development | The Mommy Insider

I am a firm believer in naps. It was difficult for me when Madelyn started fighting nap time at about 2 years old but I am determined for her to nap until she’s 10 at least 4. Sebastian, now 9, took naps until he was 5 and still would if it was up to me! I need ‘nap time time’. I need that couple of hours to work in peace, take a shower, or exercise and she needs the nap for many reasons.

In ‘The No-Cry Nap Solution‘ Elizabeth covers many reasons why your child may fight nap time including irregular schedules, being overtired and over-wired by nap time, and reliance on a specific sleep aid. I believe that Madelyn started fighting nap time when we re-scheduled her nap time to 1:00 from her regular 11:30 nap time. She was too wired and tired to settle down at 1:00 so it was difficult to get her to sleep. I would not have thought about her being over-tired, but once we got her back to going down around 11:30-12:00, she fell asleep much quicker and with less of a fight.

Daytime naps might last just a few short hours, but they can affect all twenty-four hours of a child’s day. Naps can improve a child’s mood and reduce fussiness, crying, whining, and tantrums. Studies show that children who nap daily get sick less often, grow taller, and are less likely to be obese when they grow up. Naps enhance attention span and brain development. Naps can also help make up for any shortage in nighttime sleep. Even a one hour shortage in overall sleep hours can have a negative effect on a child – compromising alertness and brain function, and increasing fussiness and fatigue.

Author, Elizabeth Pantley, is the author of several other parenting books including the popular No-Cry Sleep Solution and has four children of her own so I trust that she knows what she’s talking about. I highly recommend The No-Cry Nap Solution for any new parent or even parents of toddlers.. it’s never to late to figure out why the heck your child won’t take a nap and learn how to make nap-time happen!

You’ll find information about all 9 of Elizabeth Pantley’s books on her website.

This is one of the most entertaining games I’ve played in a long time. Yes, I admit I played ItzaBitza. My kids weren’t even around. The concept of ItzaBitza is awesome..I’ve never seen anything like it.

ItzaBitza promotes reading comprehension, artisitic and imaginative creativity and provides an exciting gaming experience for kids ages four and older. I was amazed time and time again by how the game responded to my drawings and made them come to life.

Here are just a few things you can do in the first ItzaBitza scene:

Draw a tree, apples grow on it.
Draw a moon and stars light up the sky and your Sketchie goes inside the house you drew, goes upstairs and goes to sleep.
Draw an envelope and your Sketchie takes it to the mailbox.
Draw a cup and watch your Sketchie drink out of it.

The Sketchie your child chooses at the beginning of the game (a boy or a girl) asks your child to draw things, including a house and a tree, then the drawings become part of the animation and story. An example would be when I drew a tree with leaves, the game added apples to the tree. You can see my award winning drawing (ha!) below. Click on the image to view the larger version. I didn’t draw the flowers. When I drew the sun, the flowers grew! How cool is that?

Through out the game, the Sketchie gives you ideas and little games to play via a little word bubble that pops up when you click on him or her. If your child has trouble reading a word in the bubble, all she has to do is move the mouse over the word and it is sounded out for her. Great reading practice!

There are several scenes that can be unlocked as your child progresses in the game including a camping scene and a naunted house. You’ll have to buy the game to find out what happens in each of the scenes!

Buy a copy of ItzaBitza at Amazon.com for $17.99 (current price) OR buy and download the game here.

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