What to Do When Your Toddler Cries at Nap Time

What to Do When Your Toddler Cries at Nap Time. Ten common reasons toddlers cry before nap time and what to do each time.

After going through all of the effort to teach your baby to sleep well, it can be unsettling and unnerving if your toddler starts to cry at nap time. 

While solving a baby's nap issues can be tricky, it is more straight forward than solving a toddler's nap issues. The older children get, the more complex and individual they become. In this post, I discuss various reasons a toddler might start crying before nap time and how to respond to each scenario. 

For this post, I am assuming your toddler has been a good sleeper in the past and was taught and expected to sleep independently already. The crying is different than how things have been in life for your toddler up to this point. 

Toddler is Crying Because of a Sleep Regression

Since you have made it this far into your parenting journey, a sleep regression is nothing new to you. You know all about sleep regressions and what they mean. This is when your toddler suddenly stops sleeping well and seemingly for no reason. If this is a literal regression, there is nothing you can do but wait it out.

At this point you should know your toddler well enough to have a good idea of how to respond and how not to respond during a sleep regression. Does your toddler need to just blow off some steam for a minute before settling down? If yes, just let her be. Does your toddler tend to do better if you go in and address her somewhat? If yes, go in.

How to Choose the Best Parenting Strategy for You

How to Choose the Best Parenting Strategy for You. Tips for thinking through options to choose the parenting strategy that best suits you and your family. 

by Diana

While I haven’t had kids for that long of my life – my oldest is 5.5 years old – I have done a lot of research as a mom.  My husband and I have also had a lot of conversation analyzing parenting, how things are going, and what we can do better.  At this point in our parenting journey, here are our parenting systems.  Some of these things won’t apply to everyone, but this is what we try to do. 

First, make sure you are on the same page with your partner.  

No need to try to implement any new parenting or discipline stuff by yourself.  That being said, if you and your partner are not on the same page, kids (even young ones) will figure it out.  They know that certain behaviors may be acceptable with one person and not another, and they will act accordingly.

Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 11.25 Years Old

Eleven year old preteen girl information. Schedule, extra curricular activities, and more.

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 11 years old to 11.25 years old.

EATING

Everything is the same with Kaitlyn for eating. If you don't know, Kaitlyn is my most particular eater of my children. Brayden and McKenna eat anything anytime and love a variety of flavors. Brinley is usually the same, but has her moments (usually when she really wants to get back to playing). Kaitlyn had reflux as a baby and has always been more sensitive about her foods. She does not love many, many foods. 

That doesn't mean we give her a pass, though. I have never required that she eat foods that exacerbate heartburn, but I do require a varied diet. She eats that variety even if she doesn't love it. I thinks she would live on pasta, bread, rice, and the occasional fruit if I let her. We don't have battles at all; she just doesn't love many foods.

The Basics of a Dreamfeed

The basics of a dreamfeed. The things you need to know to help the dreamfeed effectively work for your baby to sleep through the night. 

The dreamfeed is a helpful tool to help your baby sleep through the night when you are also sleeping through the night. Baby need so many feedings in a 24 hour period, and the dreamfeed is a way to make sure another feeding happens during your day so fewer need to happen during your night.

The term "dreamfeed" comes from the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (affiliate link) by Tracy Hogg. A dreamfeed is simply a late feeding that starts typically between 10-11 PM. The baby is already in bed, but you go in and feed baby one last time before heading off to bed yourself. The idea here is that baby gets a feeding in just before you go to sleep. When baby starts sleeping 7-8 hours straight without eating, these 7-8 hours then fall between 10-6, giving you a good night stretch to sleep yourself.

The dreamfeed is not necessary. If you would rather feed baby and put her to bed in the 7-8 PM hour and then head to bed yourself, go for it. The downside to not doing a dreamfeed is that it will likely be that the 7-8 hour stretch of sleep between night feedings will come between 7-2 instead of 10-6. If you are okay with this, there is nothing wrong with it. What you have to do is be prepared so when you hear stories of the 8 week old sleeping through the night, from 10-6, and yours is still waking up around 2 am, you can not be discouraged. You can remind yourself that your baby is also sleeping well and there is nothing to worry about. 

Some babies do not respond well to the dreamfeed. Some won't wake up for it and some sleep mores soundly through the night without it. Always do what is best for your baby; however, also be sure the dreamfeed legitimately does not work and the problems is not with your implementation of the dreamfeed. Some babies are very particular about certain aspects of the dreamfeed, so you might be able to tweak  one thing and get a great stretch of sleep in the night. 

In general, a dreamfeed works well for most babies. Some babies take work to get to take the dreamfeed initially. I had babies who needed a lot of time and effort put into establishing the dreamfeed before it was really a benefit. For me, it was something I wanted to establish. I wanted to be able to stay up past baby's bedtime to spend time with my husband. With effort, I established a dreamfeed with those babies.

Here are the basics of a dreamfeed to help you get baby sleeping through the night.

Everything You Need To Know About Wonder Week 19

Everything You Need To Know About Wonder Week 19. What is wonder week 19, or leap 4. How to help baby through wonder week 19. What baby learns during wonder week 19 and what to expect.

It did not take long after starting this blog for me to quickly realize a common time period babies were having troubles with sleep. I got an overwhelming number of questions from worried parents about their baby's sleep all of a sudden regressing right around four months old. In fact, the first time I wrote a post on it was two months after starting this blog.

I did some polls to try to figure out why some babies would be having issues while others would not. I came up with some theories as to why problems might be happening. It wasn't until my third child was a baby that the term "Wonder Weeks" first came to my knowledge. Wonder Weeks, by Frans X. Plooij and Hetty van de Rijt, was first published in 1992, yet I hadn't heard of it until 2009. The power of the Internet and moms groups introduced it to me.

This book talks about time periods in your baby's life when your baby is developing new skills, called leaps. These periods are marked with fussiness, clingyness, crying, poor eating, and poor sleep. The Wonder Weeks tells you when to expect these leaps, what skills are being developed during the leaps, things you can do to help baby get through each leap, and how long each leap will last.

Guess when the biggest, baddest leap of all is?

Four months old. This is also known as Wonder Week 19, or Leap 4.

In this post, I am sharing everything you need to know about this wonder week leap so you can help baby get through this sleep regression as smoothly as possible.

Brinley Child Summary: 6 Years Old

Six year old girl schedule and development. How to deal with emotions and what six year old girls are like. 

This is a summary for Brinley from 5 years 10 months old to 6 years old. She is now 6!

SLEEP

Sleep is great! Brinley had one night where she woke up crying because her leg hurt. I am 99% sure it was from growing pains (the 1% is reserved just for the fact that there is always a chance it could be something else). I gave her some pain killer and rubbed some Deep Blue oil on her (the doTERRA Deep Blue products are fantastic for growing pains!). Other than that night, things have been great!

EATING

Eating has shifted some. She has always been a great eater, even through the typical picky slides toddlers go through. She has started to say she doesn't like certain foods and not want to eat them. There isn't one food group she is directing this toward, but I would say most foods fall into the meat category. Brayden and Kaitlyn both spent YEARS not liking meat. They basically didn't like meat until they were about 5-6, so it is funny to have her start to be picky about it now. 

7 Practical Ways to Save Money on Baby Items

Practical Ways to Save Money on Baby Items. Tips to save money on everything you need for baby.

What to know how not to spend a fortune on a new baby? This is the list for you!

1) Accept Hand-Me-Downs

We have been so abundantly blessed to receive a ton of baby gear from friends and family. If you're looking to save money then saying goodbye to any pride you have about accepting second-hand items will do you in good stead. It's also good to bear in mind that by accepting the gift of hand-me-downs from another family you're allowing them to be a blessing to you. Most times people are happy to get rid of clothes and other baby items so that they can de-clutter their home. I would suggest asking what their expectations are. For instance, I when we have been given clothes I always ask if it's okay to pass them on to someone else once we're finished using them. That way, if there's anything that isn't to your taste or doesn't suit your child you can re-gift them to another person with no guilt. Hand-me-downs aren't limited to clothes either. We were given a crib, bassinet, bouncer, baby bath, and a number of other items. Of course, you'll want to know the kind of home the item has come from, but so long as you're comfortable with that there is nothing wrong with second-hand! The only exception is a mattress. Over time they lose their firmness and may not be as safe to use. Not to mention they tend to hold onto dust mites, etc. Do some research and get your baby a good quality mattress, but otherwise be open to receiving second-hand items.

Over 70 Beautiful and Easy Hairstyles for Girls

Over 70 Beautiful and Easy Hairstyles for Girls. These are hairstyles that your daughter can wear to school. Included are braids, ponytails, up dos, buns, pigtails, and half-up dos.

I taught myself how to braid using my Rainbow Bright doll when I was in first grade. That was the start of me doing hair in every toy I had with hair. Fast forward to motherhood and now I have three daughters I get to do hair on every single day. One of my favorite ways to play as a child has been able to become my reality in motherhood!

I am a person who really likes variety in many aspects of my life, and a hairstyle is one of those. I like to do many different styles on my girls and myself. We take photos of what we do so we can visually look through the options when choosing what to do that day. I often post our hair on Instagram. You can find photos on my feed and in my stories. I also have a story highlight called "Hair Tips" where you can see past stories of hairstyles we have done. You can also follow my hashtag #cbwmhairideas

In this post, I have over 70 different hair styles for you to look at and get ideas for doing your daughter's hair. I have written on my must-have products for doing girls hair. Having a good detangling brush, tools, and elastics really make the whole process much smoother. Read my post on Must-Have Products for Doing Your Daughters Hair here.

Moms- Finding Time To Grieve After The Death Of A Loved One

Moms- Finding Time To Grieve After The Death Of A Loved One. How mothers can find the time and space to grieve after the loss of a loved one.

When a loved one dies, grief can rear its ugly head at unexpected times. When you are a mom, it can be difficult to find the time to properly grieve. It can be difficult to give yourself the space that you need to mourn.

After all, your toddler and/or baby is demanding your undivided attention. Your needs as a mom often take a backseat. This can unfortunately also include your time to grieve. It is so important, however, to allow yourself the space to grieve and heal properly.

The only way to move through grief is to allow yourself to actually grieve. It takes time. Time isn't something moms have plentiful forms of. After losing my daughter, however, I had to find time to make the time.

Grief also comes in waves- unexpected at times. Things trigger emotions that otherwise wouldn't have, and it can consume you in the blink of an eye. There's no right way to grieve. There's no normal way to grieve.

There are, however, some things that can help as you navigate the waters. And, there are ways you can find the time and space that you need for you.

From Learning Time to Homeschooling: A Seamless Transition

From Learning Time to Homeschooling:  A Seamless Transition. How doing learning activities in preschool years helps you prepare for homeschool during school years. 

I first learned about the Babywise version of Learning Time right here on Val’s blog.  I was happy to find something new to incorporate into my son’s daily routine as he was getting older.  As a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom, I knew then that learning time would be an important (and hopefully fun) part of our day.  

When my son was an infant and pre-toddler, I can remember carefully choosing toys that would promote his development.  I remember carefully choosing board books to show him about current holidays or places we had visited like the farm or beach.  I remember slicing holes in the top of a container and showing him how to put pom-poms through the hole.  DIY fine motor work at it’s finest!  

I think I started “official” learning time with my son when he was about 20 months old, right after my daughter was born.  During her morning nap, I presented my son with a new lesson and then afterwards we would head outside to play.  During learning time, I taught my son about colors, shapes, letters and numbers.  We did puzzles, made crafts based on the current season or holiday and experimented with various types of art materials.  I followed his interests and together we both learned a lot about topics like outer space, dinosaurs and sharks.  We both really loved this focused time of day.  As any parent knows, children are innately curious.  Meeting his natural desire to learn was a joyful experience for both of us.