damn nap questions
susanmosley
member
Sorry.
If you kid is around 2 (and takes one nap) - or if you would like to answer based on when your child was 2ish, what you read, what you believe, what you know, etc - go ahead.
1) How long between waking up and getting in his/her crib/bed for the nap?
2) How long between getting in the crib and falling asleep?
3) How long do they sleep?
4) How long between waking up from nap and going to sleep at night?
5) Does what you report happen more than 80% of the time?
If you need a back story - DD (almost 24 months) starting dropping naps over the last few months - typically only taking one 1 or 2xs per week. Fine. We are flexible about these things. But she still will have quiet/rest time in her crib each day.
Over the last 4 days, we have been busy, things have been weird, she hasn't gone in her crib until 1 to 1.5 hours later (used to get in at 2, now 3 or 3:30) and each of those 4 days, she has slept. We have had to wake her up around 5:00-5:30 (because we don't want her to be up half the night) then have happily bumped her bed time to 9:00 or 9:30 (used to be 8), which actually works better for us.
I guess what I am trying to figure out is if this is a fluke? if she would be napping if we were still doing the earlier time - that or this was/is a phase? if 2 year olds are typically awake 7-8 hours before their naps? Does this mean she really doesn't need a nap? and on and on and on.
This new schedule - wake up by 9, nap time 3-5ish, bed at 9 is working for us - so I suppose I shouldn't worry about it nor change it. But it just seems a little different than I thought was "normal"
But I also think "normal" is overrated.
I apologize for the unnecessary length of this post. geez 
Re: damn nap questions
DD is kind of on the same trend as your DD - dropping naps about 3/4 of the time. Except when she does nap, her schedule looks something like up at 9, nap from 2-5, then to bed at 10 or 11. I just can't hang with that late of a bedtime. By that point I'm ready to commit myself and I also lose out on my relax/do homework/catch up with dh time. I've tried waking her up earlier, but it doesn't seem to make a difference in whether or not she a) naps, or b) naps at an earlier time.
So yeah. This sucks. I *think* normal is supposed to be more like down at 12 or 1, then sleep for 2-3 hours. Bed at 8. Hah. Lately if DD takes a nap at all (at any time) bedtime won't be any earlier than 9.
Ugh... My DD is up at 6:30 in the morning. Which is fine with me, b/c my DS is up about then as well- so I can feed them at the same time. Of course I don't get to eat! Then she naps at about 1:30 until 4pm or 4:30 and falls asleep at about 8:30 at night. It works for us...
I would say whatever works for you is good. Just remember tho...when your LO start pre-k you may want him/her waking up a bit earlier in the morning, so you have time to get ready in the morning. GL
Layna will be 2 years old in September. She's had this pattern for about 6 months.
Wake up anytime between 6:30 and 8am
Naptime anytime between noon and 2 pm. Once past 2pm....she's not gonna nap. She only takes a few minutes to fall asleep, and will usually sleep about 2 hours. Give or take.
Bedtime between 7 and 8 pm
It sounds like she could be getting into a new phase. If it works for her and for you, then I say go with it. Personally I'm not a huge fan of kids going to bed past 8 at this age, but that's just me. My husband and I aren't night people and like to go to bed around 10 so if our kid is up until 9 that means less time for just us. Even if we were up later, I think I'd just want my kid in bed earlier. Anywho, Tyler is 27 months (so close in age to your daughter) and here's his schedule... just for comparison purposes.
Approx 7am - wake up
Approx 1pm - nap (until approximately 3pm, but sometimes its 2:30 and sometimes its 4. He falls asleep pretty fast I think and is generally flexible so if we're 30 min early or late on nap time he will still go down with no problems).
Approx 7:30pm - bedtime (usually in bed after bath, teeth, story, etc by 8)
DS has been on a very regular nap schedule since he was about 23 months with 1 nap from noon to 2 or 3. He sleeps 8-8 (actually often up as early at 7) so that's not really all that different from your schedule, it's just pushed back a bit. When he was younger and going from two naps to one, we started putting him down at 11 and that worked for awhile, but then he started fighting naps and I thought he was dropping them. We would even be able to get through days without them. Then I just decided to push the nap back. First until 11:30 for awhile and he was still fighting them a bit, so I went back to noon and that was what worked. I really didn't want to give up naps so I was willing to do just about anything to keep them.
He falls asleep in a few mins after reading stories at nap time, night time sometimes I pass his door and I see him awake for often 30 mins before he finally falls asleep.
All of the above happens 95 +% of the time, but I am pretty strick with his schedule. He just seems less crabby when we stick to it. DS #2 is the one that suffers from not getting specific times for naps since he is just generally a more flexible baby in general.
Gisele has been on the same schedule since she was 11 months old- NO JOKE. She is quite content with it- so i just roll with it.
Up at 730am- nap at 1. Falls asleep within 5-10 minutes
wake up at 3
Bed at 7-730. falls asleep within 30 min of quiet talking to her baby
There have been times where we put her down for her nap later- and it is just a BAD DEAL- she is cranky- going down. cranky getting up. we will push bed time back- she still gets up at 7am- and is tired. So just all around unhappy. So we stick with what works.
I say if your DD is flexible with it- no reason why you guys can't be either.
1) How long between waking up and getting in his/her crib/bed for the nap? About 6 hours
2) How long between getting in the crib and falling asleep? Lately, up to 1.5 hours before she falls asleep -- she's happy and chatting and playing, so I've been letting her hang out. Usually it's more like 10 -20 minutes.
3) How long do they sleep? About 2 hours
4) How long between waking up from nap and going to sleep at night? About 4.5 hours from nap until actual sleep.
5) Does what you report happen more than 80% of the time? Yes.
She's 22 months and we've had at least three nap strikes in her life -- weeks of no naps at all, nada. First was when she went from 2 to 1, second was when she stopped nursing to sleep (mostly on her own). I'm assuming the next one will mean the end of naps completely.
m/c at 13 weeks - March 23, 2011
The girls weren't napping at 2 at all. No nap all day. Bedtime at 7pm - has never changed, except for the first few days when they dropped their nap - it was around 6:30pm then.
DS is 20 months. He CAN go all day without a nap, but I'm not ready to have 3 kids awake all day. He takes a 2-3 hour nap every day still. There are days that he hasn't napped at all. He wakes at 7-7:30 and doesn't take a nap until 1-2pm.......
DD is 23 months and has been on the same schedule since she was 15 months old. She wakes up between 7-8am, naps from 1-3(sometimes 4), and goes to bed at 8:30. She usually falls asleep within 10 minutes for naps and bedtime. The last week though, she is talking and playing with her baby doll in her bed at night for closer to 30-45minutes. She is content though so we have still been putting her to bed at 8:30(DS goes to bed at 8:30 also so it works that they go to bed at the same time.)
ETA-I think if the new schedule works for you and your DD, then go with it!
I don't think our schedule is very "normal" either, as my girls don't go down for a nap until at least 1:30, sometimes 2:00, and they don't go to bed until 9:00 or a little later, sometimes as late as 9:30. Not that out of the ordinary, but a little from what I hear so many others do (on here and IRL). Anyway, to answer your questions:
1) How long between waking up and getting in his/her crib/bed for the nap? 5.5 to 6 hours (7:30 or 8:00 until 1:30 or 2:00, give or take)
2) How long between getting in the crib and falling asleep? Usually only a few minutes, sometimes half an hour or more.
3) How long do they sleep? Usually about 2.5 hours. Sometimes only 2 and sometimes 3. Sometimes not at all or an hour or less, but usually about 2.5 hours.
4) How long between waking up from nap and going to sleep at night? 5 to 5.5 hours.
5) Does what you report happen more than 80% of the time? Yes.