Nap troubles

nym10/23/2004

Any tips on how to get DD to start taking naps regularly again? She needs them, the days she doesn't take them she is so crabby and usually falls asleep on the way home from me picking her up. So it's not like she is just needing less sleep.

kes77

That's tough - its the same way with our daughter - she needs at least 30-45 minutes of a nap in order to refresh and not fall asleep on the way home from preschool.  She is usually the last one to fall asleep in her class so once all the other kids are settled her teachers will rub her back for 5-10 minutes and that usually does the trick.  Sometimes they'll let her look at books for a few minutes and she'll then put them down and close her eyes.  She doesn't give her teachers a hard time about napping at school, it's me who she gives a hard time on the days that she's home.  I make her have an hour of quiet play time in her room but she never will fall asleep unless I lay down with her and even that is a battle.  On the days that she's home and doesn't nap, she is usually crabby for a couple of hours in the evening but then DH and I then reap the benefits by her going to bed at 6:30-7.

Sawyerplus1

I may not be much help but I'd say she might be done naps, or finishing with them soon. Both my LOs stopped napping shortly after 2, and it was a rough transition for sure. Especially with DS, even though he wouldn't nap, he still clearly needed the sleep, but there was nothing I could do to force it. We just dealt with his grumpiness until the transition was done. I would still put him in his room for "quiet time" everyday; sometimes he'd nap but they'd get fewer and further between until eventually (after not much time, to be honest) he was just playing in his room. He, and now DD, still gets "quiet time" and I find the days he gets it he tends to be in a better mood later than the days we skip quiet time and stay busy, as if he still benefits from some alone time even if he doesn't sleep. 

Anyway, it's never an easy transition, and you're not alone. My only advice would be to continue offering and encouraging "nap/quiet" time.  

CindiLu1

We're having terrible trouble with my DD napping at school.  We've just started a sticker chart so I hope that helps. 

 At home I started saying that she had to stay in bed for 1 hour and then she could get out.  Well, she didn't know when an hour was up so now we set a kitchen timer and she knows if it's ticking then she has to stay in bed.  90% of the time she naps right through the timer goes off.

jlw2505

My kids have always had a rest time.  You can't force someone to sleep but you can have a scheduled time each day for a set amount of time and around the same time of day where they have to be in their rooms.  My older DD (5 1/2) still has this even though she hasn't napped in ages and it helps.  My almost 4 year old (in 3 weeks) naps about half the time.  We never let her nap more than 30 mins or she won't go to sleep at night and many times, she will simple read for the hour or play quietly in her room but when tired, she will sleep.  Yesterday, I heard her playing in her room and then she came out to go potty (about 20 mins after she went in) and then I heard nothing.  When I went in after the hour was up, she was sound asleep - on top of the book she had been reading.  My kids know that they need the down time since we have always done that and I will often go into my room at the same time and read or close my eyes for a short time - sets a good example that everyone needs down time during the day (wish I could do that on work days as well)!