What's your 3 yr old napping like?

jasrun80 · October 2013

My son turned 3 in June & we tried skipping daytime naps at some point when he was 2, and he was waking at night screaming so we brought naps back. If he naps, he sleeps well at night, if he doesn't nap, he wakes screaming at some point. It seems inevitable. He has trouble falling asleep for naps even though he is clearly very tired, he wakes at 6:30 am no matter what, so I feel he still needs naps. But I'm finding he fights it so hard that he just stays in his bed for two hours screwing around. I'm ok with him not napping but I am wondering what others do & what their kids naps are like? I don't like trying to make him nap, and I'm sure the rest is good anyway, but I'm curious about all this just so I can relax about being worried about him so much.

honeybee111 · October 2013

DD will be 4 in January, and for the most part, still naps, although she is starting to phase them out. If she's super busy/active(usually on school days), she will nap, but if we have a laid back day on a weekend, she might not. I enforce "rest time" during her nap time where she stays in her room. Sometimes she plays quietly or looks at her books, most of the time she ends up falling asleep, but sometimes she doesn't. She's pretty unbearable by dinner time on days she doesn't nap, so we just make our evening routine super quick on those days and get her in bed earlier.

TiffanyBerry · October 2013

She stopped napping at 3. (within days) We had to move bedtime up an hour. Now it works again. But it did take a couple months for her to really adjust well to it.

memali26 · October 2013

My 3.5yo rarely naps, but I always enforce quiet time. She can have a few books, puzzles, or other quiet activities and she just has to do them quietly in the playroom while her sister naps. Once in a while she's tired enough that she will either fall asleep reading or will choose to take a nap and tuck herself in to her sleeping bag and go to sleep. Even on days she doesn't nap, that bit of quiet time makes a world of difference in her attitude because at least she's had some rest and everyone gets a break.

tracey4228 · October 2013

P naps or does great quiet time at daycare (peer pressure rocks). At home, however, she refuses to nap or do alone quiet time. It ends in such dramatics that she's more wound up than before. Occasionally we develop a very important errand on the other side of town just so she'll car nap for a bit. It's been like this for over six months now.

[Deleted User] · October 2013

Hit or miss here. Some days he'll nap for 2 hours, others he won't at all. On days he won't we try to move up bed time as best we can. I usually set a timer for 90 minutes and tell him he can come out of his room when the timer goes off. A lot of times he will fall asleep (and I turn the timer off so it doesn't wake him). If not, then he still has an hour and a half of forced quiet time in his room to rest.

NCMichelle · October 2013

My 3 year old (almost 4) hasn't napped since she turned 2! My 2.5 year old still naps about 2 hours a day. Both go to bed at 7:15 and wake up around 7:00.

fancynewbeesly · October 2013

She doesn't nap during the week anymore--but naps on weekends. She needs to nap in her own crib now, which she doesn't get during the week. She does have rest time, but won't nap.

Angela814 · October 2013

DD1 napped at daycare until she turned 5. At home on weekends she stopped napping somewhere between 3 and 4.

DD2 stopped napping at 2.5 years. It just wasn't worth the battle to try to get her to sleep, so I started doing quiet time watching a couple shows. Some days she'd fall asleep watching; some days she wouldn't. She was pretty much done napping by 3. Every once and a while she'll fall asleep in the car around nap time, but she's so crabby when she wakes up that we're better off with no nap.

mexicolombiana · October 2013

My DD turned 3 in July. She still naps very well. She naps from 1-3 p.m. or 2-4 p.m, during the week with the nanny.

On weekends sometimes she doesn't nap much because we're out doing so many things. But then we put her to bed super early (super early for us is 7 or 8 pm btw).

ddembinska · October 2013

DS rarely naps, and he's 3 and a half. He started napping less around his 3rd birthday. I think he currently naps maybe once a week. that's usually only if he fought sleep the night before and i woke him up early.

boymom10 · October 2013

Naps are a battle for us. Things starting getting extra rough when he was about two and a half. About the time he turned three, I gave up. It was hard getting him down, and he woke up a bear. Not worth it. He occasionally will take a nap now, but, it's only on days that he is truly exhausted and throws a tantrum over every single thing.

We do some quiet time in the afternoon. We usually read books in bed or watch a few cartoons. Just something to relax a bit. But, no mommy alone time. I miss naps...

CopperT0p · November 2013

DS sleeps 2 hours at daycare Monday-Friday, and usually sleeps 3-4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. No real fights here, he definitely loves his naps.

BeanNut · November 2013

She'll be 3 in January so is a little younger. I try to make her nap. Even if she doesn't want to, I put her in bed with a couple books and her bear and she almost always falls asleep after playing for a little bit.

Regarding waking at night and screaming--DD1 also does this when she is overtired. Could you try moving bedtime earlier if he doesn't nap?

jasrun80 · November 2013

my 3 year old wakes up at night screaming his brains out if he doesn't nap. he also fights naps but is given nearly 2.5 hours of rest time a day if he does not nap. he sleeps 8ish to 6:30. it's a terrible set up & I dream of teenage days where he sleeps in. he looks anemic & tired every waking second. I'm miserable thinking about it.

jasrun80 · November 2013

I'm so crazy I just realized I replied on my own post!!! I thought someone else posted the same thing!!!

I try to get him to bed at 7pm if its a no nap day. it can be hard with both kids and dinner, life, etc,,, but I just don't understand why/how he simply won't nap in a 1-3 hour span especially if he's a whining mess all morning. it's consuming me. I wish I worked & didn't have this much stupid time to focus and worry about it.

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