Of naps and sleep times and more..

What is it with kids and nap times??? They just refuse to go to the bed even if they have difficulty opening their eyes and then they get overtired and reach an over-anxious stage where they are not able to rest their bodies, even if they want to. And then they give a hard time for almost everything starting from brushing teeth, changing to PJs, listening to story, lying on the bed, covering with blanket and more that one cannot even think of.. I would have loved to say that it stops as soon as they hit the bed but, alas!, it doesn't. especially with chinipie who keeps coming out of her covers on one pretext or the other.. even if she would have been dozing for a while, she would get up in the middle of the night and order her dad to go lie down with her.. poor dad has no choice but to go sleep on the floor next to her bed. Usually he gets back to his bed around 4 or 5 in the morning, only if, she doesn't come back and reprimands him for leaving her alone! Sometimes, she would just sneak up on our bed and sleep next to us. As for sugar, she keeps asking for 'dudu' any time she wakes up or she has tough time sleeping . Mostly, she would keep crying (in her machine gun-like fashion) in her crib and say, "I want dudu.. I want dudu..."

When we discussed this sleeping habit with their pediatrician, they said that it is a normal behavior for most kids this age. It's up to the parents to tell the kids to try and go back to sleep all by themselves and they shouldn't be given milk or any food at the weird hours just like an adult. Nor should they be encouraged to sleep with their parents be it in the kids room or the parents' room. Clearly, their kids are way past this age and that's why they don't seem to remember their own night-time stories..

Well, I wouldn't say this happens every evening or my kids are tough to handle. In fact, they are perfect little angels and there are some nights when they come and say, "I'm tired. I want to sleep." and then, we have those sparse nights when they sleep throughout! Mostly, I have observed that they
1. tend to behave better when they have a set routine almost every day
2. don't watch too much television (more than 45 min) close to nap time
3. had participated in exhaustive exercises
4. either one of them is not too weary (that's when the other one picks up the tantrum, just to join the chorus!)

Let's talk about routine. I feel it's very important for the kids (for that matter, everyone) to have a set routine (occasional deviance are always acceptable). This gives them a feeling of stability and brings a sense of decorum and discipline in them, which would prove to be very fruitful in their later life. I am not saying that we should stereo-typically stick to it to the point of becoming mechanical and lose our flexibility completely. But, their should be a regularity and a proper balance for all their activities( including the indoor and outdoor) during the day, be it at home or anywhere else, leaving some room for fluctuation as well. I have always seen that whenever there's a constant disruption in their routine or they do not know what and when the next activity is going to be, they get a little unruly. For some reason or other, am not able to follow this always.. sometimes, there are extra chores.. or i am not feeling too well.. or some other vague reason.. to which I tell myself, "c'mon you'r just one person! how can you always do everything?" but then is that enough?

The other three reasons viz. the idiot box, exercises, and picking up frm sibling are pretty much self-explanatory. But then here is my questions to all of you moms/dads out there.. are any of your experiences similar? what do you have to suggest for battling these night-fall dooms? do you believe in regularity in child's routine too? how do you/kids manage the deviance?

Please do pour in your views..