I was lucky enough to be asked to review Elizabeth Pantley’s book “The No Cry Nap Solution”. Yes you have totally heard of her, she is the Author of another well known book ” The No Cry Sleep Solution”. I recall in desperation asking a mother in my local group to borrow it not too long ago (in little h’s earlier days). My daughter was never a fan of the act of falling to sleep. At nearly one and a half she still isn’t in love with the idea.
We do finally feel pretty successful with night time sleeping (unless teeth are working her nerves or we had an off kilter day), but what about naps? Around the time she started settling into a night time sleeping pattern she cut off her two naps a day and went to one, sometimes she wouldn’t nap AT ALL.
Oh god, how do I make it thru the day with this crazy tired bounce off the wall child? Anyone who stays at home full time can tell you it is imperative at this stage to get at least one nap in a day for your own sanity as well as your child’s.
Sometimes it’s hard to get in a book when your child loves to play and doesn’t nap. But I am here to tell you it’s worth trying and sacrificing your quiet time if you have a nap time disaster on your hands.
This book is great because you can read it in bits and take the information you need right now and find it easily in its contents page if you prefer.
Honestly, it had me at “making short naps longer”.
What makes this book so wonderful is its down to earth, reasonable solutions you can choose to use to greater communicate nap time with your child. Which as most of us know isn’t always the easiest task.
In a nutshell, It teaches you about the stages of sleep and how your child needs them to nap efficiently. If you are a list or plan maker, there are also logs to help you track your nap plan. By far the best part of this book are the solutions to many of our all too well known nap time problems.
One of my favorite suggestions was setting the scene for a nap. This is something that until just recently I didn’t realize made such a difference. Making sure your nap space is inviting, sleep friendly and familiar. Now at 17 months, my daughter will often independently walk right into the calm, dark bedroom and plop onto the mattress after waving for me to come along when she is getting tired. I know by her actions that she is ready to try and nap now. She still doesn’t enjoy settling to nap or sleeping by herself, but who really does like to sleep alone?
This book has so many great solutions to nap issues that can be used through your children’s life stages. You can easily refer back to it. I have more than a few topics bookmarked for future reference and reminder.
The only thing missing for me was the ability to wear your child to nap. Baby wearing was one of the only ways we had naps for awhile in our own home. It was a magic solution at many times. It gave me the opportunity to get odds and ends done while keeping my daughter asleep and comforted.
So if you are living with a lack of nap time bliss or would like some of your nap questions answered, this one is for you. I don’t want to give away all of the juicy nap topics covered. You will want to read this.
You can find more information or purchase your own copy on her web page HERE.
Have you read this book? I would love to hear your thoughts too. What works for you at nap time?
lightgreenmothering 