We just transitioned our Son from a crib to a daybed. He will be 3 years old in a few weeks, and I think he is done with napping during the day, now that he can just simply climb out of his bed and walk out of his room and right into the living room. What have you other Moms done so that your child will still take a good nap? Any good ideas would be much appreciated! He is a bear when he does not get his nap. He sleeps really well at night time (about 11-12 hours each night) so we are very thankful for that, at least! Even the last couple of months when he was still in his crib, he was not napping; only "resting". Thanks!
Soft music CD to listen to, or a story on CD? How would you feel about him watching a DVD on his bed?
I agee that nap time needs a small routine.. quiet lunch, wash up, story, quiet music, maybe rub his back, then tell him, time to rest..
In daycare the kids take naps or at least lay quietly for an hour to an hour and a half.. He can do it, he just needs to calm down and have a routine..
I used to tell my daughter, "Mom needs a nap, you can lay in your bed or you can lay with me, but I have to be able to sleep. "Sometimes, I even asked her to "read" to me..
Keep putting him back into his bed over and over again. Don't say anything to him after the 1st time but stay consistent. He'll get tired of it and he'll get the picture. Good luck!
Dear J.,
When you make the transition from the crib to a bed, safety is the first thing to keep in mind. Make sure that he knows how to get down off the bed. Show him the first time and see how he responds. Then help him, if he needss it, to get down from the bed himself.
I put the backs of a few chairs along side the bed and buffered them with pillows to make sure he could not fall out of bed. For the first couple of nights, I slept with him to see how much he would toss and turn. At the time, I was a very light sleeper. Don't take the chairs away until you are certain that he can handle it.
We almost always had reading before bedtime, so it is a good way to foster reading, relaxing and prepping for bed. It kindda gets him in the mood.
As far as napping durig the day, I would pick a time for napping, for the little guy, tell him what is gong to happen 15 minutes before to take him up for his nap, then follow through. I would lie down with him, turn on my favorite talk radio station, and hold his arms and legs tenderly, but making sure that he knew that he was not getting away. The first nap took him 10 minutes to settle down. The second day, it took 7 minutes to settle down, the third day it took 3-4 minutes to settle down, and by the end of the week, he got the picture. The following week, he was sleeping in mnutes. Good luck. Happy New Year!
According to the charts, your little guy is getting all the sleep he needs at night, so an additional nap might be too much to hope for.
But you could continue the tradition of a quiet time each early afternoon. We do this with my grandson, now 5: he can read or play with "quiet" toys in his room for 30-40 minutes, and when I'm visiting I often lay down with him to read a book or two. If he's tired, sometimes he dozes off for an hour.
Another way to deal with afternoon crankiness is to have a couple of stimulating activities planned and another on standby. When kids are happily occupied, they forget about being crabby. Getting him out in natural daylight for some physical movement and a touch of Mother Nature is also calming and centering for most kids. Too much screen time tends to tranquilize them while they're watching, but then they have to deal with readjustment to real life afterward, which can be jangling for many children's nervous systems.
The first day our son took a nap in his big boy bed was a big fight. I kept putting him back into his bed and laying him down. It took 3 hours for him to finally get the fact that he was going to lay down. As far as making him fall asleep you can't control that. After about 3-4 days our son got it and we have not had a problem since.
I wish you good luck with this as it is a very hard thing to accomplish, but it is also very rewarding once he does nap again.
mine wouldnt sleep in his crib with the rail down but loves to sleep in big brothers bed which is a regular bed he stays in it on his own we dont have to put him back in it. but we do have to buy his older brother a new bed he is sleeping in the floor right now :)
Wow, if he sleeps 11-12 hours a night you may not get him down for a nap...at least for very long. My boys only get about 9 at the most before they wake me up in the morning and then they take a 2 hour nap during the day. I have a couple of suggestions; either wake him up earlier (or put him to bed later) or try timeouts if he gets out of bed too soon; the timeouts work for our 2.5 yo otherwise he would just get up and roam his bedroom.
I think it depends on how your son was doing before he changed beds. If he's not napping regularly in the crib, he won't in the bed.
I went through this not long ago with my little guy who is just a little over three. I work from home, so "nap" time is essential for me, as well as his crankiness level! But, as my pediatrician says, you can't sleep for them!
So we have quiet time. He builds train tracks or plays trucks or builds blocks or cooks in his kitchen in his room--as long as it's relatively calm. On tired days he will lie down with books and occasionally fall asleep. If he's really tired and cranky, I either put him to bed at naptime and work in the hall outside to keep him in it (which is seldom worth it) or just let him have quiet time and then put him to bed really early--like before seven.
He much prefers "quiet time" to "nap time" and considers it a real privelege--a big boy thing. So that motivates him to play nicely and keep his big boy status.
We transitioned our sone to a bed when he turned 3. He too wouldn't stay in his bed. We ended up getting a gate (one that was flat so it's harder to climb over). At first the gate was touching the floor, but he was able to climb out. We now raise it just enough so he can't get over, but it's still low enough that he can't climb under. It was tough on him for the first few days or so, but I would leave him and ignore him (I told himn if he didn't want to sleep he atleast needed to rest). He always had his music playing too which we do at bedtime as well. At first he would sometimes actually fall asleep on the floor by the gate (sometimes after an hour or so), but eventually he stayed in his bed. He still sometimes has trouble with naps, but not alot - and if he doesn't sleep sometimes he just plays quietly and calls out occassionally. BTW - he sleeps about 9-10hrs on average at night. Good luck!
