3 year old having 3 hour naps

[Caterpillar05]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat… my 3yo has been napping for 3 hours a day, consistently, for quite a while now. His naps always used to range from 1.5 to 3 hours, but now it’s pretty much always 3 hours, and that’s with me having to wake him up most of the time. I didn’t realise this wasn’t normal until someone I had been talking to seemed surprised at this, then I done the dreaded Google search 🤦🏻‍♀️

He wakes up at 7am, goes to his childminder from 8am to 1:30pm, and then always falls asleep on the car journey home (about 30 mins). There’s no keeping him awake - he’s usually asleep within minutes and stays asleep when I lift him from his car seat and in to the house. If I try to wake him after 1–2 hours, he has a complete meltdown, screaming, kicking, crying, and it takes a good while to settle him. So I now let him go to the 3 hour mark max, but even then he’s hard to wake and I have to do it gradually or he gets angry and upset.

He used to wake multiple times in the night (regardless of napping), but now he generally sleeps through which is around 8–9 hours.

If he’s not at the childminder and I do manage to keep him from napping during the day, he ends up falling asleep at a silly time like 5pm as he can’t keep his eyes open any longer, which isn’t feasible of course.

I’m planning to call the GP tomorrow and we’re already under a paediatrician for an unrelated issue (not sleep related), though I forgot to mention this at the last appointment 😩

Just wondering… does anyone else’s toddler nap this long at this age? Is it within the realm of “normal”?

TIA

I agree with others that 8/9 hours at night I don’t think is enough for a 3 year old so I think he’s making up for it in extra napping, cuz that’s then 12 hours a day which seems about right :)

Mine always went to bath at 6.30pm and bed at 7pm, so they always got 11-12 hours a night, and they dropped straight off to sleep. As a result of that really strict routine they dropped their lunchtime/afternoon nap quite young - it worked well for us because we valued the evening to ourselves and they had fun and busy days. If it works for you, keep it as is, if not see how much you can pull bedtime forward as I think that's why he's so tired in the afternoon. Either way 12 hours is about right, however you decide/however he prefers to chop it up.

Sounds fine … he’s growing, if anything he needs to go to bed earlier.

My 3.5 year can sleep 1.5-3h. Now it's usually 1.5 rather than 3, but it's only changed in the past 6 months or so.

At 2.5 year old, he was still napping 2h in the morning and 2-3h afternoon when at home! (He stopped napping at nursery around that time).
He has slept through the night consistently for 10ish hours since he was 6 months old.

Some kids just need a lot of sleep! As long as they go to bed at the normal time and sleep through, that's fine.

You could try to see how he handles longer days out for instance, situations where he is too distracted to sleep. We definitely had to build up our son's tolerance to lack of naps, the first few months when he dropped nap at nursery he was exhausted.

The 3 year olds in my nursery don't sleep.they are busy all day. Some of the two year olds don't sleep either. 3 hours is a lot.

Both my kids napped until 4yo but I capped the nap at 45 mins between the ages 3-4. Have you tried consistently waking him up after the car journey? This will bring his bedtime much earlier (aim for 7-8pm but may need to start earlier and gradually extend). At the end of the day it’s up to you and your family’s schedule and whether the lo g nap works for your family. Personally I needed my kids at bed by 8pm so I can get some me time, but each to their own x

All my 3 slept from 1 to 4 every afternoon until they started school.at 4. They're all happy healthy teenagers now.

My three and a half year old had a four hour nap this afternoon. I was the same as a child. No illness or anything bad. Just... napping is nice!

My pre-schooler dropped all naps when he turned 2. Count yourself lucky 😅

My now 11 year old used to do this.

He used to nap 3/4 hours. Wake up at 4pm. Have his dinner. Go to bed at 7pm and then wake at 5am.

He is now a pre-teen that still loves his sleep!

When he was a new born, he would wake up every 2 hours. Feed for an hour, then go back down for 2 hours. He didn’t sleep more than 2 hours at a time, until he was 10 months.

But, do speak to your GP still, every child is different.

He clearly needs the sleep, roll with it.
My son dropped naps at 3/4 but started dozing off doing big sisters school pick ups, so we put them back in earlier in the day. He kept going until starting school but think he still had naps at weekends.

So if he is getting 8-9 at night and waking at 7am is he going to bed at 10/11pm? That's too late, you need to gradually cut the nap and put to bed earlier.

Napping at this age isn't unusual, my son used to do a 2-3 hr nap till he was 4 then gradually dropped it between 4 and 4year 4months, but he still needs it from time to time but refuses and he's just grumpy. But he has always gone to bed at 7.30 and woken between 6 and 7am even when he was having a nap and never had issues with him going to sleep at night either.

He's going to bed at 11pm! No wonder he's napping so long during the day.
Although as he's under a paediatrics, then I'd mention it to them.

Absolutely normal each child is individual, leave him continue to have his naps, there are noharsh rules for children ever, relax & enjoy your little break you have after working, even on days hes at home if he needs a nap let him! My advice never google anything please , to many different answers , just follow your mother instincts & you will know what is best for only your child .

I have a three year old and my understanding is that they should be getting around 12 hours sleep per 24 hours so I think this is fine.

My LO doesn't nap but would not be able to handle only having 8 or 9 hours sleep at night, she does the full 12. Any less and she'd be unbearable and would definitely be falling asleep in the car etc x

Very worrying - a 3 yo should have dropped naps - they are just reaching the edge of toddlerhood. I would take them to a doctor

I wouldn’t be too concerned. Our LO will sleep for 40 mins to 4 hours (happened last week!). We have had similar tantrums when woken up (especially if tired+++) but find if there is something exciting planned for the PM then meltdowns less likely.

Also read a little about sleep cycles a couple of years ago with one being about 90mins. So if you are waking at 1 hour or 2 hours then could be ratty as mid-cycle. Could be worth trialling a 90 min nap and seeing if waking up at this point results in a better mood…?

My daughter started the school nursery at 3.5 years and they can’t nap there. Maybe think about when he will be in a school setting to start cutting it down in preparation.
Also he is napping so much in the day as he isn’t sleeping enough at night. He doesn’t go to bed until 10 or 11pm? I would be going crazy!
start cutting the nap shorter and bringing bedtime earlier. Around 7pm. When my 2 year old doesn’t nap (which is about 50% of the time) she sometimes has to go to bed at 6:30 but no earlier. Bath, stories, food, entertaining, anything to keep them awake a bit longer. The transition is hard but worth it to have your evenings to unwind.

8 hours a night is nowhere near enough sleep for a 3yo. That’s what’s recommended for a full-grown adult, not a toddler. Poor boy is probably sleep deprived, hence why he’s napping so long. Put him to bed earlier so he gets 11-12 hours per night, which is what he needs, then he won’t need to make up sleep in the day.

Doesn't sound like a problem. My dcs did 2-2.5 hr naps until they started reception (they napped at nursery on their nursery days). They would sleep 9-9.30pm - 7am. It wasn't uncommon anongst the families we knew to have similar bedtimes - we are in London but most families were international, and it's more common to keep having naps and to stay up later.
I don't relate to the comments about wanting to get dcs in bed earlier to avoid having to entertain them and have adult time - after collecting from nursery at 6pm we'd have hardly any quality time with them if they went to bed at 7pm.