Hi Mommies,
My daughter will be 3 at the end of June. She's never been a regular sleeper...she has food allergies, so that has always affected her sleep. She recently had some allergy treatments, so we've been trying her problem foods and trying to decide if she's still reacting to any of them. At the same time, we've been struggling with her sleep schedule for quite some time. Her sleep has always been a little off because of the allergies....never a good napper until around 2 when we figured out some more allergy issues (but then a few months later went on a nap strike for two months), and still wakes once at night if she gets the wrong foods (but I'm not looking for advice on the food allergies. She is allergic to corn, which is incredibly difficult to avoid because it very often is an unlabeled ingredient and even sprayed on fruits, veggie and meats). She doesn't have a set wakeup time....never has. She'll have a range of times that will be somewhat consistent for a while, then will change for no reason. A month or so ago, she was waking at 8 to 8:30 (oh, bliss) but then started waking at 6:30, and now it's around 7. We have tried moving her nap accordingly, but at best she's been taking 2 or 3 naps a week. It seemed that she would only take a nap when we put her down about 6 hours after she woke up... If she does nap, she'll sleep 3 hours, sometimes longer. She's not easy to wake up, and I hate to wake her (back in the early days, it took me 40 minutes to get her down for a nap and then she'd sleep for only 20 minutes---due to her allergies--so now when she naps, I'm just so happy she is able to sleep). The problem is, if she took a nap, it's usually about 5 hours or more before she can settle for bed, so sometimes 9 or 10 before she's sleeping, which means she can't get all of her necessary sleep without a nap the next day...vicious cycle, plus we'd really like her to be asleep earlier so we can unwind. If she takes no nap, she goes right to bed and settles herself, but the nights when she naps, I usually have to go in and help her get settled after her bedtime routine--which is very consistent. So right now we struggle with do we skip the naps and just try to put her to bed earlier ("normal" bedtime is 8, assuming a wakeup time of 8, but it changes a lot...if she got up at 6:30, she will need a nap just to catch up on her night sleep , but then might not get to sleep at bedtime until later.) I would say that she averages about 11 hours of sleep a day, which I know is low, but she's always been on the low side of sleep. She never sleeps in the car, unless we're traveling and she's really off schedule, so I don't worry that she's chronically sleep deprived, but she does have moments when she has a meltdown that we attribute to being tired...but the food allergies also confuse the issues since they can cause similar fits. I keep reading that most kids her age still nap, but nobody I know has a regular napper (and many have given up naps completely). How long are your kids awake before they nap, and then how long before bed? How long do your kids nap and do you wake them? If your kid doesn't nap every day, how is bedtime affected on nap days? (By the way, please don't suggest cry it out....that's completely inappropriate in this situation, and we'd never do it anyway.) thanks. C.
My oldest daughter turned 3 in July of 08. I have given nup on naps, but she sometimes still falls asleep. If she does take a nap she will sleep anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours when I finally wake her up. Bedtime on nap days are exactly like at your house. She isn't ready to go to bed till 10-11 at night. I talked to the peditricion and asked how much sleep my daughter should be getting and he said between 8-10 hours. So take it as if she falls asleep on her own at nap time than she needs the sleep, but do not force her to take it since she sleeps about 11 hours at night.
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K.T.
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I would have to agree that maybe it's time to lose the nap altogether. All three of my kiddos stopped napping around 3 yrs old, mostly to simplify the bedtime routine. My now 3 yr old goes to bed aorund 7:30 with no trouble and sleeps until around 7 or 7:30 the next day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I don't adjust her bedtime though based on how much sleep she got the night before. Bedtime stays the same as consistency is key. If she starts waking earlier for a few days, I just tough it out as she'll usually go back to sleeping later within a few days. If she has days where she seems overly tired during the day, we just lay low and try to create some down time mid-day... maybe an easy movie or some quet storytime to just bring the energy down and let her body relax a bit. Most important though is to be consistent.... stick with your bed time routine as much as possible. And again, I'd probably let go of the nap now.
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C.C.
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Three of my four kids took 4 hour naps every afternoon. But then, there was number 4. At around the age of 2, she completely quit napping. I did make her lay down for 2 hours every afternoon for a long time. She'd lay on my bed and sing, play with her feet, play with the headboard of the bed... anything, but sleep. But I told her that she didn't have to go to sleep, but that she did have to rest. She did fine. After her 2 hours were up, I'd go in and tell her it was time to get up. She never slept, so at night, there was no trouble getting her to go to bed and sleeping all night. I just really think that kids need some down time at that age, and moms need a break too, to get something done without it being undone right behind them. This child is probably the most intelligent of my 4. She has always made good grades in school, with little effort. I just think some kids don't need that extra sleep. Just my opinion and experience.
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A.O.
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I would skip the naps and worry about the night time sleeping. I would also suggest putting her to bed earlier in the evening. Kids who are overtired struggle to go to sleep. Some kids don't nap and sleep longer and more fitfully over a longer period of time.
