Emma's nap...RIP

Well, it's all but official now...my daughter no longer needs to take a nap. I knew this day would come eventually. I remember when Emma was about 16 months old and she started to no longer need a morning and an afternoon nap. Man, was that hard to let go of! I needed those couple of hours just to get things done. But we got used to just napping in the afternoon and that's pretty much the way it's been for the past four years.

But a few months ago, I began having difficulty getting Emma to lay down and sleep in the afternoons. She would play quietly in bed for 30 minutes or so, and then start hollering that she wanted to get up. On occasion, she would fall asleep for an hour or two. But that became increasingly rare.

At this point, she hasn't taken a nap on the weekend for probably six weeks. She really doesn't need it anymore. The bigger question, though, was how I would adjust to having a non-napping child. That hour or two she slept was a gift in a way...I got so much done! I really thought it would be horrible when she stopped napping. But surprisingly, it's no big deal. If I need a break, I'll ask her to play in her bed for a little while. In a way, it's almost liberating...we no longer have to build our schedule around nap time.

If we've had a particularly hectic day, Emma will still nod off in the car from time to time. I can't tell you how many times I'll sit in a parking lot, letting her sleep for a bit. HINT TO FUTURE MOMS: Always have an unread book or magazine stashed in the car for these occasions. I have caught up on a lot of reading while Emma was snoozing away in her car seat.

Anyway, it's another developmental milestone we've reached...so I leave you with a photo from last year, when my little girl was still a member of the nap brigade...