Post nap foulness: 3 yr old

[anon1975]

My 3 year old girl doesn't always nap anymore but OMG when she does she wakes up in a foul mood, particularly if she's strapped into the buggy. She cries, screams and kicks. It's impossible to reason with her, so I end up undoing the straps and just walking away saying something along the lines of 'come see me when you're ready not to shout'. The mood can go on for some time (us usually until she's eaten something). Her behaviour when she's tired or hungry can be pretty wild too. Any tips please? I'm so tired of it. It's ruined many an otherwise good day.

Feed her a snack when she wakes up and give her some
Sympathy. You've said it yourself - it's worse when tired/hungry so try and preempt? I have to go easy on ds when he's hungry or tired.

My twins are also foul when they wake up. I have to mentally book half an hour after they wake up for them to be reasonable again. I try to keep everything quiet and calm, and offer milk and a snack (but it often gets thrown back at me). Keeping on top of when they will be hungry/tired seems to help - dont wait till they ask for food, build snack time into every mid morning/afternoon.
Its boring and inconvenient - I do any trips etc in the morning as by the time they have come round after nap time, I have to pick up dd1 from school. but hopefully it wont last too long.....

Thanks everyone. Good to know I'm not alone. I'll try those tips.

Is it when she falls asleep later in the afternoon? DD was like this. I decided to drop her afternoon nap and bring tea forward instead.

I think regular intake of food is important for these children. I learnt to give a snack fairly quickly after waking up from a nap. DD was also a terror when coming out of school as they had lunch too early. I always had a snack ready on meeting her, otherwise she was horrible - rude, quarrelsome, obnoxious! She is lovely but lack of regular food still causes problems and she is 21 now! At least if you know what to do,you can keep life sweeter!

I had this problem with DS, but it depended very much on the time of day. Late afternoon naps were always the worst, and he would be the Antichrist for a good half-hour after waking, so I made sure as much as I could that he was awake past 4pm.

If I ever fall asleep in the middle of the day, I feel vile when I wake up. Being much older than your DD I manage to keep a grip of myself, but frankly, if I was 3, I'd probably do what she does too - it's what I feel like doing

If I were you I'd carry some 'in an emergency' treats that she's not normally allowed and hand them to her as soon as her eyes start to open. I'd resort to apple juice & chocolate buttons if it headed the foul mood off!!

My DD was like this (as am I if I sleep in the day).
I used to put her in front of cbeebies with a plate of snacks and leave her alone for a while.
Also make sure she's eaten something just before her nap.

My DD is like this too, after her afternoon nap. I used to think it was because she hadn't slept enough but no matter how long she sleeps she always wakes like a bear with a sore head Like others have said I just give her a snack and put Mickey Mouse on and wait for her to come round.

Thanks again all. Good to know I'm not alone in this. It's definitely late waking that's the worst. I've started to make sure that dinner is ready to go pretty much as soon as she wakes, even if it means she eats her evening meal at 4pm. Things are a lot happier round here as a result (post naps anyway).