Z is the last letter in the alphabet...

So, it would make sense that it's the hardest for us to achieve.

LM has become really bad about naps lately. The last 2-3 weeks he will only nap for a solid length of time when held. Even our old friend the swing still isn't a lock for a long nap. We've tried letting him play/fuss/put himself back to sleep...it just results in red-faced screaming. As a consequence...his night sleep has been suffering. He's tired early but overtired to the point he can't go to sleep. He goes down, wakes up, etc etc etc It's been taking hours---which is a new thing for us :(

Now that he's in daycare--the problem is exacerbated. He'll take little catnaps, but only if he falls asleep in her arms. He wakes up when she puts him in the pnp. He did conk out in the mini swing for her..but only for a short time and he was cuddling his burp cloth.

So again...overtired baby who wants to nap in the evening at home.

How can I help him nap better---here or daycare? With work really truly starting (early morning alarm clock and all), I am terrified at the idea of bad nights and having to get up and function the next day.

On a similar note--the burp cloth thing got me thinking...he does always grab my hand (or DH's) and pull it to his face to snuggle when he wakes up (but really isn't awake..kwim?) in the middle of the night and we go in to pat him or give him a paci. I feel like he's too young to take his monkey-blanket to bed. He still pulls it over his face....but he does love to snuggle with it in his swing. How old are they normally when they can be trusted with one? Because I'm thinking it'll help....just like being able to stomach sleep when he can eventually master all his rolling moves (and I work up the nerve for it).

I'm just really feeling lost about it all. Now that he's not home with me all day, I just feel anxious about him really getting enough rest so he's happy and healthy. Plus (selfishly) I don't want him to be uber-cranky when we get to see him in the evening.

Thanks for listening to me ramble...there's just a lot on my mind and I'm exhausted...ugh and real work hasn't even started yet.