Naps around 3

Hi! So mine are almost 3 and they go to bed between 8 and 9 depending on when they wake up from their naps. They are up usually up between 6 and 6:30 in the morning. However...the last few weeks they have been waking up on occasion around 4 in the morning and we have to put them back to bed (takes a while). One will nap from 3 until I have to wake him up at almost 5! That's the earliest I can get him down. I guess my question is, how do naps go at this age? Would they sleep better during the night, maybe even later in the morning, if I let them skip a nap? Any advice for riding it out until they are finally totally ready w/ no more naps? Thanks so much!

 

My kids stopped napping before 3. They started pushing their bedtime later and later and fighting naps in the afternoon, so we stopped naps. Liam will sometimes nap, sometimes not, but if he falls asleep later in the afternoon it makes for a tough bedtime.

 

My DD's stopped napping right around age 3 and bedtime got a lot easier and they slept better at night.

 

Same here. I was so sick of the nighttime battle. Somedays we just lay out a blanket on the family room floor and watch a show and call it rest time. On occasion they fall asleep, but not much. Now they go to bed by 8pm and are usually up at 7ish. But bedtime is no longer a battle which was key in my book.

 

Ditto exactly. We have quiet time in the late afternoon while I make dinner. They pull out pillows and a sleeping bag and watch something on TV and rest. It gets us to bedtime at 7:30-8ish, and usually wake up between 7 and 7:30am.

But naps are 90% gone... they do sometimes nap if they are really exhausted, but bedtime is a total bear on those days.

GL if they are giving up naps. I thought it would be worse than it actually is.

 

I have had the opposite experience, I tried stopping naps twice so far this year and it did not affect the time they woke in the morning, nap or no nap. I tried recently when they started a tot program but to no avail. They still sleep 8:30-6am no matter what I can't win. So, we still do naps it works for us. They come home from their tot program at 12, we eat lunch and up at 1pm. I do not let them sleep longer than an hour, sometimes 1.5 hours if I am busy though.

 

I think it completely depends on the kids and you kind of have to experiment with what will work best for your family. My kids are 4 and still need a nap every day. If they don't get one, they start getting cranky around 4:00 and stay miserable for the rest of the evening. It is horrible! When they don't get a nap during the day, they actually sleep worse at night, too.

Mine started to refuse naps around 3.5, but it just wasn't working because they were still cranky. I ended up moving their whole schedule back by about and hour. I now put them down for a nap around 2:00 and bedtime is at 9:00. This works better for us anyway because DH has a late schedule so now they get to spend more time with him in the evening. I think you just have to play around with it and see what works best for you!

 

My two still take naps as well. If they don't by 6 they are awful! There are days that we miss and it is ok, but they have to get up early when I work and 7pm bedtime isn't realistic to our schedules. Experiment and see what happens.

GL!!

 

the days mine don't nap bedtime (for Ian anyway) is a breeze...if he sleeps during the day forget it! Abby's easy...even if she's not tired she'll stay in her room and sing or play with her stuffed animals in bed till she falls asleep....

 

I would say it depends on the child.

One DD stopped napping around 3/3.5 and now only naps if she is sick. If she does happen to take a nap, she is up and restless at bedtime- just awful. She can be hard to put down at night no matter what- she hates sleeping in any form.

One DD still naps 2-3x a week. She needs it, if she does not nap, she tends to wake at night for various reasons. She always goes to bed well and is quiet (except if she wakes to go potty or bad dreams).

Bedtime is 7pm and they wake between 6 & 7 am. That has been the routine for 2+ years, the only change was nap length and actually napping.

One simply needs more sleep than the other- they both take a 'quiet time' everyday in the afternoon in different rooms and bedtime in the same room.