Advice RE: naps

[cardinalskate]

My daughter is a great sleeper...I've always been lucky in that respect. But she's going to start afternoon preschool in August. Right now, she sleeps a solid 11 solid hours a night and takes a 1-2 hour nap from 12-2ish. But with afternoon preschool, I'm a little worried about what to do with the nap. I would just cut it out all together, but I'm pretty sure she still NEEDS that sleep, or she wouldn't be sleeping so consistently. So I'm wondering if I should try to bump her nap up several hours or try it without. If we bumped her nap up, she'd be going to sleep about 4 hours after she woke up for the morning. And if she goes without, I'm just worried that she won't be getting enough sleep...which is so important for toddlers. And of course, Momma LOVES nap time. I'm just so conflicted.

[mummytothree]

I'm in the same boat with my 3 y/o boy. He goes to bed at 8PM and slepps till 6AM and then everyday he naps from 12:30 to 3PM. Well come Sept he will got to preschool T & TH from 12:30 to 3PM.

At first I thought I'd just phase out the naps...but then I talked to his doctor and he said that since it was only gonna be the 2 days then it probably won't make a huge difference. That he can just skip the naps on that day and I can either have him come home and do a 30 minute "quiet time" with him or just put him to bed 30 minutes earlier.

So that's what I'm gonna do because I can't imagine making him give up his naptime....I just think he needs it. Not to mention I need it too!!!

[farrijc]

I would go without and get her down earlier at nighttime. Hopefully, she will start sleeping longer at night to compensate, and you can still have her take naps on the weekend. You'll just have to see how it goes. If you feel like she's really not getting enough sleep, you can always try the earlier nap at that point. My son often falls asleep in the car on the way home from preschool and ends up napping on the couch for a while... works for him.

[julia]

I would try to go without it and just put her to bed earlier in the evenings? My son has been on/off naps for about a year now and it's really hard to be in this inbetween spot. On days my son doesn't nap he'll go to bed without any issues at 6:45. Which is awesome, I get ton of alone time during the evening. Days where he did have a nap, he usually doesn't go to sleep until around 8-9. Which is much more difficult. However, here comes the whole point... If he hasn't had a nap, he will easily fall asleep around 4-5 pm because he is exhausted, and he is sooooooooo difficult to wake, it's awful. And then the rest of the evening is like taken out of a horror movie, with a screaming, fit throwing little monster.

So yeah, I wish I could give you a secret recipe that worked, but I guess just try and see what works for you. Although I am partial to trying to put her to bed earlier and see how that goes.

[jessica31876]

when does afternoon preschool start and are you sure they wont do naptime at preschool? I guess if it was me I would see how she does and adjust naptime/bedtime accordingly after a couple days to a week or so of preschool.

[cardinalskate]

If she were doing full-time preschool, they'd nap there (which again reinforces to me that kids her age still need naps). She already has an early bedtime, as bedtimes go. She's gone to bed at 7:00 for as long as I can remember, and wakes up around 6:30 (which may sound like a nightmare to some, but I'm an early riser, so it works for us). So if I put her to bed earlier, it seems like it's just TOO early! If we wait until after, it's too late.

Julia, that's just the kind of scenario I'm envisioning...her being so tired that she's a holy terror.

Elizabeth, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one trying to figure out what to do!

ETA: This is the article I keep looking at. My kiddo's sleeping enough hours, but the nap won't be there (maybe...)

[Sarah8914]

I have no advice but I'm jealous! My 2 year old doesn't nap anymore!

[MamaBee]

Hmm... my son loved his sleep at that age... and there were days that he couldn't nap because we had things going on... and he would still nap the off days were we were home. I'm sure with the excitement of school she is going to be dead tired coming home afterwards anyways and will need to go to bed earlier until she gets use to it...

My son is 4 and will not take a nap... *sigh* mama misses her nap time!