still needing afternoon kip at 4!

[mummywizz]

my ds was 4 last week and still needs an afternoon sleep,
We've tried to wean him off his sleep but he becomes unbearable
by 5pm and will try and sleep under the coffee table etc

obviously it is restrictive especially if we need to do things pm . my dd stopped her sleeps at 2.5 he starts school in september so really hope he no longer needs them by then

Just wondered if anyone else has a afternoon sleeper at 4

A lot of sleep books say that for many children it's normal to need a nap till age 5 or 6. Apparently in some cultures (the Far East IIRC) it's normal for all children to continue taking naps till age 6.

One of my friends' daughters was still having a short afternoon nap when she started school. She found it hard going and used to get really tired in the afternoons for the first term or two.

i wouldn't worry too much about him needing a nap at school. they will have a quiet area where the kids can hunker down with a book and a cushion. it is quite usual for kids in reception to fall asleep in that area for a bit in the afternoon.

DD1 stopped hers at about 4.0 IIRC, however she will still take herself off some afternoons for a nap and regularly has a sleep in the car (without affecting her night sleeping) and she is now 4.5. I think it is lovely that she loves her sleep. DD2 is 2.9 and like a Duracell Bunny

My sister-in-law used to throw her just 4 year old son into bed for half an hour or so as soon as they got home from school for the first term or two of Reception
He still had a bedtime of 7:30 and seemed to really need it

My son is almost five and still has a little snooze. Although most days we push him through, if we go anywhere by car or watch a film, he has a quick 'forty winks' as he puts it. He started school last September, and although makes it through the day, he is normally grumpy,unreasonable and teary by 4pm. It's only when school stops that he stops,as it were, so copes fine with the school day. It just takes a little time for his body to adjust to school life.

AlsoAvailableSober - yes i have a duracell bunny in DD (aged 2.2). DS (4.10) is more likely to fall asleep in the car than she is. in fact, when we drove down to my folks (a 2 hr ride) at easter, leaving home at 7pm on a day when she hadn't had a nap and had been up since 7am and had been to a birthday party with disco in the afternoon, it was she who kept HIM awake on the drive down. i stupidly assumed they would both fall asleep in the car. neither did, but he was getting REALLY REALLY cross with her as he was trying to go to sleep and she kept shouting, singing and generally creating merry hell.

yes! ds is just 4 and often still sleeps during the day. he seems to wake at 6-something each morning regardless of what time he went to bed, then sometime between 1-4 will just crash! If I put him to bed at 1pm it's not unheard of for him to sleep for 2+ hours.

He can go for the day, including 6+ hours of pre-school, without a nap and is ok, but then he is in bed with lights going off around 7pm. Otherwise lights out is about 7.30pm, pushed to 8pm if he's had a massive sleep during the day.

I think he is just growing a lot at the moment, plus thinking, talking, moving all the time, plus preschool 2.5 days a week, it must be knackering. He is very noticeably tired half the way through the week after he's done his 15 hours at preschool.

Hello.
Well, my 4.5 year old is similar to some of the above. He doesn't sleep during the day anymore, but is often AWFUL come 3 or 4pm. It would be much better if he did have a quick nap! So... I would let your son carry on napping and come September he'll just adjust/be grumpy like the rest of them!

Like above DS is more likely to fall asleep in the car than his 2.5 year old sister. He also often screams at 3/4pm- you can almost set your watch by it- his behaviour is generally good/respects boundaries etc, but at this time of day who knows. I had to put him in his room screaming today- oh the joys! It's a bit odd as it will generally just be one short episode of uncontrollable screaming/tears etc then he will recover and be fine (food always helps but it's not just a blood sugar thing, guess it's that combo, tired and hungry- oh and add a full day at nursery (he does 9-3 twice a week).

My eldest is almost 6 and will quite happily have a nap on a weekend or if we go anywhere of any great distance after school, falls asleep in the car.

Makes for lovely quite saturday and sunday afternoons

I think their minds are so busy at school it just exhausts some of them. As long as it doesn't seriously affect nighttime sleep i'm not worried

My four year old still needs a nap during the day - and I mean at least an hour, preferably more. I sometimes wonder if this is because he has speech delay so his brain is still learning to talk [amateur psychologist emoticon].

We are working together to wean him off this, but I know he'll struggle when he starts school. I predict a bedtime of around half past five six for the first term.

My dd is 4.10 yrs. She started reception last September when she was just 4.2 yrs and up until the day she started school, she still napped for 2 hours every day. I was so worried about her starting school as they went full time from 3 weeks in. But she has coped ok although is fiercely tired when I pick her up. She still naps in the school holidays and at weekends less so maybe every other day. Some children just need it. I should leave your ds be for now - he obviously still needs that sleep.

And enjoy the silence

My boys were still having naps at 4 when they were at school. It was no problem as I picked them up at 11.45, brought them home for lunch and then they napped. Meant I didn't see them as much but they were rested for the afternoon and went to bed no problem at 7.

My son slept every afternoon until he went to school aged 4/11 months. He coped well but still had a 2 hour sleep for quite afew years. Now at the age of 37 he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat which he finds really great.