You can lead a horse to water...

Emily has never been a good napper.  From the time she was an infant until now, she has always, always preferred to sleep at night rather than during the day.  Most of time, I am thankful for this, as I too prefer to sleep at night.  But there was a period last week where I thought we were getting somewhere.  She wouldn't go to sleep right away for her naps, but she'd play happily enough in her crib, rattling the bars and talking to herself until she fell peacefully asleep.  For the past few days, though, it's been back to square one.  Or, more accurately, back to a LOT of protesting - loud protesting.  I've tried everything: putting her down earlier than usual (in case she's overtired when I try later), putting her down later than usual (in case she hasn't been tired enough) and even though she gives me all the signs of a tired kid including increased fussiness, yawning, and rubbing of the eyes she still cries for up to 25 minutes before falling asleep.  It just breaks my heart to listen to her, but I've learned the hard way that trying to soothe her only makes it worse.  I guess she just needs to unwind in her own way.  I just wish her way didn't cause me so much stress!