Is it possible to combat the 5pm crash or do I cancel kindy?

[Ilovethedoctor]

My (just turned) 4yo DS gave his day naps away about his third birthday and will only sleep in the daytime if he crashes late afternoon.

Which in the hot weather (oz) he has been doing with stunning regularity. He then sleeps for two or three hours then is up quite late and tired the next day.

He has just started kindergarten and it is two 6hr days one week(mon, thurs) then three the next(mon, wed thurs).

I want him to be fresh and well rested for a happy kindy experience but if I can't fix the sleep problem, kindy might have to be cut down in hours.

I have tried:
keeping him awake with cool flannels, cool drinks, showers, dinner, walks.

showering and feeding him first then let him crash at 5pm. Neither has been effective.

Any ideas out there?

TIA

My DD is 2.6 and we're trying to cut her daytime naps at the moment (as her night sleep was being impacted). We tried once before but she was also coming home from nursery and crashing on the sofa around 5-6pm.

My MIL said that with my DH and his siblings she would pick them up from school and give them a small piece of chocolate or something sugary, just to give them an energy boost to get through the rest of the day.

I tried it with DD last night after collecting her from nursery at 5pm. She was shattered so I gave her a few small chocolate animal cookies. Seemed to do the trick - she stayed awake until bedtime at 8pm, then crashed out and slept all night for the first time in a few weeks.

The night before I didn't give her anything sugary to eat and she stayed awake (just) but then crashed spark out at 7.30 and was an utter misery until then, crying and screaming.

Not a scientific study, but might be worth a try? And if you don't want to do chocolate/sugar, what about a banana or some sugary fruit?

Good luck!

PukeyMummy - Thanks for that. Because it is so hot here at the moment we let him have (several oops) icy poles and icecreams from the freezer and still he crashes.

Might have to break out some heavy duty mars bars and see if that helps!

Good luck - hopefully others will come on here with some advice too.

Am still a bit that my MIL imparted a tip to me on childcare that I not only listened to, but used!