Rest Time

Today was a big day for Grant. He had his first official "rest time". When Scotty was outgrowing his afternoon nap I had him do an afternoon rest time. He needed some down time and I still needed the afternoon break. He would go downstairs and watch a movie and/or play quietly by himself. It has worked out great and he still wants to have his rest time when he has a day off of school. We have been noticing lately that Grant is still laying in his bed awake an hour to an hour and a half after we put him to bed. He isn't getting up or bothering Scotty- he just lays there quietly. We made sure to take notice of how he goes to sleep when he didn't have a nap and he would be right out. So today I decided to give it a try. It's a hard decision because he still sleeps for two to two and a half, and sometimes even close to 3, hours every afternoon. But I feel bad for him laying there awake for so long at night. He was super excited to be able to watch a movie instead of taking a nap! Everything went fine until about 4:45pm and then he had a huge meltdown. He calmed down enough to rejoin us but he just wasn't the same. I, of course, start doubting the dropped nap, but I have to remind myself that transitions like this take some time and I have to be patient. We'll have to watch him the next few days and if we have a daily meltdown then we might have to go back to napping. If that happens, it will not be a fun day for Grant or for me!