bedtime battle

Marisa stopped taking naps right when Natalie was born. (Around 2 years and 4 months old.) Perfect timing, eh? And I remember thinking she was way too young to be ending naps. Aren't kids suppossed to take naps until Kindergarten? I remember she just wouldn't go down after lunch but would end up crashing always around 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Remember this post? Hilarious.

So here we are with child number two. Aka: The worst sleeper ever since birth. At 2 years 3 months old she no longer wants/needs naps.

But here is the dilemma. If I don't let her nap because she refuses to or flat out unable to, she crashes at exactly 4:00 in the afternoon as well, which results in a bedtime nearing 10:00 o'clock at night! But if I some how am able to get her to take a nap at her usual time which is 12:30ish in the afternoon, she still ends up staying up until almost 10:00 o'clock at night with us! Neither is good.
And there are times when she doesn't crash at 4:00 o'clock, but as you can imagine, she is a nightmare by bedtime and overly tired. On the other hand, when she does manage just fine with no nap at all, I am able to put both girls in bed and asleep by 7:30. This is ideal.

Sigh. The bedtime battle.

I was hoping to capture Natalie crashing in funny positions like I did with Marisa, but like I said, she is not a good sleeper and incapable of crashing just anywhere. This girl has energy and determination to stay awake like you will not believe. If Marisa is tired she will lay herself down, put herself in bed (yes, even at 2-3 years old she would put herself to nap without telling me if she felt tired), or just let herself fall asleep wherever. Not Natalie.
When she has crashed at 4:00 o'clock it is only because she was so wound up that I made her watch a movie.

Another problem with my little worst sleeper is the "battle of getting out of bed". Do any of you have this problem? It is annoying.

Every night, with tonight being no exception, results in Tim and I consistently putting her back to bed anywhere from 3-15 times. Marisa never gets up and almost every time we come back in with Natalie in hand Marisa says, "I never told her to get up" or "I didn't get up".

Oh yeah, did I ever tell you that Natalie is always the first one up and last one asleep between the two girls? The child needs very little sleep! I blame Tim. No, I blame the Hart genes. The curse of needing little sleep.

I'm a LOBO. I NEED SLEEP!