How do you drop the lunchtime nap?

[padboz]

if she sleeps in the day she's up til 9. If she doesnt have a nap shes VILE by 5pm but goes out like a light at 7pm...

any ideas?

bump?

how old is she?

Try cutting the nap back a bit at first and see if that helps the later bedtime. If not you could cut the nap completely but put her to bed at 6pm or 6.30pm for a few weeks/couple of months until she gets used to it and can make it to 7pm again without being overly grumpy.

I did this with ds though tbh a 6/6.30pm bedtime can be a pain, especially at this time of year as it is nice to be up a bit later and make the most of the sunshine.

In your place and given that it is summer I'd try and cut back the nap but acept a later bedtime for now. If she hasn't dropped the nap completely by the autumn I'd then go for cutting it out completely and having an earlier bedtime for a while until she can make it to 7pm easily again .

what time do you put her down?

You could try bringing this forward by 15 mins, and opening the curtains and waking her 15 mins before usual.

You will have to endure some mardyness at the end of the day I'm afraid, but I think shortening it gradually is the way to go.

good luck

thanks lazycow - shes 2.5 - how long would you give her? she left to her own devices she has 2 hours at lunch time - starts asking to go to bed about 12.30...

Try cutting it short by about 45min for a week or two. It can take a little while for the child to get used to the new system.

Alternatively, trying cutting it out on only one day a week. Do something distracting - but not too tiring - in the late afternoon of that day to get trhough any grumpiness. My dc dropped their naps a day at a time over a period of many months.

It's worth keeping the nap going for as long as possible, as if she starts needing it again (perhaps because she does more activities and gets more tired) then it's harder to reinstate it. But you can control how long she naps and how often. You adjust according to her need.

As Foxythesnowfox says I would start by cutting it back by 15 mins for the first week or so. Then maybe put her down 15 mins later. Then after another week wake her 30 mins early. That way the nap is cut down to an hour.

Eventually you can aim to let her have a 45mins -1 hr nap. If this still has her awake at 9pm then you may need to rethink. I will probably take a couple of weeks for her to get used to it but if you do it gradually it might not be too painful.

Then again children usually excel in confounding our best laid plans - still it might work

The reason I said 45m ois that that is rough;y the langth of one sleep cycle. IME - at least with my LOs - they tend to be happier if woken at the right point of a sleeep cycle, ie when lightly asleep, rather than when deeply asleep. You could lurke in her room about 45min before she normally wakes, and begin rousing her when she comes into light sleep - open the curtains, chat, etc.

My LO would occasionally refuse his lunchtime nap.

Maybe you could encourage him not to have one, e.g. put toys in cot/bed or be more noisy when he goes for the nap?

I found that when he dropped it, he would have a nap every few days which made him less hideous till 5pm.