Anyone else dealing with difficult sleep and naps at nearly three?

[Loz2764]

Hi all,
my son (3 in September) is going through a really tricky sleep stage.

He has never been a great sleeper, always slept less than the ‘norm’ but I worry about it all the time and feel I’m doing something wrong!

He is at nursery 2 days (no nap there) and then grandparents 2 days (naps hit and miss) and then with us the rest (naps hit and miss).

He will only nap if taken out in car and fights it until late afternoon, which then causes a massive issue at bedtime. Even a 30 minute nap pushes bedtime right back to 9pm.

He usually sleeps 9.5 hours at night, sometimes 10. We have had the same bedtime room since he was 1, bath, books. He still needs us most of the time to fall asleep and hold his hand.

He’s potty trained and has been dry at night for months so I know he likely wakes up early needing a wee.

He typically sleeps 8:30/9 until 6:30, whether he has a nap or not.

Anyone else in this situation?
Thank you.

I doubt he needs a nap at nearly 3, both mine dropped them around age 2.

Needing you to hold his hand to sleep is perfectly normal at his age though, he just needs to feel
safe. 8.30-6.30 is pretty good if that’s a stretch of uninterrupted sleep.

I would drop the nap and start your routine half an hour earlier and see if that helps him drop off easier

I wouldn't be battling with an almost 3 year old to nap especially not late afternoon. My daughter is almost 3 too and wakes lots of times throughout the night and needs to be laid with to go to sleep. If your little boy is tired, I'd be trying to get him in bed 30 mins earlier and see what happens to his wake up time.

I'm in a similar position! My daughter is 3 in September too and we do everything we can to avoid naps because they have such an impact on bedtime now. The other day a 40 minute car nap meant she didn't fall asleep until after 10. Even on a no nap day, bedtime is, as you say, 8:30 - 9. It's frustrating and I'm very envious of friends with higher sleep need children but she's happy and healthy so we roll with this! ❤️

I’m afraid I don’t see what the difficulty is 😬 drop the nap, looks like he doesn’t need it

ETA - sorry, realised I was a bit glib. Sounds like he’s just going through that rough patch where you transition to no nap. It’s hard while it lasts, but if you commit to no nap they get used to it quicker and might settle into a slightly different night sleep rhythm, rather than if you keep trying to make a nap happen. If he’s low sleep needs, then 8:30-6:30 seems fine

All three of mine dropped their afternoon naps at about 2 and a half so if he's sleeping all night I'd just drop it.

Drop the nap! Earlier bed time, 6.30/7ish I would say. He would be massively over tired going to bed 8.30/9 without a nap

Cut the nap altogether.

Increase exercise and fresh air.

Decrease any screen time that he has, particularly in the second half of the day.

Make sure he's eating as well as possible.

Look up the gradual retreat sleep training method to encourage him to fall asleep independently.

But ultimately he may just have lower sleep needs. If you need more time of an evening work on establishing a routine where he plays quietly in his bedroom before sleep.

I agree, a lot of kids aren’t having naps at that age so completely ignore the afternoon naps and just try and get him into a routine of going to bed earlier.

What everyone else said. Cut the nap. I think most children have naturally dropped theirs by then.

I'm not sure what the problem is here? I'd cut the nap entirely, very normal at that age - and do earlier bedtime. It's totally normal for kids to need support to go to sleep, it's only our mad society that seems to think babies/kids should sleep independently from day 1. 10 hours overnight is fine.