Help! My 3 yr old fights us tooth and nail when it comes to her naps at home. (She naps fine at school.) Up until now we've always laid down with her to nap, and read her a book or two and stay there until she falls asleep and then leave. Of course that isn't ideal - I'd rather her be able to fall asleep for naps by herself - but I'll take ithat over what's happening now, which is plain refusal. Back in the "two's" stage, she was more easily manipulatable and we could coax, distract, bribe, etc., but now, she is just so willful. She says she's not tired and i even started wondering if she didn't need a nap any more - until 5pm when she gets really cranky and falls asleep whenever/where ever we are. Conclusion: she definitely still needs one nap per day. We typically shoot for 1:30-2:30 put its such a long drawn out process, sometimes she doesn't fall asleep til 3pm or later! Maybe we should put her down earlier a 1pm, like they do at school?
Any advice will be much appreciated! I'm at my wits end! Am considering buying one of those childproof door handels so she can't leave her room and maybe she'll get the message that she might as well stay in her bed and fall asleep.
Thanks,
Frustrated
absolutely try to get the same time as she goes down at school, no question! By 2 pm she's probably not actually tired, since the brain will release a chemical to stay up when it senses it has to, so if you're missing her usual window that could be what's happening. Lunch at noon, quiet reading, door closed for nap a few minutes before 1. Good luck!
I would definitely try putting her to sleep at the same time as when she naps at school. Otherwise, she really could be giving up her naps. I wouldn't lock her in her room, that doesn't seem like a good solution. Try an earlier naptime, otherwise you might need to face the music that her naps are history!
Our three year old naps at school, but not at home. We don't fight it anymore. If we're out and about, he'll likely fall asleep in the car around 2-3ish, but otherwise, he pushes on through until an earlier bedtime (7.30 instead of 8.15 or so). Some days he really falls apart, but most of the time he can rally. If it's that much of a fight, you might consider letting it go, knowing that it's earlier to bed on weekend nights (a plus in this house!)
She figured out the whole "manipulation" thing and if you lock her in a room-you're going to seriously regret it. The fallout will be massive. Talk about the day in the morning-what you're going to do, when you're going to have lunch-when you're going to nap-then follow through-march her back to bed as many times as it takes-until she has taken her nap It's going to be tough-this evening talk about it some more-about what the next day will bring-and what is expected. If you break once-you will have to start all over again.
same place, right age to start giving it up. try a nap every OTHER day, works for us : )
We have similar struggles. What sometimes works is giving a back and/or foot rub and saying I can't do it unless he is quiet/still/eyes closed. Also I tell him he doesn't have to take a nap--he only has to close eyes/be still and quiet for five minutes--and when he does that he always falls asleep. :) He is always so happy after he finishes his nap!
We just require an hour of quiet time. She reads, arranges dolls, looks at books...sometimes she falls asleep and sometimes she does not. The hour of rest really helps all of us at that five o'clock hour. Good luck. It is no fun.
My son did the same thing when he hit age 3. Our doctor said this is the beginning of the transitional stage when nap time goes away. He did advise us to schedule a quiet time during the day for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Don't force napping necessarily, but just enforce that he lay down to read, listen to quiet music and rest. You may have to do this with your daughter. I have to with my son while my daughter sleeps. Sometimes he will fall asleep on his own other times not. We do take car rides in the afternoon to encourage sleep too. Good luck!
A.
My boys both fought naps just around age 3. They both still really needed a nap, but part of out growing a nap is learning to deal with being tired for a while.
My boys both now go to bed at 7:15. They are 6 and 4. Some days (when I am solo parenting - my husband travels for work) I have them in bed at 7:00.
Many days between 5 and 7 are hectic, and we are all a little crabby. But, everyone (including my 2 year old who also no longer naps) is in bed and asleep by 7:30 at the latest. They sleep till 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning.
There will be a period of adjustment whenever you drop the nap. Try skipping it a few days a week and have an earlier bedtime. You might be at the end of your napping days.
J.
At 3 life is exciting, she's home with you, there's so much to do...My daughter is 3 and we have a hard time with naps to. I usually use a baby gate so she can't leave her room and she knows that naptime is not over until she is laying quietly in her bed and I come in and get her. About 95% of the time she falls asleep but sometimes it does take her an hour before it happens.
I would suggest you stick to the same schedul as daycare, especially if she doesn't give them any trouble and sleeps. Som other things I do with my daughter on really rough days are playing a cd of classical music, most daycares do play music during rest time. While the cd is on she needs to close her eyes and listen to the music. If she is really tired she'll fall asleep. On those days when she's really against rest I let her pick 2 or 3 books that she can look at quietly in bed. I usually find my daughter passed out in one of her books on those days. Hope these ideas may help.
We struggled at this age too. Both of my girls stopped napping at 2 1/2, but like yours they sometimes would fall asleep at 5pm. Not good! If we were home they usually stayed awake and all was fine, but we were inevitably in the car at that time of day and I would drive with one hand tickling a kid the whole time (not safe, I know) I don't really have much advice. I just wanted to tell you you're not alone!!
Maybe O. day on, O. day off. And the no-nap days, move bedtime earlier by at least 45 mins.
I used to let my son watch a movie for his 45-75 quiet time. Right or wrong, it kept him put for the decent amount of time. But only once in a million did he fall asleep! LOL
I would try what others have suggested and go with the same naptime that she has at school.
When I started going through that struggle with one of the twins, I told her she didn't have to go to sleep but she did have to rest on her bed quietly for a little while. She would often fall asleep. If not, I would go get her after 30 minutes or so. I guess once it was her choice whether or not she slept, she would go to sleep. She would have freaked out if I had locked the door. Later when they both struggled, we switched to a nap every other day and then slowly dropped naps altogether. I think they had just turned 4 when we stopped napping.
Yes I think you should try the same time as school or even earlier. my 3.75 year old naps about 75% of the time - and it's from about 12:30-2:30.
If she doesn't go to sleep she stays in her room for "quiet" time from about 12:30-1:30 and she goes to bed earlier that night.
I am with you and LOVE the nap and feel in my heart of hearts our days are better when she has it. But what can you do, eventually they don't nap I guess..
Good luck!
My daughter started doing the same at age 2. I decided to give up on the nap and have quiet time. She can read a book or watch a movie. Sometimes she sleeps and sometimes she doesn't. She also had problems in the late afternoon early evening and would either be miserable or fall asleep. If it wasn't too late in the day I'd let her sleep for no more than an hour or she wouldn't sleep at night. It took about a week and the crankiness stopped and her body got used to the schedule. In my opinion, it's just not worth the fight. I would try putting her down the same time they do at school. If that doesn't work after about a week save yourself the aggravation and ditch the nap. PS - we do have a gate on her door so when she has quiet time without a movie (no TV in her room) she must stay in her room. Good luck!
We tell our daughter that she has to stay in her room a minimum of 1 hour -- even if she doesn't want to nap. We call it quiet time (she is pushing 4 years old -- birthday in July). We leave books in her room and she has an LED mini-flashlight. If she needs a nap, she ends up falling asleep. If not, we get her after the hour. We put her down at 1230 when we put our son down (he is 2.5). She usually is up at 645 am and goes to bed at 745 pm. Quit the drawn out process....unecessary at that age and a bad habit. Our daughter still needs a nap almost every day. Definitely try to keep to the school schedule if you can -- if she gets past that period of time, should be catching a second wind! Some kids though, do quit napping at this age. Tell her that if she gives up napping, she will need an earlier bed time -- might be worth the quiet time in her room to not need a "baby" bed time even earlier...especially as summer comes around!
My three year old has given up naps at home over a year ago. I don't force it. Sometimes she is tired enough to fall asleep at home or in the car, mostly she isn't.
We do require that she goes to rest in a room (lay down or play quietly) for 30 minutes - but you can't force sleep.
On days when she gets tired and cranky in the evening we just let a do something quiet or watch a movie...
I thinks it's only an issue if you make it one, try letting it go and you may be less frustrated.
Good luck
HI Frustrated!
Try keeping the nap schedule consistent with school. She may be overtired by 1:30 and you might be missing the window... or... she might be transitioning out of naps. Either way I'd make her have at least an hour of quiet time anyway. If she is giving up naps, she still needs that downtime during the day to recharge. Also know that there typically is a period where they are giving up naps, but they can't quite seem to hold it together in the evening yet. That will take a little time, but gets better.
Good luck!
