Almost 3yo nap skipping but hyper!

[LauraP12345]

My DS will be 3 in November and up until about a month ago he always had a nap at around 2pm for an hour (wakes at around 6:30am & bed at 7pm)

Over the last few weeks we've kept his routine and put him down for a nap but 80% of the time now he won't sleep. I've kept it up incase it was just a phase like he's had previously but it doesn't seem to be settling back to normal after a week or so like before.

So I would normally think ok he's old enough now to drop the nap BUT when he doesn't sleep he's a total crazy person by the late afternoon/evening 😅 especially on days he's been extra busy or visited grandparents. He'll get home and just chat rubbish, make silly noises, not listen, flop around, can't focus on dinner or anything we say to him, shake his head side to side, shout and refuse to come up for a bath/bedtime, throw things and on and on. He's just a whirlwind of chaos and he's so obviously way overtired! On days he naps he's totally normal.

So I'm not sure what the best thing to do is. Keep trying with the nap? Move his routine a bit? Or just drop it and maybe he'll start to adjust? He also starts nursery on Monday so I feel like that might tire him out and help him nap again.

Any advice would be greatly received! I hate seeing him so tired and stressed out. Oh and we also have a good bedtime/nap time routine and read a story and give plenty of time to chill and relax first to help him wind down.

Thanks :)

Such a tough stage. And to be honest, it lasts a long time. My DD is nearly 4 and she generally copes well in the afternoons now, but needs an early bedtime (usually asleep by 6.45pm) and still gets very overtired on some days if we've been busy.

In the nap dropping stage I think with my DD I tried to get out in the fresh air in the afternoons during the time she'd normally be asleep and that seemed to help. I also implemented a proper sit-down snack and drink time at 3pm to try and break up the long afternoon and keep her from getting overtired and over hungry all at once, then I'd bring bedtime really early like 6.30pm (or earlier if needed) - I didnt even mind if it meant her waking up at the crack of dawn as I preferred that to wrangling an overtired child. Its so hard and I really didn't enjoy afternoons for a long time!

I used to feed her a good solid breakfast (like eggs or even fish / meat) and do the main hot meal at lunch time, so that if by tea time she was climbing the walls and couldnt focus enough to eat any dinner I'd know she'd had good nutrition earlier in the day.

They cope eventually.

Its a tough stage but you have to just ride it out. We used to take DS for a ride in the car and allow him to nap for 15 min or so just to take the edge of. It helped bridge the gap a bit.

Can you take him out for a drive to make him nap? Mine is 3.5 and hasn't napped in his room since last winter, but he still needs a nap on Fridays when he's been at nursery four days (and sometimes on the weekend too). So I put him in the car at 2ish and just drive until he falls asleep. Doesn't always work but usually if he's tired he will drop off.

Drop the nap if he isn’t sleeping and adapt your routine. Ds is 3.5 and hasn’t napped for a while but did get overtired mid/late afternoon and became either very boisterous & excitable or argumentative & aggressive. I found a good lunch if at home (preferably something hot & substantial) helped. Then I give him down time, sometimes read a book, sometimes he likes to watch something like Zog for half an hour with a blanket on the sofa. He was a lot calmer for it and got through to bedtime. We also brought bedtime forward a little. I did similar with all 4dc, but all but one Dc didn’t nap past 14 months.

You need to allow 2 weeks for him to get used to it and bring bedtime forward so he is still getting the same amount of sleep as when he was napping.

Thanks for all your opinions and experience! It definitely has helped me with a few ideas and at the very least to feel like it's very normal 😂 I know it won't last forever and just want to do the best for him. I'll try the going for a drive thing when possible and some other suggestions 💪🏽

It sounds crazy, but watch the bluey episode 'sleepover'.

What you have is muffin.

It's a really hard phase

@Somuchgoo 😂😂 This actually made me laugh!! I know the one you mean, DS loves bluey! And yes, that is exactly what he's like without his nap 😅 amazingly he's actually asleep currently after an extra busy morning shopping and playing at the playground! Maybe I just need to tire him out even more than I thought I was!