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Toddler sets the most brilliant nap traps ever: She tries to 'lock me in'

“I’m eternally nap trapped.”

Abigail Foudoulian is nearing her second birthday, and she's already learned how to make her parents bend to her will.

The toddler does not like to sleep alone, so she has masterminded genius ways of making sure that her mom stays by her side when she sleeps.

"I'm eternally nap trapped," her mother, Meghety Foudoulian, tells TODAY.com.

Although Abigail used to snooze like an angel alone in her crib, she stopped sleeping as well about two or three months ago ... which just so happens to coincide with baby brother Luca's birth. The Foudoulians considered trying a "cry it out" method of sleep training, "but it just wasn't for me," her mom says.

Next, they tried moving Abigail to a big girl bed, but the extra space showed this smart toddler that there's enough room for mom or dad to lie down with her while she sleeps.

"Every time, she tries to kind of lock me in in a different way. And I have to wait until she's in a deep sleep to sneak out," Foudoulian says.

Meghety Foudoulian and family
Look at that grip! Even in 2022, Abigail clearly had the upper hand on her mom.Courtesy Taylor Paige Photos

Abigail's go-to move is to slide her little hands inside her mom's shirt sleeves to make sure she stays put. But one day Abigail woke up and realized that Foudoulian was able to escape. So she tried something new.

Abigail placed her hands lovingly (yet firmly) on her mother's cheeks to make sure she'll never ever escape. Foudoulian documented her capture in this hilarious video.

Foudoulian is sometimes able to make an escape but Abigail is not amused when she wakes up without a parent nearby. During one nap, she woke up every 30 minutes.

"I would have to go up there again and do the whole procedure once more to be able to continue her nap," Foudoulian says.

Meghety Foudoulian and family
Yes, Abigail. We all know who the princess is in this family. ;) Courtesy Meghety Foudoulian

At night, she and her husband, Daniel, find themselves hopping from room to room as they try to soothe their two under 2 to sleep.

Foudoulian, who works from home as a senior marketing manager, says that while she's counting the minutes until her daughter falls into a deep sleep, she's constantly thinking of "all the things I have to do and I'm not able to do ... It's a lot of time just being wasted."

Meghety Foudoulian and family
Abigail and her family just where she likes them ... in bed.Courtesy Taylor Paige Photos

Daniel also works from home, and Foudoulian's mom is on hand to help wrangle the kids during the day, but between work, Luca's breastfeeding schedule and Abigail's hands-on naps, her days are long.

"It's just a lot of going up and down and outside and on the laptop and doing all the things," she says.

Rather than try to fight Abigail's time-consuming nap demands, Foudoulian has decided to embrace them.

"For this season of our life, I'm just going to go with the flow," she says. "I don't know what's gonna happen later. But for now, we're just happy with what's going on."