3 Year Old Not Napping

I'm in the same boat here, daughter will be 4 in Sept. too. I think it just means they're growing out of naps:( For the last year my daughter has had a very on and off schedule with naps. Right now, we're off, and it just feels like this is it! I'm so bummed! I think just keep having him play by himself for a while and don't worry about the bathroom stuff, he'll get bored of that if you don't make a big deal about it. As far as being cranky, well I think once he gets more used to this schedule then he'll be less cranky. I have put my daughter to bed at 7:15 or 7:30 on no nap days b/c she really needs it (her usual bedtime is between 7:30-8) and she has slept just fine and wakes up at the same time, not earlier. Until then just use consistent discipline in those cranky times and hang in there!

My son is 4 and has been doing the same thing. I make sure he goes the bathroom before he ever lays down. We usually tell him that he is not allowed out of his bed to play with toys or look at books because it is time to rest, not play. We tell him he doesn't have to go to sleep but he has to lay down and be quiet until we come get him from his room. If he gets up, he gets a frowny face on the frowny face chart. 5 frownies means we take a toy away for a week. If he stays in his bed or takes a nap, he gets a smiley face. 5 smiley's and he gets a treat of some kind. This has worked very well. Once we told him he could not play and had to stay in his bed, he almost always falls asleep.
Hope this helps! Good luck!

My son is 4 almost 5 and he still naps everyday, and needs it.
It is ROUTINE.
No battles.
If he does not nap, he is a fussy ol' over-tired Troll, by dinner time.

I, SIT in the room with him, as he lays down. I read a magazine in a chair.
He unwinds and will lull to sleep.

Kids this age, will escape from the room, so for me, I get to read a magazine while sitting IN the room, with him, as he falls asleep.
It works for us.
Once he falls asleep, I leave the room and my son will nap for 2-3 hours.
And he still goes to bed just fine, bu 8:30pm.
His naps are in the afternoon. By 2:00 he is tired.

Have your son, get lots of physical activity, in the MORNING. Not close to nap time, but in the morning, then early lunch, then WIND-down time and quiet... setting the stage, for nap. Then, nap time.
Kids need to unwind first, before nap.
NO horse-play before then, or it just keys them up too much.

Or well, quiet time, is the last resort.

Does he sleep through the night when going to bed at 6:45pm???

Feed him an early dinner. Before then. Before that 6:45 time when he is so tired, already.

I'd say naptime is out the door since he's closing in on four (haha that rhymes). My daughter dropped naps at 2. What about instilling a quiet time for X amount of time? He can stay in his room and read/play but has to stay on his bed and lights have to be off. That way he's still resting and not exerting a lot of energy.

My daughter sleeps from 7/8ish (depending on how active she was that day) until 7am the next day with no naps. Son sleeps 7/8ish-730/8ish with one 1.5-2 hour nap a day (he'll be 2 next month).

I know it's hard but be glad he made it this long! Mine were done at two :(
Crankiness is not always tied to lack of sleep. He's doing a lot of growing right now and could be cranky for any number of reasons, including being home all day with mommy and toddler. That's not a dig on you, I promise! I'm just thinking he may need more outside stimulation during the day, especially time to play with kids his own age. If you are home a lot, try to get him out more, or invite friends over to play with him :)

He's done napping. Don't force it and either let him sleep later or put him to bed earlier. Maybe a few times a week you can go for a little car ride and he can sleep for about 10 minutes. We sometimes still do that for my son when he has not slept well the night before or is ill.

Sounds like naps are coming to an end. Try putting him to be earlier at night to help him transition through this phase. If he's cranky at 6:30, put him to bed. I would continue the mid-day quiet time in his room for as long as possible.

First of all, I think two things are fantastic: 1. that he's napped until he's almost 4 years old and 2. that he has transitioned all on his own to "quiet time." Many parents are fighting to get their 2-year-olds to nap, and then fighting to get their 4-year-olds to stay in their room for some quiet time.

Second, the transition from napping to not-napping is never a smooth one. There is always a period of time when they sort of need the nap, but not really anymore, so they're very, very tired at the end of the day (and a pain in the butt.)

Suggestions: you can try moving naptime around - a little earlier or a little later. That might get him napping again - but it also might mean that he'll be awake in bed until 10 or 11. His body is telling you that it doesn't need to sleep at 1:00 any more. I'd say, respect that, and move him to an earlier bedtime - say, 7 pm. That way, by the time he's melting down, dinner is over, and you're moving into your bedtime routine.

I know this transition is hard on everyone, but you will get through it. Better that he's losing it at the end of the day during the summer, when you have more schedule flexibility - than during the year when you're getting home from work and all that. Good luck!

My little guy is 27 months and as much as I believe he still needs and want him to take his afternoon nap, I can see he's outgrowing it. So what I've recently started doing is telling him he doesn't have to go to sleep, but he has to stay in his bed and can read books and play quietly with his teddy bear, and his pillow pet, and I keep the blinds drawn and lights off. He isn't napping at all about twice a week, and sleeps just a little over an hour on the days he does nap, so I know by the time he's 3 naps will be gone :(

It isn't unusual that children this age gives up naps or can't nap even when they are tired. I have 3 children, all grown up now though. My oldest took naps until about 3 or 4, the middle (only daughter) took taps until she was barely two and refused after that. My youngest was falling asleep in 1st grade still...lol. What I did with my two oldest children was give them time to lay in bed and read books. I would put on soft childrens music to help them relax. Sometimes they would sleep, sometimes they wouldn't. The only thing they had to do is stay in bed for that half hour to hour.

I agree with SH. I'll give you the child care provider's view - most kids don't get enough sleep (their bodies and brains REALLY need sleep!) and the reason kids nap so well at daycare is because of the consistent routine. It's non-negotiable, a regular, normal part of the day. We keep pretty busy, there's a lot of stimulation during the day. They are often relieved to dive onto their mat with a blankie, maybe a book or a lovie, and have some quiet time where they can stare at the ceiling, think their own thoughts, and usually drift off. They fall asleep quickly and wake up cheerfully - that tells me they still need that resting time. Try pushing the schedule back a few minutes each day, till you're about a half hour earlier than you were before - maybe that will help you hit those sleepy "windows" more successfully. Good luck!