3 Year Old Giving up Naps

Hi M.,

I too have a 3-1/2 year old son who is beginning to not take naps in the afternoon. He is ADHD, so getting him to have quiet time is sometimes difficult.

What I do is after he has lunch, I put him in his bed. He does have stuffed animals in his bed and is allowed to take one additional toy to bed with him. He usually takes one of his Thomas Trains with him and that is fine. If he wants a book, I'm okay with that as well, but that doesn't typically happen with my son.

If I haven't heard any movement after about a 1/2 hour, I go and check on him. More times than not, he is napping. However, there are those days that he doesn't. When I put him down, I do tell him that he is not allowed to get out of his bed until I come and get him. He does listen and will call for me if he wants to get up.

If it's just quiet time and no napping, if he's not causing any issues and playing quietly in his bed, I usually come back after about an hour and allow him to get out of his bed. That gives me enough time to get a load of laundry switched out or dishes done and house quickly picked up before he comes out.

Hope that helps a little! Good luck!

D.

When my son was 3 1/2 almost 4 I gave him 2 books and three pennies everytime he got off his bed he gave up a penny.I made a chart showing him what his pennies could earn at the end of the week when he stayed on his bed.15 pennies= thundercat or a movies( mind you this was 20 yrs ago thundercats lol)14=thundercat 13=new book and so on.What happened is that he started taking naps and after a while it was not needed.Make your chart visual so he can track his good progress.When he makes it the first time make a big deal and give much praise.

Hi,

Books on tape or CD worked like a charm for my two boys, now 11 and 8. The stories (including the Magic Treehouse series, Greek myths, Frog and Toad, etc.) easily held their interest for an hour or two, which gave both them and me (or their sitter) some much-needed down time. They were used to listening anyway, since we read to them often and for extended periods, and as a result, they developed the ability to really concentrate. Both boys are now avid readers.

Good luck!

CFB, Oxford, Ohio

'Tis a sad day, indeed, when the naps go belly up! LOL
I used to let my son watch a Veggie Tales or other similar movie in his room. Most likely it would keep him entertained for the length of the film (45-60 min). I always thought that maybe, just maybe, he would fall asleep...but he never did. He knew his quiet time was over when the movie was over.
Another thought is an alarm clock. Teach him that when the alarm goes off, he can be done.

That is a major bummer. :) We have the same issue with our daughter. She gave up her naps a couple of months before she turned three-- or she would (does) stay up really late. I put on a CD when she goes down for her 'rest.' When the CD is over, she can come and get me. She is allowed to read in her bed or play pretend games but has to stay in her room. Oh to have sleepers!!

When my daughter quit napping...I simply would have her sit in the playroom or in her bedroom and "read" quietly or play with something that she can sit down and play with. Sometimes if all else fails I have her lay on the couch and watch a tv program. Typically her "quiet" time is from 30-60 minutes depending on her mood that day. Sometimes I have her put her babies or stuffed animals to bed and ask her to lay with them and read to them or sing til they go to sleep. this is one of her favorite things to do...because she feels like she's being the mommy. Good luck!

M.-

My daughter also gave up naps at this age and one thing the day care did for quiet time was to plug in a video... not Barney or the wiggles but a movie or show and when it was over it was ok for them to get up... Hope that helps.