My daughter has recently began to not want to nap, she was such a good napper and I had no problems in the past, when I put her down she gets up to play or sing in the bed so I will let her get up, but later in the day she falls asleep on her own which is to close to bed time, I am not ready to give up the naps that is usually my time for me to do things on my own. How did your kids act when the nap time was over, what are the signs, how do I handle her being sleepy late in the afternoon, thanks for your help
This is totally normal - and there is nothing that you can do to change it! Most kids this age have lost the nap - it just takes the parents some time to adjust! You can certainly let her play in her room and "rest" for a little while. It is just part of them growing up I am afraid!
My son did this exact same thing shortly after he turned 3. Like the previous poster, I also give my son a quiet time in the afternoon. I tried giving him some books in bed, but he's a little too active to handle that for more than 5-10 minutes. Instead, I let him pick out a movie to watch after lunch and set him up on the couch. He'll watch the whole movie, and about half the time he'll fall asleep. The other half of the time, it's just enough of a relaxing time he can make it until bedtime. On the days he doesn't nap, I just make his bed time about half an hour earlier.
My friend just went through this with her 3 year old and she just stopped her naps. She seems to get pretty cranky in the evenings, but is going to bed a little earlier at night. I think if she is falling to sleep in the evenings before bed then she still needs a nap. When you put her down for her naps leave her in her room for a couple of hours (however long nap time use to be). If you go in an get her then she knows she does not have to fall asleep. Explain to her that this is her rest time and if she just sits in bed for that amount of time that is fine, but she will not be allowed to come out and play. Hopefully after a couple of days of that she will start napping again.
Totally normal for a child that age to do this. This is the age that children will start requiring less sleep and therefore usually drop their nap. Unfortunately, there's nothing that we can do to stop that... it may not be a convenient time for us, but their little bodies may say otherwise. I agree with all the others, though- I love to have an afternoon quiet time for my daughter. This way, they are still able to rest if needed, and it gets them into a good habit of not going at such a high speed all day long. And Mommy can get a little break, too!
Sounds like your daughter doesn't need her naps anymore. Us moms always dread losing that "me" time, but it is inevitable. But I would suggest putting her to bed earlier now to address the sleepiness . . . your "me" time will just need to happen later in the day.
My son started doing that as well. Instead of a nap, I call it quiet time. He has to go into his room and shut the door. He is allowed to take in one toy with him and he can also read his books. If he doesn't fall asleep, I leave him in there an hour, but 9 times out of 10 he ends up going to sleep for his usually 1.5 hr nap. If he doesn't sleep he is cranky and want to nap around 6PM. It has been working for us pretty well so far.
My son will be 4 next month, and he's been going thru the same thing for a couple of months. Since he still needs to nap a bit, I've been putting him down for his naps every other day instead of every day. That seems to be working for now.
When my oldest was going thru this, I did the same thing....and then eventually moved naps to every 2 days, etc. They do still need a bit of extra rest, so you kind of have to follow their lead.
You might want to try a different time.
If your family goes to bed early and your child wakes up early, try a nap at 11 a.m.
If your child wakes up late and goes to bed late, try a nap at 2 or 3 p.m. Make sure they do not nap longer than an hour and 1/2, even if they seem to be able to nap longer.
