When will the naps end???!

[Zouzee]

Please help!

DD aged soon to be 4 still takes a midday or if kept awake mid-afternoon nap! My DS aged 2 can stay up longer, DD will literally fall asleep anywhere no matter how loud or bright her surroundings are. A very heavy sleeper, too big to carry or be in a pushchair who will just sleep mid eating ice cream or even if your doing everything to keep her awake.

I thought we would be over the whole having to make time for a nap during days out. Luckily she Sept born so has a whole year to wean of naps but I have no idea how to go about it.

Currently goes to nusery, doesn’t nap there a other children her age don’t but will as soon as we’re home. It’s like she thrives on 1hr naps.

Any suggestions? When will this end??
AIBU at letting this concern me?

Thank you everyone, some great suggestions for me to do:

I need to start by reassessing the bedtime and making it earlier. I will start with 7:30pm tonight and move it 30mins forward in a few days. I’m happy if DD sleeps at 7pm whilst it’s still bright and bring forward during winter.

As for checking if she’s anaemic - I will look into that as it never crossed my mind.

Friends and family have all told me not to worry and that DD will eventually grow out of it as some of you have also said here.

I am more than happy to give up my “quiet time” as I would much prefer it in the evening.

I just became a little fed up of with having to always factor in a nap on days out.

Maybe you should stop whatever you've been putting in your pipe

Kids need different things. My oldest napped until a bit before starting Reception.

Just
Over 4 with my youngest other two were much younger

I had to ween my 2 off when they went to school

My son napped all the way up to starting reception and then we had to quit them cold turkey. Initially we had to compensate by putting him to bed very early each night, but his stamina soon grew and by the end of the first term he was handling no naps well and going to bed at an age appropriate time.

@PrincessUnicorns Studies have shown that daytime naps benefit pre schoolers:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190531135828.htm

Ah yes, I forgot all children are exactly the same.
Mine all stopped napping before they were 2, which I’ve been told is ‘too early’. Couldn’t make them sleep though. Just like the OP is struggling with stopping her child from falling asleep.

She’s not going to suddenly go to bed 30 mins and an hour earlier unless you reduce or stop her nap though. She’s going to bed later because she’s having an afternoon sleep, she will only go to bed earlier if it’s taken away.

I have empathy OP!

My DS is the same. He's 5 and just finished reception. He had to stop napping at pre-school at about 3.5 years, but at that point he still had a nap at weekends.

He still tends to conk out after a day out on holidays 😄. He also goes to bed at 6.30pm after school, some kids just like their sleep!

my youngest is different altogether and has refused to nap at nursery since about 2.5. I can get her to sleep on a long car journey, but that's it.

One of my daughters still napped until she started school at about 4.5yo. Especially after nursery. I don't think there is any harm so long as night-time sleep isn't messed up. Sleep is good for the brain development of young children if they are allowed to sleep and nap on the needs of their bodies.

Who made you the nap police? Had to stop DS napping at 2.6 otherwise he was up till all hours and we wanted our evenings back. But kids are all different nd this one likes to nap!

I was a little surprised at how old your DD is. But I think they cut them down when they’re ready. Don’t panic, she’ll wean them down herself or have to go cold Turkey when school starts next year.

My daughters gave up naps between 2 and a half and 3, about the same time as they potty trained.

Well I'm 45 and I still love an afternoon nap!
Seriously though, could it just be the way her body clock works? There is no one size fits all and if she lived in a Mediterranean country, no one would be saying that there was an issue with her nap and staying up later.
By the time she starts school and can't have her afternoon nap, she will probably just adapt to a different routine rather than the one she naturally fits into.

My mum tells me I slept for an hour after lunch until I started school. And I slept 12hrs a night.

I'm now 45 and slept 8 hrs last night and had two naps today!

Fwiw when mine were that age, bed was 6.30 pm latest even in the summer. In the winter I brought it forward to 5.30pm if I could!

Its the 8pm bedtime. The nap is probably also causing the wake at 6am.

Its not unusual for 2-3 yr olds dropping the nap to need a 6.30 bedtime and to sleep through until 7am on it.

My near 4 year old is in bed asleep by 7pm and won't wake until about 6.45, so despite not having the 1hr nap is probably getting a bit extra sleep overall.

There are odd days when she does have a nap eg in the car. She struggles falling asleep even at a later bedtime on those days, and wakes too early.

Really interesting reading all the responses, had no idea 4yr olds taking a nap was seen as anything “wrong”.

I think coming from a culture where naps are not seen as a “bad” thing I never really questioned it. I became concerned when she couldn’t miss a nap not even for a day even when out in a loud busy environment!

So today, I only let her nap for 20 minutes when she came back from nursery, there was some tears but she calmed down. She had dinner, shower, played puzzles for 20mins, a little warm milk, brushed teeth and put her in bed for 7:15pm and was sleeping by 7:40pm. I don’t if she was particularly tired today but I will keep this routine going and stop her naps or only let her nap for max 20 minutes if I can’t stop her falling asleep.

I didn’t realise DD bedtime was considered late. Reading the responses when others put their kids to sleep has helped me see this. Will push DD bedtime early 15mins to have her ready for bed 7pm tomrrow.

Late is subjective, but it’s obviously too late for your DD if she can’t get through the day without a nap.

My 4 year old goes to bed at 8.30, gets up at 6.30 and doesn’t nap. That’s fine for him, he’s happy, awake and alert all day. But all children are different, and have differing sleep needs. Her bedtime isn’t ‘late’ necessarily, but it means she still needs to nap. So if you want to drop the nap, you’ll need an earlier bedtime to compensate.

My nephews nap lasted till about 2 weeks before school started! He enjoyed them and so did the parents.