What should I do about napping and starting school??

[Ghoulwithadragontattoo]

My DD is not quite 4 and still naps most days (often up to 2 hours). She can go the odd day without a nap but then needs one to catch up the next day. She also sleeps 11-12 hours at night

She is due to start school in September and I'm worried about how she will cope without a nap and that being tired might stop her enjoying school. Did anyone else have a child who still needed to nap when they started school? How did you manage this? Was your child OK when they started school?

It's a LONG time between now and September!

My ds is not quite 4 and was napping for 2hrs most days, but dropped them at Christmas. He is very tired and grumpy at the moment with nursery every day! What about cutting it down to 1hr and planning days out where she can't nap every day of the week so she can get used to it slowly.

Is she doing full or half days? I know a few children have fallen asleep in the afternoon.

Natural - good idea to plan days out where she can't sleep. She has a little brother too so tends to have quiet time when he naps which turns into nap time for her too. I think I will cut it down to an hour and see how she is.

I guess it is a long time until Sept but at least if I start to make changes slowly now she will be ready by the time she starts school without it being too much of a change at once.

The plan is for full days at the moment. Are half days a possibility?

My DD began full time school last September and she had to go to bed by 6pm every night as she was shattered. But I managed to get her to cope between pick up and bedtime by making it all very chilled at home. And now she is fine and going to bed at 7.30pm 6 months on

I think most Reception classes have a quiet area that is generally filled with napping children at the start of the school year

Having said that, my DS was the same. He went for half a day for his first term and, by the time he was 5, he didn't need his nap.

Chat to the school and see what they can do for you.

Well it depends on the school i suppose. 3 of my 4 have summer term birthdays and they did half days for half a term. Really helped my boys, but my youngest -dd2- could have done full days from the start i think.

Teaandcake - that's very reassuring. I guess after a few months they get used to it. I could bring her bedtime forward to start with although DH doesn't get home until 7pm and likes to see the children. But would be ok if only temporary change.
Thanks :)

School really helped us with DD but we were overseas and they are way happier to relax things. DD was 4yrs 7 months when she started school full time and what we agreed with school was that we would pick her up from school at 2pm for the first term (she did the same when she started kindy at 3.7 and 2 full days) What we found was that extra hour at school would send her into melt down at home. They would tell me she was fine at school but they trusted what I was saving about it ruining our homelife.

We have found a long car journey every few weekends during reception to help catch a bit extra sleep.

Ask the school about half days. A lot do them for summer-born children, at least for the first few weeks. And sometimes they don't think to mention it, because "everyone knows" .

Otherwise, I would gradually increase the number of days when she doesn't nap (e.g. by going out) and see how it goes. She may very well grow out of it by Sept. If not, just be prepared for some very early bedtimes while she gets into the swing of it. And it is definitely not unheard of for Reception children to have a doze in the book corner!

Thanks Tanith and Schilke. At least she won't be on her own if she is sleepy. I will definitely ask head about half days when I go to parents' meeting.

Dd1 still napped in the April before she started reception (1.5 hours per day)

By the August I'd cut her nap right back and she finally stopped napping. She started school ( half days only for the first term) and for the first half of the term she went back to needing a nap again after I picked her up (1pm) She gradually adjusted but school did make her really tired.

You'll almost certainly need to bring bedtime earlier, dd1 is 6 and now in year 1 and is almost always asleep by 630 (sleeps until gone 7 every morning)

Thanks Stopthinking (perhaps that's what i need to do) and achicken. I do think trying to cut down days she sleeps and asking about half days will both help.

Good to hear others were similar and managed to get through it unscathed.

Our school has now stopped the half days for summer borns, but I know of a few children currently in reception who have had naps at school.

Blowin - i am jealous of your sleepy year 1. Mine is up and down the stairs until 9:30pm and then awake by 6:30.

My school didn't offer half days for Reception. So I didn't have that option.

Thanks Blown. I guess if she needs earlier bedtime that's what we will have to. Where do the children sleep at school?

Why did my children stop napping at 18 months??[green]

Ha ha Cunning (love the nn). It is nice to get the break in the afternoon...

There's always the option to defer a term too. You know ur dd and if u honestly don't think by September she will be ready to drop that nap or that it's just gonna cause u and her problems then she could always start in January :)

Caffeinedrip. That's true. I did mention that to the head and she said it is no prob to defer but usually it's Jul and Aug boys who benefit rather than May girls. May raise it again closer to the time. Also I worry a bit she might miss out on making friends at the start of the year. Decisions, decisions...

There have been a few January admissions at my dd's school and they don't seem to have had any problems making friends In fact my dd got quite excited there were new children joining :) you have a while yet to decide and in alot of cases I think the bad points of starting to early are far worse than those of starting later. There are always children joining school throughout the terms. Kids transfer others leave etc think the teachers also try and make sure they new kids r involved :)

DS2 and DD napped up to 2 hours all the way through what would have been their reception year (and slept well at night too). Fortunately for us we home educate so we could let them. I think schools have to be flexible with reception children now, so half days or deferred start would help - if children need their sleep, they need it!

Caffinedrip - Good to know that the Jan starters slotted into school well. I'll see how things look in July and then mention it to the head if I think a Jan start would work better.

Tinuviel - I could honestly see my DD still napping for a long time if we were at home. I guess home ed does give that flexibility. I'm thinking half days might well be the best solution if the school are happy to try it.