Sleep/Naps...

Natty13umppo · March 2014

How are sleep and naps going at your house?

DD has basically stopped napping and it is driving me bonkers. I can tell she still needs a nap (as she yawns all afternoon and goes a little crazy in the late afternoon/early evening). I still try to put her down every day and I've tried to adjust nap start time and activities (calmer vs. more energetic) to see if anything helps, but this week has been the worst yet! She hasn't napped since Sunday! Arggggggggh.

She *has* been going thru quite a few transitions lately, too -- within the last six weeks or so she has started preschool in the mornings (I thought that would guarantee an exhausted child!) and has transitioned into her big girl (twin) bed. And, to add to that, any day now (or really, at this rate, in two more weeks) there will be a new baby in the house... A non-napping two year old and a newborn?!?!?!? I think I'm going to die....

My other theory is that maybe she's getting too much night sleep? Between starting school (she has to get up earlier than she used to) and daylight savings, we've been moving her bedtime around a lot lately, but in general, she's probably getting 11-ish hours of sleep at night. (7:45pm (+/-) til 6:45am) She gets out of school at noon and I've tried getting her down anywhere from 12:30 to 2pm but no time seems to be consistently successful.

Just wanted to see how things were going with your LOs and sleep... Is this a typical 2-2.5 year old sleep regression? Typical with the bed/school transition? And words of advice on how long it takes to get back to normal (she used to be such a good napper....) or tips to help get her back to napping? I refuse to believe she is done with napping.

mbgreenwalt · March 2014

DD1 stopped napping at home at 2 (about 1-2 months after we moved her out of the crib). She is 4 now and will still nap at daycare, but never at home. DD2 still needs her nap, but some days she just won't do it. I don't force it on her, but if she won't nap she does have to have quiet time and if the stars align she falls asleep during quiet time.

Natty13umppo · March 2014

mbgreenwalt said:

DD1 stopped napping at home at 2 (about 1-2 months after we moved her out of the crib). She is 4 now and will still nap at daycare, but never at home. DD2 still needs her nap, but some days she just won't do it. I don't force it on her, but if she won't nap she does have to have quiet time and if the stars align she falls asleep during quiet time.

Gah! Not what I wanted to hear!

Though I have heard from others about LOs who sleep at daycare/school but don't at home. Her school offers a 3pm pick up (which covers when they have nap) and I've thought about paying the extra $$ to keep her there if it means a nap! Ha!

Yeah, I still try to get her down for a nap everyday and sometimes "quiet time" happens better than others. Somedays she is up talking loudly and messing with stuff. Somedays she just sits and reads quietly. And somedays....she falls asleep.

Thanks for sharing!

LittleMommaBlueHen · March 2014

DD stopped napping when DS2 was 2 weeks old. Occasionally she will wander off to a quiet place and fall asleep. It's hard but she is getting better at not napping. There are nights that she falls asleep in her dinner though.

Natty13umppo · March 2014

LittleMommaBlueHen said:

DD stopped napping when DS2 was 2 weeks old. Occasionally she will wander off to a quiet place and fall asleep. It's hard but she is getting better at not napping. There are nights that she falls asleep in her dinner though.

This is not what I want to hear.

But at least I know I am not alone!

mcvgal · March 2014

DS has days were he will not nap, mostly at my mom's (she watches him during the week). However I can tell he is still really tired and will go to sleep even earlier during the week. On the weekends, or any other day when he's at home he will still sleep a good 2 hours for me. The only difference I can think of with my mom is her house is a little colder where he sleeps.

Natty13umppo · March 2014

@mbgreenwalt @LittleMommaBlueHen @e_cruiz and anyone else who has a LO who doesn't nap (or doesn't consistently nap) -- how much sleep is your LO getting at night? Do you change bedtime for non nap days or is (for the most part) bedtime/wake up time the same napping vs. not napping.

We've been trying to keep bedtime consistent the last week or two and seeing if slightly less night sleep = nap (we've kept it at the later time as opposed to moving it earlier when she doesn't nap). We've had a little more success with nap - still around 50-60% - but she seems extra tired on the days she doesn't nap because she's getting less night sleep. So I feel stuck....a little more success napping with less nighttime sleep but def crankier on the days she doesn't nap. Argh. Sleep seems like such a delicate balance.

caffrin · March 2014

Glad to hear I'm not alone. DS has been skipping about 3 naps a week. He lays in his bed and talks the whole time. I always get him up once his nap time should have been over. I figure, at least he is resting. According to my friends, it's a 2-2.5 yr thing. He went through the same thing right before his second birthday but went back to napping after a week it so. I'm going to keep putting him down for his naps and I'm sure he will get past this stage as well. Or at least I hope!!

mcvgal · March 2014

DS has always slept at at a later time 9-930pm because we wait up for DH and then wake up a little later 730-8pm. However on the days that he does not nap, he is ready for bed at 8pm and will sleep the entire time.

I haven't tried changing his night time, becuase I do want him to see DH for a little bit each day.

mbgreenwalt · March 2014

DD2 gets 10-12 hours of sleep Friday pm -Tuesday am (no daycare these days) and she gets 10 hours at night and 2-3 hour nap at daycare W, Th, and F. We put the girls in bed at 8:30p, but they usually talk/argue with each other until 9pm when one or both of them fall asleep.

authorofdreamz · April 2014

DD sleeps 11ish hours a night (12-13 on weekends) and almost always takes a 1-1.5 hour nap at school during the week and at home on the weekends. Once she turned 2 we started doing more things on the weekends and sometimes aren't home during naptime but if we are home she usually takes a nap. Sometimes she will just lay in her bed and read/play quietly which is fine with me since she is still resting and I still get a little break.

jld49 · February 2015

My understanding is around that age they need a total of 12 hrs or so of sleep--could be 12 hrs at night or 10 or so at night and 2 hrs for day. Or any combination. So if she's doing 11plus during the night, though she may be tired, perhaps she's not tired enough to really sleep much? I think you can't have it both ways

--unfortunately.

Pre-school is exhausting for most---but I find if I don't get my son home and fed in a big rush, and very quickly down for the nap, he'll get a 'second wind' and have a harder time falling asleep for nap. Overtired makes it actually harder for people to sleep. Maybe she's overtired? Can you get her a bit earlier from pre-school? I did this for the first few weeks of his school...

Also, yes, it sounds like she is going through a lot of changes and transitions and that naturally causes some normal stress in her life--and no surprise that she is also changing her patterns with napping. The more you can get back to a routine, albeit, perhaps, a new routine, different from the one that used to be working perfecting fine before, then she'll learn the new routine and used to napping in a new way.

My son is 3 yrs 2mth and naps like a prince--but has sleep issues at night. Though in the past two days for the first time ever he's starting to resist that nap. And I, like you, am not looking forward to it! But I've realized things are changing and I have to change with them!

Hang in there..you'll find the grove again soon.

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