My daughter is 3 in april - and for the past few weeks she has fought me at nap time - she does not want to have a nap, she tells me this, and to be honest she doesn't seem tired or cranky.
The point is I need nap time more than she does!, she is very active and it's hard to get things done when she is awake. Quiet time does not work - she shares a tiny room with her brother, and she will stay in there just a few minutes and she wants out.
Is this about the age kids give up naps?
Yep.
Sorry woman!
Look on the bright side, at least she napped this long...all 3 of my kids were done with naps at 2! But if they are not cranky crabby pants...what a ya gonna do? We can't really force them to sleep...
Yes -sorry! Some kids go longer, but she's at the right age to stop.
My 4 yr old boy no longer needs a nap. I know this because, like you said, he isn't tired or cranky. My 3 yr old girl still does, but I can see it coming to an end. She still gets a little emotional late in the afternoon if she doesn't take a nap. However, they both stay awake later at night and wake up earlier in the morning if they nap. SO, really, they don't need the sleep, mommy just needs them to sleep.
MMM, tough one. I'm not a dr so I can't say whether a child that age actually NEEDS a nap. But I can tell you what I've done. I have a almost 7 year old boy, a almost 4 year old girl and a babysit a girl who is almost 5. I homeschool my son so this was an issue, the girl that I babysit gets here around 6:30 and with everything I have to do I get real tired and want a nap. If the girls don't get a nap they get tired and cranky around 6 or so. Or I've noticed that my girl will fall asleep in the car if we go some where and the other mother has told me that her girl will fall asleep when she's making dinner. So although at nap time she may not be tired or fussy, personally I think it's good for them to have a nap. So this is what I've set up. During the week we take nap time. I set an alarm on my phone for about 1 or 1 1/2 hours. They have to lay there quietly with their eyes closed. I tell them that they don't HAVE to go to sleep, they just have to rest. It seems that when the pressures off of them to actually sleep, it's not as big of a deal and 9 times out of ten, they do go to sleep, even my oldest. My son will tell you that he hates nap time, but everytime he wakes up he says that he feels better. I will let them go to the bathroom, get one more drink, lay them down with blankets, count to 10 and at 10 they have to be laying still, they can't move from couch to floor, they can't fiddle with their blanket or talk and they can't get up for anything. Usually I will even read from a book that I have that has hundreds of fairytale stories and nursery rhymes. And we take nap times in living room either on the furniture or on the floor. I keep 3-4 blankets folded up in the living room that we use. If they do good during the week then on Friday we will watch a movie and take a 'quiet time' rather than a nap time. It's funny but if I say it's quiet time, they start searching for a movie to watch because they know the difference. On Friday, I put my little girl on my lap on the couch, the others sit on the floor or the chairs and watch a movie I nap while their watching a movie. I'm right there and they are old enough to follow the rules. At her age, a chart would also be good. When she does good have her put a sticker on each day, if not put an X. I used the chart with my son when he was 3 and we JUST moved into our house. Before we were in an apartment so he was in the bedroom with us. We used the chart and for each night that he didn't fuss at bed time, or get up after we put him in bed, he got a star. If at the end of the week he had all stars then he was able to sleep a night in our room. It took about 2 weeks and we had no more problems putting him to bed. Good luck to you.
Well I make my kids nap until the before they start kindgarten. My youngest still take naps she is 4 1/2yrs old.
Someone people think their kids don't naps. My good friend son has not napped since he was 2 yrs. I believe in consistent routines.
If you want to continue your childs nap put her in her bed and the nap is not up to her. Also when one of my kids nap routine was messed due to vacation. I would tire him out. Keep him up and make him skip a nap..then the following day he was back to his routine.
What time do you make her nap?
Maybe make it later.....
My son is now 4 years old, and he still naps everyday. In the afternoon... from about 2:00. For 2 hours.
He needs it, he gets tired by then, and will be fussy and cantankerous if he does not nap. He does not last the whole day without napping. He still goes to bed just fine at night.
Try just getting her runaround time in the MORNING... to expend her energy. Doing physical things... running around. That is what I do with my son. Active boy. Then by lunch time... we eat, we wind-down... and do quieter things... then he naps. It is a daily routine. He knows that.
Kids at this age, need physical outlet.... and activity. They are like young wild horses... and need to do outdoor things. To expend their energy...
all the best,
Susan
mine is younger and only naps every 3 days or so
Hi M.,
I'm facing the same struggle with my daughter, who turned 3 this month. She fights me on taking naps on the weekends, and often doesn't nap until 2pm. She's then so tired that most nights she doesn't fall asleep until 10 pm. Skipping her naps doesn't help - I tried that a few weekends ago, and she had a total meltdown at 5 pm and napped from 5:15 until 7:15, and then didn't go to sleep until 11 pm that night.
It depends on the kid. There's a little girl across the street who is the same age as my daughter, and she's never really napped, but she sleeps 12 hours at night. My daughter gets around 9 hours at night, but naps 1-2 hours depending on what time she finally goes down for her nap.
I've been going back and reading the Weissbluth book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" to try to fix my daughter's sleep problems. In the chapter on preschool aged children, he states that 91% of children are still napping at age 3, 50% at age 4 nap 5 days a week (maybe only at preschool, but not at home on the weekend?), and 25% are napping 4 days a week at age 5.
So yes, she's getting close to the age when kids start giving up naps. You might want to try it for one day and see if you can get her to bed earlier at night.
My oldest napped until 4, my middle until 3, and my youngest was done by the time she was 2 1/2. My almost 4yr old niece hasn't napped in a couple of years. It really depends on the child, but your daughter sounds like maybe she really is ready to give up the nap. Maybe you can explain to her that quiet time is in the whole house, not just her room and that she can join you in the kitchen/livingroom/wherever as long as she sits on the couch/chair/floor and does something quietly while you finish your quiet chores. She can even walk around, as long as it's done quietly. Keep emphasizing that she needs to 1)do something on her own while you do your chores and 2)she needs to do it quietly. Otherwise, she WILL have to spend it in her room away from you. Tell this to her in a whisper and only whisper to her during quiet time. Set her up with a coloring book or picture book (or two or twenty). She'll eventually learn the new routine. I felt the same way about my kids' naps - I missed them a lot more than they did!
Well, I think it really depends on the kid. My oldest will still take naps on the weekends if I make her and she's in kindergarten. My middle girl stopped at about 3. It was more work to get her to nap than having her awake. My son is 2 1/2 and I can tell you he will be napping for a while longer. He needs it and it's very clear that he does since he naps for 2 hours at a time. I find that he naps better when I make it a later nap. Does your dd still take long naps when she does nap? If so, I would say she still needs it. Good luck!
