up because DH just works too far away to do it. We tried to have him do pick up when DS1 was very young and it worked, for a while...but then we had to considering buying two big car seats and just decided, I would do the drop off and pick up since I had the van already. As far as the nap is concerned, I usually followed my children's lead. If they needed a nap then I put them down, if not I never forced it. I always hated it when I was a child and someone told me I HAD to sleep. Never worked for me, doesn't for my children!

Mommy, Esq. said...

With two kids the same age we had to be a bit organized about dropping the third nap - more for our sanity than anything else. We did so right around Cameron's age. Just fed them dinner earlier (5:30 instead of 6 pm) and put them to bed 30 mins earlier too. It was rough for a week or two but now I don't even remember it...

Danielle said...

We don't do daycare, but I can tell you that if I were working full time - whether we had a nanny or did daycare - I would be in charge of both drop-off and pick-up. I have no doubt in my mind. But Eric has a long commute, makes more, and has a job that expects a lot more hours.


Dropping a nap at her age is definitely normal. I would say most kids I know drop to 2 naps at about 8 months and she's older than that. I'd also say that most kids are down to 1 nap between 15-18 months. Brady still takes 1 long nap in the afternoon and the timing of it has shifted a few times over the last 10 months or so. I'm just praying he doens't give it up too soon!

Anonymous said...

Dropping of the 3rd nap seems to be entirely random around here. Josh did it right at 6 months. Alex did it at 7 months. And Becca gave it up at 5 months- opting for a short morning nap and a long afternoon nap instead.

Going from 2 naps to 1 is a different story. Alex did it sooner than Josh, 13 months vs. 15. I wouldn't be surprised if Becca is on a single nap around 11-12 months.