Feel daft for asking but is my 3 yr old sleeping too much?

[violetsmile]

I know this must seem like a non problem but I am really curious as to whether ds sleeps too much.

He has just turned 3 last month and goes to bed at 7-7:30pm, sleeps through til around 6:30am but then is shatterd by lunchtime so has about an hour and 1/2 nap on the sofa beween 1- 3 ish, meaning he's getting around 13 hours sleep a day and is still well ready for bed at night time.

He seems active enough but gets very tearful when he's tired and never resists bedtime unles he's ill. Is there a problem or does this sound OK? All my friend's 2-3 yr olds seem to have dropped their naps and only sleep around 10-11 hours at night.

Sounds normal to me.

My nearly three year old sleeps more than that.

Nah that sounds normal. DD is now three and a half and sleeps 13 hours at night and would gladly sleep fourteen if she didn't have to get up for preschool!

sounds fine to me!

Oh thanks, I kept thinking he must be ill or reallllly lazy! He just seems to like his sleep and lets everyone know when he's tired. If he goes without a nap, he is truly awful by around 3pm, everything upsetting him and he's yawning constantly.

So it's OK that he still naps then? Most 3 yr olds I know seem to not need one any more. He's at preschool 5 mornings a week so by the time he gets home, he has lunch and then conks out on the sofa, I feel like I barely see him awake but I know he must ned it otherwise he wouldn't be so vile without it!

Seems fine to me. DD is 3.3 and sleeps 7.30-8.30 and has around 2 hour nap some days.

Actually it's a symptom of learning, they experience things, then go to sleep to 'put them together' mentally and plonk them in long term memory so they can do them again. So for example, balancing skills climbing the steps of the slide, it's not till they have a nap that it goes into the repertoire as it were.

Toddler sleep is very important. Encourage it

Great thanks for that whomovedmychocolate! Very reassurring, thinking about it, he does seem to learn things very quickly and although he's not what I'd call advanced (although of course to me he's a boy genious! ), he does have a good memory and only has to be shown something once and he remembers it months later so maybe the sleep helps his little brain process everything so well.

I will stop worrying this instant!

You spelled genius wrong

Oh crap! hahaha . That wasn't even a typo, I really have been spelling that wrong for the past 27 yrs! Thanks.

Very normal. I would stick with the naps unless they atart adversely affecting nightime sleeping.

Apparently genius is both nature and nurture

Remember he's pulling together language, physical skills, cognitive reasoning and so on - his brain is very busy, no wonder he's tired.

Its in normal range for age , 10-14 hours sleep out of 24.

At that age my lad was sleeping 14 hours a night AND having another 2-3 hours of nap! at that point I took him the the DRs, his iron levels were fine, he wasn't diabetic and after 6 or 7 weeks he stopped sleeping QUITE so much and I realised he had grown 3 cm.

Yes clearly with ds it is nurture! He has a wonderful nursery assistant who must teach him everything his illiterate mummy can't hehe!

Yeah no wonder his little brain gets so tired, I really didn't think about how much he actually takes in and has to process just by pottering around with me or playing at preschool. I will be much more sympathetic towards his grumpiness when he's tired now!

His language and formation of sentences seems to be growing hugely and he never stops talking and asking questions so I suppose he's learning even when I am thinking we've not done much at all.

It's worth investing in some stickerbooks or colouring books just so when he gets like that he can have a quiet sit down for twenty minutes - you may find it heads off the grumps at the pass.

Ahh and yes UniS he grows very quickly, he's in age 3-5 clothes and seems to have sprouted about an inch this last month.

Thank you I will try the sticker books. He tends to just randomly plonk stickers all over him but whatever keeps him happy!

Sorry 4- 5 clothes, not 3- 5! Ohhhh dear, not a good thread from me, I really am showing my lack on intelect! Time for me to sleep now I think!

'intelect'

Oh screw you whomovedmychocolate! lol that one was a typo! hahaha I am leaving mumsnet forever after bing outed and a dunce! .

being not bing I give up!!!!

my oldest DS used to sleep 2-3 hours every pm (from 2-4:30 ish) and sleep again at 7:30.

Until he was 4.5! People thought it was odd, but he seemed to need it. I woudl wake him up after about 2hrs, as otherwise he`d be too groggy.

He was not a big eater, but always needed his rests.

My other DC is a great foodie, but sleeps a ot less, maybe there is a link?

Ah imteresting liunk cos ds is big and certainly not wasting away but for his size, he doesn't eat much. He has little interest in food and alwways needs encouraging to eat after the first few mouthfulls. He seems to just not have a big appitie expecially considering he's the size of a 5 yr old.

Sorry, got ds helping me type!

Don't leave, you are very funny