Hi Mommas,
I'm looking for advice on how to keep my three year old napping. She was so good about taking her naps everyday for about two hours and then sleeping another 10 hours at night. Then a couple of weeks ago she decided she didn't want to nap anymore. Here's her routine: She wakes up a little before 8. Goes to preschool and gets home by 1:00. At 1:30 she's in bed. We do quiet time, read books and listen to
music and an hour and a half later she's still wide awake! Sometimes she would lay quietly other times she'd whine and cry until I relent and let her go play. The surprising thing is that she can go like this without a meltdown. She looks tired, but is in good
spirits until her bedtime which is at 8:30. By then she's out cold. She's still gets her 10 hours of night time sleep even though she doesn't nap. Is this enough sleep for a preschooler? I thought kids nap until they are in kindergarten. Hope you can share any tips and insights on keeping her napping. Thanks!
OH NO! I had no idea my 2 year old was headed in this direction!! I go nuts when my girls don't take their naps! They are so unhappy with everything.. I Hope iget to 3 at least!!
Best of luck,
C.
Helping Moms like YOU!
www.AtHome4MyGirls.com
All 4 of my kids stopped napping at 3! Sorry! I think it's great if she will still do "quiet time". She will sleep if she needs it, otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if she can make it to bedtime without a meltdown! We can barely do that now and my kids are much older! :) Good luck!
My son is 3-1/2 and stopped taking a nap at 2-1/2.
Hi Jane,
I too have two little girls almost the same age as you, 3 yo and 20 month old. My 3yo use to take naps every day at the same time when she went to daycare and other kids there also napped. Once I pulled her out and my MIL started watching both my girls, my 3yo stopped taking her naps all together. That was for about 5 months. Now, she just started preschool and they have naptime from 1-3pm so she is back to taking naps everyday. For my daughter, if she sees others napping, she will do the same. If she is the only one, more times than not, she will refuse to nap. When she says no to a nap, I usually try luring her with a new book.
If she isn't miserable all afternoon, it sounds like she's dropped her nap! Although you can't really control what time she wakes up, you could try putting her to bed a little earlier so that she gets a little more sleep since you say she looks tired. Maybe at 7:30 or 8:00 pm. She probably won't even fight you if you back the time up gradually. I know you have a younger daughter too but maybe an earlier bedtime will give you a little more time to yourself in the evening and you can get some extra sleep then?
Take care!
Hi Jane,
Children all seem to have different sleep needs. My son quit napping at two and a half. I teach preschool and only about half of those kids still nap. If she is not melting down, she may be ready. Enjoy those easy bedtimes at night!
My son quit napping about that time. We still have a "quiet bedroom time". He has to go play quietly in his room for one hour. If he is tired, the quiet time by himself usually helps him fall asleep and I still get one hour to be "off duty".
My niece and nephew dropped their naps around that age, too. They still nap if they have an especially tiring day (they're 3.5 & 5) but definitely not every day. I think it's reasonable to require her to have a "quiet time" in her room every day where she can sit on her bed and read or listen to music for a while so you can still have some time to yourself. My son is 2 and I am dreading the day he stops napping, so I understand your frustration!
Hi Jane,
I hate to tell you this, she sounds like she doesn't need anymore naps. My first sone was done at 27 months. I mean done done done. I asked the dr and he said well he doesn't require anymore sleep then the 11 hours he gets at night. I was pulling my hair out because when he turned 2 i found out i was pregnant with baby #2. I still needed the naps. LMAO!!! I put him in a 2's program at Kindercare 2 days a week because he was so busy and needed that time to socialize with other children and was bored at home. That gave me my time to nap. However, the staff at Kindercare was upset that he didn't take naps at school either. My dr acutally wrote them a letter telling them that all kids don't need them after 2 and at 4yrs old they are done with napping. So don't drive yourself nuts trying to make something happen that isn't going to. I found other tings for my son to do. He has his own time alone in his room to hang out. That is when I do my stuff. His little brother is starting to lose one of the 2 naps he takes now at 14 months.
Good luck
SAHM, 40yrs old with 2 amazing, funny little boys. 3.5yrs and 1 (started walking at 7mos) My life moves at the speed of light.
Jane,
She sounds done with napping and is going thought a cognitive growth...brain too busy...
Encourage quiet time in her room, head set for quiet books on cd, a puzzle, cozy with books, even near you just so you can put your feet up..
those beautiful naps, if only they knew their value.
Hi Jane,
My daughter stopped napping at 3 too. We adjusted it to quiet time on her bed for about an hour and a half (so that I could get my own down time).
-S.
Sorry to say, but it sounds like your daughter is done with naps. What you can do is have "quiet time" where she can play quietly in her room. She has to stay in her room unless she needs to use the potty. After all, we don't want pee on the floor!
My 5 year old's nap routine is I read her a book. Then she does quiet time and I take my nap. Meanwhile, my youngest (2 years old) takes her nap. Quiet time is finished when my youngest wakes up. After all, my nap is done, too! I've found that although my oldest doesn't need a nap, she does need time to play on her own. If she doesn't get it, she can get grumpy. We started this routine when she was 2.5 since she wasn't a napper at all and I needed a nap!
Most kids stop napping between 3-4 yrs old. Mine stopped at 3 yrs old -bummer since I still have a 10 mo old that naps. It's obvious he isn't tired. He has to have quiet time due to his sister, but my son is not a very quiet kid and he could not play in his room without waking up his sister so now he gets to watch tv for an hour in the afternoon. He could sometimes use a nap around 4:00 but I don't allow it or he won't sleep at night - it's just too late in the afternoon. He sleeps 10.5 hrs at night. He seems just fine. As long as your child is sleeping well at night, I wouldn't worry about it. Dropping a nap is just another adjustment on the road of parenting!
Sounds like your little one is done with naps. My twin 3 yr old girls just stopped naps also. They are up between 6:00 am and 7:00 am and go to bed at 7:00 pm. On the rare day they do take a nap, I let them stay up until 8:00 pm.
Hi,
I completely understand wanting to have your daughter continue her naps so you can get a break and possibly nap yourself. My daughter stopped her naps at 26 months just when we had her baby sister and has rarely taken a nap since. I think I can probably count the naps in the past 3 years on both hands. If she can just rest and read books I think that's good. If she seems really tired in the evening, I would just put her down to bed a little earlier. I think it's a battle that you're not going to win, but you may convince her to rest in bed and possibly fall asleep.
Best of luck!
Greetings Jane: Gotta tell you that as the mother of 5 and having been a foster parent and now a Grandmother of the worlds cutest cuties-- Children don't sleep like your asking for in my part of the world.
None of my children took regular naps after 18 months. By 2 they had given them up on a regular basis all together--- that is not to say they or I didn't still need them!!!
We started what to this day is called the **Perry Mason hour**
they knew that mom took the phone of the hook, and laid down while this show was on. They were allowed to read, color,play quietly during this time but it was mom's quiet time. I even put a sign on the front door that said "do not disturb mom is resting". We would pile quilts up like a big nest(Big Bird style) and that was their space to be in. We have done this for so many yers now and I have taught my grandchildrenthe same thing. BUT the minuet that the Perry Mason show, goes off they got me up ready or not. Often that is when I refreshed my spirit to keep going. Good Luck, in your adventure of parenthood. Nana G
She is outgrowing her naps! It's nice for moms when kids nap, but when they don't need a nap, they just don't. Sorry, mom.
My 3 boys all stopped napping by 3 (most by 2 1/2). The up side was that they slept soundly each night for 11 - 12 hours. I agree with others, you may want to put your daughter to bed a little earlier, to get her more sleep if you think she needs it.
You may not wanna hear this, but 3 is a pretty common age for kids to drop naps altogether. When our boys (now 8.5 & 4) stopped napping they went to bed about an hour earlier. So,I suggest you still have a quiet time of book reading & if she doens't fall asleep, then put her to bed about an hour earlier than usual. Good luck!
