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#1
09-15-2008, 03:55 PM
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I need some bed/naptime suggestions
So, my almost 4 year old will go to sleep by 8:00 every night if she doesn't have a nap that day. It's been awhile since she stopped being consistent with naps. I replaced naptime with quiet time and about half the time she falls asleep. Well, the problem is that if she takes a nap, she is awake until 10 (in her room, but awake). If she doesn't take a nap, she's a little grouchy and tired, but goes to bed much better.
Now this wasn't an issue too much before because she had her own room. Now her little sis (almost 2) shares with her and if Kathryn stays awake until 10, she keeps Hannah up too. Sometimes I wake her up from a nap after a few minutes so she won't sleep, but I know she's tired. Any ideas for me? Should I never let her nap? Should I not worry about it? Should I put the little one down first and hope the older one doesn't wake her up when she lays in bed forever? 
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#2
09-15-2008, 03:58 PM
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No advice, just wanted to commiserate! My almost 4 yo rarely naps anymore either, and he is not sleeping well at night either! It takes forever to get him to sleep at night, and then half the time, he's in our room at 3 am, saying he can't sleep.
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#3
09-15-2008, 04:00 PM
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We have this same problem. She has "quiet time" at daycare, but she always falls asleep, and if she doesn't have a nap, she is CRANKY. Like, I want to kill her cranky. So.... LOL The boy is a night owl too, but what I do is put him down first and then send her up and she has to be quiet. She's woken him up a few times and then I have them both up, or if I can tell it's going to be a long night w/ him I'll send her up first. It's worked so far, and since they have to share a room for now, we just do what we can. There's been nights when it's 11:30 and they're both still up though, so it's not a perfect system. LOL
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Sara Creating for absolutely no one because I don't think I know how to scrap anymore.
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#4
09-15-2008, 04:22 PM
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Could you do a "power nap" with her? I do this with my 3.5 year old. He is like your DD, he needs a nap everyday but If I give it to him (he will easily sleep 3 hours) he is up all night but if he doesn't get one he is a CRAB by 6:30PM. I give him lunch and a glass of apple juice/orange juice then I put him down for a nap and set the time for 25 minutes. When the time goes off I wake him up and give him a few minutes to "adjust" and then we play about 15 minutes of silly games and sing silly songs.
The juice helps "rev" him up but it doesn't kick in for about 20 to 30 minutes so I can sneak a nap in and then by the time he wakes up the juice helps him not feel groggy from his nap and the games and songs help too. We have been doing this since our newest addition in Jan (they share a room and needed him to be able to sleep at night and no be playing and wake the baby up) and it's been working great for us!!! Also wanted to add that he can easily make it to 8PM bed time with this routine and not a crab in site!!!! 
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Elizabeth  Blogging for Kristin Cronin-Barrow
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#7
09-15-2008, 04:58 PM
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#8
09-15-2008, 05:14 PM
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Is it possible to put her down at 7? My almost 4 year old is the exact same way, and she's in bed by 7 every night, most of the time asleep by 7:30. But if she naps, she's up until ten, sometimes eleven! (Awake in her room, not running around.) Sometimes my DD has a melt down around four, but then she perks up if I distract her with a craft or outdoor play. Maybe try an earlier bedtime if she's not napping and is crabby in the late afternoon...that's my advice.
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Mandy
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#9
09-15-2008, 08:43 PM
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My almost-5 year old is the same way. We DO NOT let him nap if we can help it. If he takes any nap in the afternoon, even 15 minutes, he is up 2-3 extra hours at night. On any day with a nap, he ends up getting several hours less sleep than if we'd forced him to stay awake in the afternoon. So I'm comfortable waking him up ASAP (if he falls asleep in the car) or making him stay awake (when we're home) because I know it will ultimately lead to him being better rested.
When he was about 3.5 we had to cut out his nap because he couldn't fall asleep until 10 at night. As soon as we cut it out, he started falling asleep by 7:30. On days he really needed something, we let him sleep 10-15 minutes in the car. It was enough to improve his mood, and he coped better with being woken from a car nap than a home nap. (We can't let him take those short naps anymore, but it was a good transition back when he was first giving up the nap.) 1.5 years later, he still falls asleep easily by 8pm as long as he doesn't nap.
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 Last edited by rach3975; 09-15-2008 at 08:47 PM.
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#10
09-15-2008, 09:46 PM
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Quote:
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Kellie
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#11
09-15-2008, 10:06 PM
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my 5yr old stopped naps at 3yrs and my just turned 3yr old hasn't been having naps for 6 months unless she's at daycare. They get up at 5.30am and go to bed at 7.30-8.30pm. If I think they are getting a bit crabby (usually around 4pm) then I put them in the bath with a heap of toys. This usually refreshens them and they are happy through dinner, otherwise they will actually fall asleep at the table!
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