Giving Up Naps Already?

It's been so busy around our house lately, but I had to jump on here today and ask a question. DD and DS will be 3 in December, but 3 or 4 days a week they don't seem to want/need to nap. It's way too early for this right? They sleep 7:00 or 7:30pm - 6:15 or 6:30am. We have been traveling for the last few weeks so I know that has thrown off our routine/schedule, but I should push for naps right? Don't they need 12 or 13 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period at this age? Anyone else have children who gave up nap this young and did ok with it? To be honest, I'd rather have them up with me during our youngest DD's nap instead of going back into their rooms a dozen times and telling them to get into bed. That being said, I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated!

 

Keep pushing for naps! Every six months or so my girls would attempt to give up naps, and if I hadn't insisted, I'm sure they would never have napped again. But we pushed through and they napped well until about age 4. Now they do rest time for an hour or so and fall asleep once or twice a week.

Hang in there!

 

I would continue your routine but not worry if they take sleep in there or not (rest time still helps). However if you're ready to move on I have to say no having naps is really freeing! Especially during the weekends when you are out and about. One of my DD's actually slept about once every two weeks, my other DD would sleep for hours if i let her, but sadly i had to take her naps away because she was up and about in the middle of the night for hours...she just doesn't need more than 10-11 hours a night/day of sleep.

 

Same, I would still put them down, even if they only sleep 3 days a week, they need it.

 

Both my sets of twins stopped napping at about that age. If they napped then they messed around for ages at bedtime, so their parents asked me to keep them up.
We had a bit of a transition period (I'd say about 6-8 weeks) while they adjusted; they tended to get quite crabby around 3-4pm, but I would just give them a snack at that time and changed our routine so they got both storybook and TV time then. That let them chill out for a bit and get their energy levels back up.

It's possible that it's just the change of routine throwing them off, so you might want to keep trying for naps for another week or two of normal routine to see if they go back to napping well. I don't think there's anything wrong with stopping naps at this age, as long as they are still getting the sleep they need. The 12-14 hours is a guideline, there are always going to be children who need more and those who need less so you will have to judge based on knowing your kids. I'm sure you can tell when they're overtired, if you think they're fine with 11 hours sleep then don't worry. It's fine to keep them up if it works for you and them.

 

My kids dropped naps at their 2nd bday. Once I got over it, life was great. They went to bed better at night. We didn't have to leave places right after lunch to go home for naps. We could have a vacation without running back to the hotel for the afternoon to sit in silence and let the kids sleep.

We went to a rest time in rooms. Sometimes we watched a movie. They would go to bed at 7:30 and not get up till around 8:30 in the morning and they slept sound and hard.

I thought I would dislike it, so I kept pushing them to try and take naps. All it did was frustrate everybody involved. Once I got over it, I actually preferred it.

Marissa

 

Mine are just over 2 and barely nap. If we're home during the day I will force some mommy needs a break quiet time and they're happy to play in their room for a while. Very occasionally they sleep. I agree that it's quite freeing to let go of a schedule!

 

All 4 of my kids have given up their naps the summer they were 2.5 yrs old. Probably because we go visit my family for 2 weeks and they are so busy playing with their cousins that they don't have time to nap. Whatever the reason, it's not a big deal to me As someone said, it's kind of freeing, not having to worry about getting them down on time for nap, we have more time to play outside in the afternoon and I don't have to sit inside until their naps are done before going outside with my big kids. Bedtimes were becoming a nightmare, with them up and playing for 1.5-2 hrs every single night...just about the same amount of time they'd nap during the day! Once we gave them up, they go to bed and asleep within 10 mins of being put down. They sleep about 11.5-12 hrs every night. We do rest time every afternoon, just sitting on the couch watching a movie. They would rather be up and go go go, but mommy needs a break sometimes

Anyways, go with your gut. If you really want to push naps, go for it, but if they are truly ready to give them up, bedtime may start becoming a battle because there is such a thing as too much sleep If you chose to let them skip naps, they may be sleepy earlier for a few days/weeks, just put them to bed a bit earlier until their sleep schedule adjusts.

 

This for us too, except ours waited until a few months after two. So much less stress really. We just chill for quiet time on the couch. They still nap occasionally at daycare, but usually they just read. I was driving us all nuts trying to force them and was so much happier when I just let it go!

 

My boys started having issues with naps around that age. I would put them down later and it would still take them a good 60+ minutes to fall asleep. I would put them to bed at 7:30 and it would take them until 9:30 to fall asleep.

At the time I did not care because they were still in cribs. On their 3rd birthday, they got toddler beds and I made the decision to stops naps because I knew it would be a nightmare.

The first week was pure he!!. Then I decided to put them to bed an hour earlier because I could not take it anymore. For about 2 weeks they were going to bed between 6-6:30 and sleeping until 7:30 a.m. :woohoo: When they began waking at 6:30 in the morning, I knew they were starting to adjust and pushed bedtime back. They now go to bed between 7:30-8:00 and sleep for about 12 hours.

It was hard for all of us at first. I really did miss by 2-3 hour daily break. And to top it off, it was Janaury. :faint: But then they started preschool 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day.

Now, 9 months later, I love that they no longer nap. We can go out for the entire day I don't have to worry about meltdowns resulting from them being tired. They go to bed a lot easier, usually within 15 minutes of being put to bed.

 

Thank you all! I appreciate all of the feedback. I'm going to try for another week or so and see if things settle out before giving up. My Mom said I gave up naps at 2 1/2 also and I know for a fact DD could drop nap tomorrow and do just fine with it. DS however will get really drowsy between 3-5 with no nap. It's just hard to tell until we get settled back in here at home. I do think if we had designated "rest/snack/mommy needs a break too" time on the sofa each day, they'd probably be okay. I too think dropping nap would be very freeing. Thanks again everyone!