TTMA Naps

[dashofreality]

Especially those with older preschoolers.

1. Is your kid still napping? How long? How old?
2. If not napping, when did they stop? Still do quiet time?
3. Do you wake your kiddo up or do you have to wake them up?
4. Any opinion on a good age to drop naps?

So, I'm realizing this is probably not the best board to ask this because most here are at DCP, but I'm trying to figure out what to do with my 4 yo. She had pretty much given up naps, so we did quiet time in her room for about an hour/hour and half. Now she started going back to napping almost every day, and is a freaking bear to wake up, but if I let her sleep too long she won't sleep at night.

It is looking like we may be starting some ABA therapy and it will be 3 hours 5x a week. With preschool, the only way I can see this working out is to drop her nap. She misses the K cutoff, so I didn't have a plan to try and drop her naps anytime soon, but I'm not sure what else to do.

[pitta12]

At age 4, I would think maybe she's just going through a growth spurt and it's temporary? How long has it been going on? My kids fail at sleep, so take this with a grain of salt, but DD stopped napping by 3 and DS is already hit or miss as well. He'll be 3 next month. Sometimes he'll sleep for an hour or hour and a half, sometimes not at all. I never have to wake my kids up EVER. Lol. They need far less sleep than I find acceptable.

[dashofreality]

Jan 22, 2015 11:35:29 GMT -5 pitta12 said:

At age 4, I would think maybe she's just going through a growth spurt and it's temporary? How long has it been going on? My kids fail at sleep, so take this with a grain of salt, but DD stopped napping by 3 and DS is already hit or miss as well. He'll be 3 next month. Sometimes he'll sleep for an hour or hour and a half, sometimes not at all. I never have to wake my kids up EVER. Lol. They need far less sleep than I find acceptable.

Please don't throw things at me, but DD (the 4 yo) has always been a great sleeper. Right now she is probably 11 hours at night and about an hour - hour and half nap. When I say she was dropping naps, it was down to about 0-2 a week for maybe 6 months, but she has been napping probably 5-6 days of the week for the last few months. She sleeps almost as much as DS who is 2.5.

[litzo27]

DS1 napped fairly consistently till 4 then for about two or three months it was nap/no-nap but never longer than an hour or so then he gave it up completely.

DS2 is 3.5 and naps without fail. We have to wake him up after 2 hours usually or he'll be laying in bed awake for a long time after lights out (which is around 8:50).

[2chatter]

DD would have napped in kinder and would still nap in first if permitted.
I think it is very child dependent.
Nap was elective when she was 5 in preK (September birthday) and she napped 100% of the time and had to be woken. She sleeps 7pm - 6:30am.

[sunbutter]

DS napped consistently for about 2 hours at least (longer on weekends) till he was 5 or so. After that, it was off and in through kindergarten but he always had a rest time where it was an option. When he napped, he was sleeping about 10 hours at night. Now that he doesn't nap, he would sleep for about 11 hours if I didn't wake him.

How is her mood when she doesn't nap? Will therapy be effective if she is tired?

[theborg7of9]

Thanks for asking the question.

My almost 3-year old naps about 3 hours a day and I have the nanny wake him at 4:30. He would sleep longer if we let him. On the other hand, he won't fall asleep at night. I tuck him in at 9 and he is usually still awake until 10 or 1030. But he loves his nap, so I don't want to take that away. I love the 3 hour break also.

[sassypantzz]

Wahh. What is a nap?!

[dashofreality]

Well I'm glad to see my kid isn't outside the norm. It seems that the kids I know all dropped naps around 3.

Honestly, I think that I am the one not ready to give up naps. Her mood/behavior is ok when she doesn't nap, but I'm not sure how the cumulative effect would be. Hopefully we could just do an earlier bedtime, but it is hard getting the kids in bed by 7:30.

[indyrowergirl]

Jan 22, 2015 11:32:39 GMT -5 dashofreality said:

Especially those with older preschoolers.

1. Is your kid still napping? How long? How old?
2. If not napping, when did they stop? Still do quiet time?
3. Do you wake your kiddo up or do you have to wake them up?
4. Any opinion on a good age to drop naps?

1. DS1 - nope.  DC has "quiet time" after lunch where everyone has to relax for a while, and if you nod off, that's OK, but he doesn't nap.  We also have quiet time at home on the weekends for 1-1.5 hours while DS2 naps. (We all need the break.)
2. He stopped sometime in his 4's.  (Can't remember exactly when.)
3. We always let him go as long as he wanted.  DC wakes them up at 2-2:30.  We only woke him up on the weekend if he was going past 4.  (Bedtime is at 8.)
4. Whenever the kid is ready.  For DS1, it was in his 4's. Although even now at 5 he sometimes passes out in the car on the way home from DC.  (This typically happens on Wednesday.  He can make it through the first half of the week, then he just needs a break.)

[thepardoner]

My son is almost 4. He doesn't nap at pre-school anymore because they don't make the kids and he would rather go out on the playground. BUT - on the weekend I make him have quiet time. Sometimes he falls asleep and sometimes not. When he sleeps he can easily nap for 2-3 hours. I don't wake him.

I would say that he goes to bed at night much easier and earlier now that he's pretty much dropped his naps. I've gotten my entire evening back!

Something to think about

[jlaok]

DS dropped his nap right around the time he turned 4. There is nap time at pre-k and he has to lay down and be quiet but he never falls asleep. We also do quiet time on the weekends when DD sleeps (like indyrowergirl said we all need the break). He gets to watch a movie but has to lay down and be settled.

[tas1883]

We started fighting naps at 2.25 taking 1+ hour to sleep at DC. DC hoped when she turned 3 and nap was later it would work, which it didn't. She now naps only if she asks. She is required to rest at DC for an hour. We try and nap at home on Saturdays as she is exhausted after gymnastics, Sundays we just rest for an hour after lunch. When we don't nap she is in bed by 7 and asleep in 15 minutes. The days we do nap bedtime is a PITA and we are still awake at 9 and then is a bear to wake up in the AM.

[tmclawchick]

1. No, unless he's sick...He'll be 5 next month.
2. Naps started getting inconsistent last spring (April maybe?)... by the time August rolled around he was completely done with them. At preschool they have naptime, but he usually sits quietly on his cot with a few books while the other kids nap.
3. He usually wakes us up right at dawn, which is less than thrilling. He's always been an early riser!
4. I think it's important to pay attention to their cues. DS was able to get through the day without having a meltdown last summer, so we knew naps weren't really worth the fight anymore. Before then there were times when he'd be absolutely awful by dinner without a nap! I say if they're able to (consistently) make it through the day without any issue, I wouldn't be concerned.

[theresat858]

I'm jealous of all you ladies who have toddlers/preschoolers who still nap. DD1 has officially dropped her weekend naps. For months now we have only gotten it to happen by physical exhaustion followed by a car trip, but even that has stopped working. She's just over 2.5. She now does ok without a nap but goes to sleep much easier at night if she doesn't nap. She sometimes naps at DC still. Peer pressure and all that.