Has My 3 Year Old Outgrown Nap Time Already?

One answer - yes. I know you hate to hear that. Try telling her she doesn't have to sleep, but she needs to rest. Tell her she can get up when the alarm clock goes off (or an egg timer, or whatever). Give her several picture books to look at and allow one hour for this. Chances are she will drift off, especially if she has been busy all morning. Try pre-school also. A couple days a week will help her and you. She will learn new skills and it will give you a break (especially with a new one on the way). In pre-school she will be put down for naptime, and even if she doesn't sleep, she will get a rest of some sort. If she is cranky by 7, bathtime, quiet play and a story and in bed by 7:30/7:45.

My daughter just turned 4 and we've been here for about 6 months or more. Yes, she was very cranky and whiny when she didnt get a nap, so I continued with the routine-lunch, 30 min. computer time, naptime-which many times is her looking at books or playing with her magnet book. At first she just seemed to wallow around in her bed whining that she wasn't tired, finally I told her she could look at books as long as she was quiet-about half the time she falls asleep after 30-45 min. She's not as cranky as she used to be when she doesn't get a nap-unless she was very busy that morning, and I still get MY time. I would second the advice about a day care-mine started a month before her sister was born 2 mornings a week, was extremely helpful and you can get 1 on 1 with your new baby. God bless!

I think the dr. may be on to something. Sometimes my kids will sleep more/eat more during growth spurts. However, during developmental growth periods (like learning new things), the opposite seems to be true. They have trouble sleeping. I understand about the nap thing; it is vital at our house. I would continue to be consistent with it. Even if she doesn't sleep, it can be a "quiet time". On the weekends, I still insist all of my kids have that time (including the almost 10 year old). The two oldest children no longer nap but they have become wonderful readers from that time. Good luck!

my dd outgrew nap time right before her third birthday. When she did give it up, we did go to a quiet-time situation and move bed time up by 15 minutes a night until she got into a good and working sleep pattern again. We wound up going from nap time at 1pm and bedtime at 9pm to quiet time with a bed time of 730 and she would sleep until 7am.

Some kids aren't made to take naps, but quiet time helps ease the fussiness in the evening and the earlier bedtime means they still get the same amount of time asleep, just not the same interval of time.

M.

My daughter outgrew nap time when she was 3 months shy of 3. Now we have quiet time. She shares a room with her 1 year old sister, so quiet time is done downstairs with me. Maybe once a week she will actually nap on the couch, but most of the time she just gets to read or play with quiet toys. We've been doing it for about 7 months and it works for us. She has also been on a good schedule since she was 8 months. She wakes up around 6 or 6:30 but she goes to bed at 7 and sleeps through the night. If she starts acting cranky just put her to bed 30 minutes early. Who knows, maybe that will be her new bedtime giving you and your husband some more "child free" time at night.

HI Rebecca!
I actually just wrote this same question last week about my 4 yr old daughter. And I got a lot of great responses. We were going through the exact things you wrote about. I think what we figured out is that she was getting too much sleep and was staying restless because of it (if that makes sense). What we've started doing is cutting out naptime, but exchanging it for "quiet" time. I let her pick out some books and a disney movie and tell her she has to stay on her bed until the words come up (thats what she calls the ending credits). She has done great with it. And now I'm not getting stressed about her not obeying and going to sleep. Plus she's going to bed about an hour earlier at night and waking up well rested in the morning. We've been on this schedule for about a week or so and its going great. So maybe you can give it a shot. Hope this helps!
A.

I would cut out her nap time completely and then put her to bed an hour early. That would probably be your best bet.