3 Year Old Naps Great but Gets up Early Questioning the Length of Nap

When my kids were that age, I bought them each an alarm clock (a digital one) and put it in their rooms. They knew their numbers so I told them, that they had to stay in bed until - the clock said "7" in the first spot - and showed them where to look. If it said "7" there - then they could get out of bed. If it didn't say "7" then they had to lay in bed quietly reading a book or something until it said "7". They could get up and get a book and get back in bed, or they could go to the bathroom and get back in bed, but they could not get out of bed and play until the clock said "7". That worked for me. Maybe that would work for you? Good luck!

I don't believe in taking sleep away. If a child's body doesn't require sleep, then they won't sleep. If he is getting cranky because he is getting up early, then I would put him down for his nap earlier. That should solve the problem.

You could try but it may not make a difference , if he still needs to nap then he still needs to nap , less sleep can make them worse sleepers at night. Is there anyway you can let him go to sleep earlier at naptime? Say 12 instead of 1 , that could help....other than that I have nothing sorry!

I agree that it is the time of year. Brighter mornings mean an earlier start. Is there a way you can keep his room darker? When my older daughter was this age she had a room that caught the morning sun so we hung a double curtain rod in her room. The kind that is made to have sheers behind the drapes. Instead of sheers we hung a second set of lined drapes. The extra layer helped keep the room darker in the mornings so she would sleep longer. I'd give that a try and see if it helps.

I would try to shorten his nap time. I read somewhere that kids need a certain number of hours to sleep, and if they nap, then the hours at night is shortened. The chart I was looking at showed that 3 year olds didn't need a nap (but they obviously never met my kids...haha!). However, some kids do simply change their routine after a while. My son used to sleep from 730 until 730 with a nap. He turned two, and no matter what I did with his nap schedule he gets up at 6 or 630 every day.

My daughter turns 3 at the end of next month and is doing the same thing. She has the same schedule as your son does and she's been waking up earlier and earlier. I think it has to do with the sun and how bright it is in the mornings. We bought a clock from One Step Ahead that we programed to turn green at 7am. We told her she can talk to her bunnies, get a book, play her music turtle (that hangs on her headboard) but she is not to call us unless she needs something until that light turns green. Most mornings the second it turns green we hear, "the light's green!" That is the only solution we have come up with.
Best of luck,
C.

I'm in a similar situation w/ my 3 year old son. He naps for 2-3 hours(usually 2-5pm), and goes to bed at 9pm, wakes up at 7:30am...I now have a 2 1/2 month old baby and am thinking about letting my older son stop napping. He loves to nap and needs it, but will only nap if I drive him around in the car and then let him nap in the car(we live in a a safe shaded place and I check him constantly). I'm tired of getting both kids in the car and driving around for everyday...advice?

We use a BabyZoo Sleeptrainer for our daughter and it works very well. As long as the monkey is Sleeping she has to stay in bed. Took 1 week and now she will not come into our room until 7 am....
I found it in a webshop www.mybabyzoo.com.

Good luck

No don't do anything.
He has a great nap and sleep routine/schedule already.
What is 1 hour?
To me that is nothing.
My son is the SAME way...
he wakes anywhere from 6:00-7:00 in the morning. He naps everyday for 2 hours or more. He goes to bed at 8:00 just fine.
He is happy.
So what if my son wakes at 6:00... it doesn't bother me. He knows to still be "quiet" because others are still sleeping. Or I just wake with him, or have him lay by me.

Wake times... to me, are a "window of time." Not just one single time on the clock.
But you can make his nap a tad earlier... that is what I do with my son.
He is napping now in fact. If not, he naps later. But today he was tired already. So he napped.
You have to gauge it everyday... not just set in stone. Some days they are just needing a nap earlier... too.

I agree that it's the time of the year. My daycare kids come in around 6am to 6:30. During the months when it's dark they all drag in and fall asleep on the couch. But now that it's so bright, they come in wide awake and want to get up to the table for breakfast just as soon as we'll get it for them. We try to keep things calm until we finish a few of our wake up chores. But they are too happy, chatty, and ready for that anymore.

Hello TB,
As none of mine had a regular nap after age 2 I think itis wondeful that you rlittle one still does! What I do with the children in the Day Care and with my Grandchildren is have a set amount of time for the rest period, this can range to the need of the child becasue I really believe that they need some down time each day. But I know that our 3yo little one will get up every morning at 5:30 when dad does and stays up and going all day if allowed to. So yes mama, shorten the nap time to 1- 1 1/2 hours and then see if it will help at the other end-- it may take some time for his little body to adjust. Good Luck

My son is almost 3 and he loves to nap. He gets up between 6:00 and 7:00 am so I put him down for a nap around noon right after lunch. He sleeps till 2:00 - 2:30, if I have to I wake him up to preserve bedtime which is 8:00 p.m.

It could be because it is getting lighter out earlier (at least for is in the midwest), my daughter who is almost 4 years old and in the past month she has been getting up earlier due to the sun coming up earlier.

Maybe try shortening the nap, otherwise wait it out, depending on my daughters growth she needs more sleep more then other days.

I would suggest that his nap time be made earlier (noon instead of 1) and get him up by 3. 8 to 7 sleeping is long 11 hours and then a 3 hour on top of that is a lot of sleep time. some kids need it some don't. but i would try moving the naptime earlier first. and then maybe just institute the rule that he can "wake up" but he has to stay in his room till whatever time you agree too.