My son will be 3 in February and I think he still needs naps. He's never been really regular about the time off day he takes a nap, but he usually needs one and is fiercely cranky by the evening if he doesn't take one. But, it is getting harder and harder to get him to fall asleep. Even in the car, which was always my saving grace, he will stay awake.
My DD took naps until she was 5, because they had "rest time' at childcare and she fell asleep most days.
2007-12-03 09:28:02 · 12 answers · asked by Terrible Threes 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
My 3 year old daughter has recently started trying to get out of naps as well. I make her lay down at 1:30 everyday, she says but I'm not tired, I don't want to sleep and I just say "okay just lie there and rest then" and within about 10 minutes she is asleep. I also reward her when she takes a nap with a snack (healthy of course) of her choice when she does take a nap.
Some days if we are out and about and she does not get her nap in she is such a grouch when dinner time rolls around. I also think that 3 year olds still need naps.
2007-12-03 10:40:13 · answer #1 · answered by Whitney 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot depends on your schedule. If you can, put him to bed for a nap at the same time everyday that will help. My son is 3 1/2 and he is up at 5:30 - 6:00 am. He takes a nap around 12:30 right after lunch for about an hour to an hour and a half. He then goes to bed between 7:00-7:30 at night. This has been working pretty well for us but lately he hasn't been taking a nap everyday but on the days he doesn't take a nap he is asleep by 7:00. He is pretty active during the day so it's nice for him to have an early bedtime. I don't mind getting up early because my husband is at work and I'd rather have time alone with my husband in the evening. We also have a 6 and 5 yr old and they do not take naps anymore but still have an hour rest/quiet reading time right after lunch and they go to bed around 7:30-8:00pm.
2007-12-03 09:40:02 · answer #2 · answered by Reese V 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was 18 months when I stopped napping so I thought I was in trouble with my kids! lol But my oldest was 3 when she stopped napping - just took one 2 or 3 times a week until she was 3.5 or 4 and then stopped. My 2 year old is still napping every day.
I knew my daughter could stop napping when she would only sleep for an hour and then wouldn't go to sleep at night until late. But if she didn't take a nap she would be a bit cranky during the evening but she would go to sleep by 7 o'clock at night. She would sneak a nap in once inawhile after a long couple of days.
2007-12-03 09:36:50 · answer #3 · answered by Rob 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter stopped napping regularly at 2. She did nap occasionally until about 3. When she first cut out the naps, she'd usually fall asleep for the night by 6:30 or 7. One thing that helped with the evening crankiness was to make sure she ate dinner early - if I waited too long to feed her, she'd be a little bear.
2007-12-03 09:42:09 · answer #4 · answered by daa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
3 was the magic number for both of my babies. Almost immediately after their third birthdays they just stopped falling asleep at naptime. Also, in retrospect... I remember that at that age- because they were getting older- our schedules became more active, so I definitely think that had something to do with it.
The good part about kids giving up their naps is that they can have an earlier bedtime. So hopefully in time if you just tweak your son's schedule a bit; omitting the nap and sending him to bed earlier, the crankiness will stop. For a long time we enforced a quiet time in for our kids where they'd have to be in their rooms on their beds, well after they quit naps. They would just lay down and flip through books for an hour. That way mama still got a little quiet time, and they still got rest.
2007-12-03 18:20:59 · answer #5 · answered by Ti 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither of my two older children napped regularly after age 2 unfortunately. My 18mo is still napping once a day but she's been pushing her nap back and it's getting shorter.
My almost 7yo wakes up at ~6am and goes to bed at ~9pm every night, she fell into that schedule on her own. The other two kids go to bed and wake up later.
I am not a napper myself so I guess I'm not totally surprised that my kids have stopped napping earlier than some.
2007-12-04 01:37:31 · answer #6 · answered by busybusymomma 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My 2 boys stopped naping usually at around 2 years previous yet my 3 year previous onmost days nevertheless falls asleep on his very own and naps for some hours..and my 4 year previous hardly does like in keeping with probability as quickly as each and every 2 weeks.
2016-10-10 04:18:33 · answer #7 · answered by currier 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My daughter is 3.5 and still takes naps. Not daily, but she would if I wasn't watching another little girl that's 5 and doesn't nap. Although I'm sure she would to, if I wanted her too. Days I don't watch her, I have my daughter take a nap and she sleeps forever. And still goes to bed at her normal 9-10pm bedtime. If she doesn't have that nap, she' whiny and cranky at night, and getting her to eat dinner is hell without that nap.
2007-12-03 09:41:54 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine stopped napping at home just over 2 years old. He still naps at child care though. I wish he didn't. He no longer needs the nap, he is fine at home without it. When he naps at child care, he stays up way too late that night, then I cannot get him up in the morning.
2007-12-03 14:23:00 · answer #9 · answered by MamaB 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My son is going to be 4 and I have another son that's 2, and thhe naps every day. I think that they should always have the option and if they don't fall asleep, no big deal, thhe just usually goes to bed early.
2007-12-03 11:11:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋