Advice on Nap Schedule

Hi A.~
I have a 3 yr old who is/was an excellent napper! Just recently he started having trouble going to sleep at night, so we had to rearrange a bit. We have to make sure he is up by 330 or so, or he isn't tired at night, and I hate for him to be up there in bed and not tired. There have also been a few days that we have let him skip naptime (i.e. if we are out all afternoon doing something fun) and he is a grouch by early evening, so like your son, he still needs it. I have found that even some quiet time in his room with some books helps him (and me) make it through the day. If he doesn't sleep, I will cut the time short a little bit so he isn't up there alone so long, but he has never questioned quiet time...it is just another daily routine that he happily does! Hope you find a solution, but I'll bet this is just a transition and he will probably guide you if you follow his cues. Good luck!
~L.

Have you tried implementing a "quiet time" or "quiet play time" ? During the time that your 1.5yr old is napping your 3.5yr old can be quietly playing in his room, or "resting" but not sleeping. That seems to help with our 5yr old who still needs some quiet time to reboot in the afternoon :-)

Hi A.,
I have two boys and my oldest will be 4 in August. He stopped taking a nap at about 2.5. We moved his bedtime up to 7 sometimes even 6:30 and he would sleep all night. So if you think that he might not need a nap anymore maybe move his bedtime up. It was kind of hard at the beginning but after a couple of weeks he adjusted. Good luck.
Chris

Hi A.,
When my daughter was 3.5 she did the same thing. I at that point would still put her down for a nap but I limited it to an hour. Just a cat nap was all she needed and was never fussy in the early evening and then still went down at 7:30-8 ish for the night. She usually was up at around 8am'ish. Hope that helps.

S.

I am right with you. I have a 3.5 year old little girl. I swear she hates to sleep. She gets very emotional and mean in the evening if she is overtired but if she gets a nap it's a nightmare to get her to sleep before midnight. Her bedtime is 8pm. She gets to watch a movie for a little while before falling asleep. Naps...hmmm I won't lie and say she never gets them. I guess I bass it off of how she is acting but I never give her a nap after 1pm. If she gets one it's right after lunch. If she falls asleep on her own after that, I do let her take a tiny cat nap 1/2 hr or so. It's a tuff call to make. I also worry about her not getting enough sleep. She wakes up about 6am every morning. Good luck with your lil guy.

HI A.

I have a 4.5 year old daughter, she started preschool a few months before her 4th birthday and she stopped naps at about 3ish too, was rough the first couple weeks she would get crabby towards the evening but now I couldnt get her to take a nap if i tried and if she does, she usually wakes more crabby then when she was awake. Your kids let you know what works for them, good luck!!

Hi A.! I have a 3.5 yr old son at home, who is impossible to get to take naps. I find that quiet time helps! In the middle of the day (when he should be ready to nap) I make him lay on the couch and read a book. After a 1/2 hr of that, I let him watch tv for a 1/2 hr and sometimes he falls asleep, but most of the times not. But that hr wind down period really helps out!!! I just wish there was mandatory nap time for mom's!!!