Did you intentionally drop DC's nap?

[theriviera]

DD1 is 3 years, 3 months. She had been napping and sleeping really well, but in the last two weeks she has been skipping naps. When she does nap (usually from 1:30 - 3), she is up until 9 (we put her to bed at 8) and then up by 6:15. I don't think she's getting enough night sleep, but I'm loathe to drop the nap on purpose in case she really needs it.

So, I would love advice from other mamas who have BTDT. Thanks!

[AnnieW625]

Nope. My DD1 had a similar sleep pattern. DD1 dropped her nap at 4/1/2 yrs. old when a preschool classmate told her 4 yr. olds didn't nap. She still would nap at daycare and in the car as well after preschool so her nap was needed. I'd rather have them sleep in the middle of the day when they need it and have them stay up a bit longer at night. DD1 most days esp. pre starting kindergarten was always up by 6 or 6:15 on the weekdays even as an infant. Now she sometimes sleeps from 8:00 or 8:30 to 7 am during the school week, but that is really when I would prefer that is up by 6:30 or 6:45 for breakfast and such.

[BabbyO]

DS is just a few months younger than your DD (3 yr and almost 1 mo) and seems to have the exact same schedule. I do everything in my power to encourage naps. No nap does not make for more or better night sleep. Usually it makes for a crankier kiddo who has a harder time falling asleep.

However, DS has been resisting naps for almost a year now. He does better at daycare, but terrible at home. We insist on at least 45 min of quiet time (and hope and pray that he will fall asleep).

If I were you, I'd try to keep the nap and if DD is still resisting, I'd push quiet time. We do this in his room, light out (but there is still some light through the curtains), door closed - or mostly closed.

We also know that he tends to nap later in the day - often as late as 4 pm...so if we can coordinate errands around that time and DH and I are both able to go...we do them then. DS will fall asleep in the car more readily than in his room for naps.

[hillview]

Yes we intentionally dropped DS2's nap at age 2.5 as he was staying up til 10 pm. I just put him to bed earlier (6 pm)

[theriviera]

Nope. My DD1 had a similar sleep pattern. DD1 dropped her nap at 4/1/2 yrs. old when a preschool classmate told her 4 yr. olds didn't nap. She still would nap at daycare and in the car as well after preschool so her nap was needed. I'd rather have them sleep in the middle of the day when they need it and have them stay up a bit longer at night. DD1 most days esp. pre starting kindergarten was always up by 6 or 6:15 on the weekdays even as an infant. Now she sometimes sleeps from 8:00 or 8:30 to 7 am during the school week, but that is really when I would prefer that is up by 6:30 or 6:45 for breakfast and such.

Well, she is already going to bed at 8, I don't think I want to keep her up until 9 - that is my time ;) Seriously though, I usually don't even start cooking until I put her down. I can try it for a couple of days and see how it works out.


DS is just a few months younger than your DD (3 yr and almost 1 mo) and seems to have the exact same schedule. I do everything in my power to encourage naps. No nap does not make for more or better night sleep. Usually it makes for a crankier kiddo who has a harder time falling asleep.

However, DS has been resisting naps for almost a year now. He does better at daycare, but terrible at home. We insist on at least 45 min of quiet time (and hope and pray that he will fall asleep).

If I were you, I'd try to keep the nap and if DD is still resisting, I'd push quiet time. We do this in his room, light out (but there is still some light through the curtains), door closed - or mostly closed.

We also know that he tends to nap later in the day - often as late as 4 pm...so if we can coordinate errands around that time and DH and I are both able to go...we do them then. DS will fall asleep in the car more readily than in his room for naps.

I asked our nanny to limit her nap to 1 hour today, we'll see if that helps.

[LMPC]

Yep. When she started dropping her naps, I started to intentionally plan things in the afternoon so that she would stay awake. She'll be 4 in Oct and still takes the occasional nap (say if we spend all morning at the pool). But if she naps, she goes to bed much later (9 instead of 7:30) and wakes up at the same time. So it's not like she's getting any more sleep by napping. If she doesn't nap, she goes to bed around 7:30p and wakes up about 6:30 or 7a.

[wellyes]

Heck no. Preserve the nap as long as you can. My kid is a beast when he misses it, even if we put him to bed earlier.

[acmom]

Yep. When she started dropping her naps, I started to intentionally plan things in the afternoon so that she would stay awake. She'll be 4 in Oct and still takes the occasional nap (say if we spend all morning at the pool). But if she naps, she goes to bed much later (9 instead of 7:30) and wakes up at the same time. So it's not like she's getting any more sleep by napping. If she doesn't nap, she goes to bed around 7:30p and wakes up about 6:30 or 7a.

:yeahthat: This sounds very similar to us with DD. We do an hour of quiet time (playing quietly in her room with a CD playing) at 1 and she will occasionally still fall asleep, especially when we have been doing something very active outside in the am. But the occasional naps don't seem to mess with her nighttime sleep the way the everyday naps were.

[BabbyO]

Just wanted to add...that when DS misses a nap he will often have a harder time falling asleep at night and stay up even later (9:30 - 10 pm). This starts a bad cycle for us. We usually get him down about 8-8:30 pm and he's up jabbering and talking to himself in his room for about 45 min - 1 hr. This doesn't bother me because he knows he's not to come out unless he has to go potty (and he only gets 1x after being put in bed to do that).

[bisous]

Yes we intentionally dropped DS2's nap at age 2.5 as he was staying up til 10 pm. I just put him to bed earlier (6 pm)

This is what we did with DS1 and DS2. My mantra is no toddlers at ten!

[speo]

Yes we intentionally dropped DS2's nap at age 2.5 as he was staying up til 10 pm. I just put him to bed earlier (6 pm)

This exactly for DS2, except he went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 6:30 in the morning. He went to sleep (and still does) easily at night when he didn't have the nap. With the nap it was a nightmare, and he would stay awake until 10 - and keep DS1 awake. Now, if he even gets 5 min of nap in the car accidentally it will add and hour to when he will fall asleep at night.

DS1 kept his nap going until just before he started K - so over 5. For him though, the naps did not upset when he would fall asleep at night.

[Momit]

Just wanted to add...that when DS misses a nap he will often have a harder time falling asleep at night and stay up even later (9:30 - 10 pm). This starts a bad cycle for us. We usually get him down about 8-8:30 pm and he's up jabbering and talking to himself in his room for about 45 min - 1 hr. This doesn't bother me because he knows he's not to come out unless he has to go potty (and he only gets 1x after being put in bed to do that).

This is us exactly. Good nap=good night's sleep and vice versa. DS is newly 4 and still naps every day.

[okinawama]

We did it gradually. He used to take 1.5-2hr naps, and that gave us a way too late BT, so I would cut it gradually. Towards the end if he even fell asleep for 30 minutes, he'd fight bedtime, so we cut it. I do think that the kids can become severely overtired, and will actually catch a "Second wind" and have a harder time falling asleep, unless you move their BT up significantly (630pm) on days they don't nap.

For us, nighttime sleep is far more restorative than naps, so although he was getting the same amount of hours of sleep in a day with a 9.5hr night and 2hr nap, he does FAR better with 11 hrs of solid, restorative night sleep.

[div_0305]

We are in a similar boat due to the new preschool timing for my 2.5 year old. She definitely wants/needs her daytime nap, but the preschool will end at 1:30pm. I'm certain she'll nap as soon as she gets into the car--just not sure how we are going to do it--and how long to let her sleep. On days she misses her nap, she sleeps the same time at night, so not enough sleep altogether. If I didn't think she needed the nap, I'd let it go. We let my son nap until he was ready to give it up at 4 1/2. Yes, it was a sacrifice with planning anything, but it's what suited him best!