When do your preschoolers nap?

Kari

Justin still naps about 1-3 hours a day. At daycare, he naps from 1-3 because that's there schedule. Lately he's only been napping an hour during that time frame. At home he sometimes is ready to nap at 12, but other days fights it until 2 . . . but then he's still sleeping at 5 when we usually sit down for dinner so he'll be ready for bed by 7-8.

I'm curious when others' kids nap and then go to bed. I'm not sure when he'll give up the nap, but some days he seems like he's ready and other days he seems like he's nowhere near ready.

lolabel

My newly four year old rarely naps with me, but naps for an hour or two at daycare every day she's there.

friendamy

my DS naps at school 1-3 (like Justin) and usually naps that whole time.

on the weekends he goes down anywhere between 12-2, and sleeps as long as he wants. however, I won't let him sleep past 4 or bedtime is a disaster. so anywhere from 45mibs to 3 hours... ugh!

I'm not ready to give them up yet

annerbones

Maggie (honestly sucks at sleeping) but I put her in the pack n play as close to 12:30 as possible, she doesn't have to sleep but she has to lay quietly. Sometimes she falls asleep.

mel

My kids gave up the nap at home around 3 years old, but the girls nap every day at school from 12-2 and the boy naps at school sometimes. This summer, we've played in the morning and they have quiet time in the afternoon. Usually, they put blankets on the floor and watch a movie while I do some chores.

(and by "do some chores" I mean nap)

It sounds like Justin is doing what mine did when they were just in the beginning phases of giving up the nap. I think you just have to decide what is easier for you - letting him nap whenever he wants (and possibly delaying dinner and bedtime) or trying for a nap between 12-2 or so and giving up if it doesn't happen by then.

Kari

I should have also mentioned that Justin only sleeps from about 8 or 9 pm to about 5:30-6:30 am. I need more sleep than that!

Sunshine4Baby

Ty stills naps every day - usually goes down between 12-2 and sleeps anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on how active her was in the morning- he needs his nap ! even if he doesn't get up till 5 he is still back in bed by 8 or 8:30. He usually wakes up between 7 and 8am - I am hoping to continue nap time as long as I can and when he decides he doesnt want to nap anymore he will still have a 1 hour "quiet time"

pb

Beckham is the worlds worst sleeper. He hasn't napped since he was 2. He goes to bed at 7-8 and wakes up at 5 am. If he naps for some odd reason, he won't go to sleep until 10-11 and still wake up at 5 am. It's just not good!

roses25

Aiden's hard to get down for a nap. The babysitter rarely had any luck during the school year getting him down for a nap and when she did it was 4 ot 4:30 (when I was ready to pick him up). I can usually get him down for a nap, but he doesn't usually fall asleep until 3 PM even though we try much earlier. I really like having an afternoon nap right now, so I tend to put on a PBS show and tell him one show and then nap. It usually works, but he would prefer to watch more than one show.

This summer we really have no schedule. Aiden has never been a child that has needed a strict routine. I'm flexible with nap time, bed time, and wake up time. Sometimes he's been taking a nap at 3 for a few hours, not going to bed until 10:30, and sleeping in until 9 AM. I'm totally okay with that during the summer because I'm getting plenty of sleep too.

During the school year he takes a few hour nap from me around 1 pm and is in bed by about 8:30. He wakes up around 7-8 AM (on the weekends). When he doesn't have a nap he can handle a bedtime of around 7 PM for a few days, but eventually he wears out and ends up taking a nap at 4 PM and is out for the rest of the night. I don't set a bed-time for Aiden and let him go to sleep when he's tired as usually he asks to go to bed at a fairly appropriate time.

Carolyn

Zen

At preschool all the kids go down around 12-1 for an hour and a half. I don't know if Shiloh always sleeps though. At home she doesn't nap. However ... if we're in the car late afternoon (5-6pm) and she's tired, it's a guarantee she's going to take a nap that I don't want!

Lindsay

Lily doesn't nap at home anymore and she is four...At daycare she will nap if she is up by 6am..anylonger and no nap for the ladies at daycare..she gave up naps about 3 1/2 and she will be 5 in September...

Shanny

I'm really in such a quandry about naps with K right now. She is typically sleeping 2-4 ish but is then up until close to 10, and has to get up at 7 (for camp or school) or 7:30 if she is just going straight to work with me. If she doesn't nap she falls asleep at 6:45 on our way home and I put her in bed and she sleeps through the night (usually but sometimes it is a rough nights sleep at least for the first few hours she wakes a lot as if she is so overtired). Anyway, this week A's parents have been gone (took A with them) so I've just had L and K. L is in the process of dropping from 2 naps to 1 and K is in the process of eliminating it altogether some days but not everyday. As crazy as it could have been it was actually fine because we didn't have to work around a)driving to and from work, evening plans (L goes to bed between 6:30-7 so there are no evening plans), trips to the grocery store etc. If L took a short early nap I could get both girls down again around 2 but if she slept 10-12:30 then we skipped all afternoon naps and everyone was alseep by 7! But that will not be the case beyond today! A has camp almost all summer, afternoon activities etc etc. It has just made me realize this week how much everyone's schedule has to revolve around hers!

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. The long and short was that if I weren't working K could still nap and go to bed late/sleep late or she could skip naps and go down at 7. As that won't ever be the case I think we are just going to be in limbo for a while yet! I think that is usually the case with going from 2-1 and then none, you just have to take it on a day by day, case by case basis to get everyone the most sleep and Mama some sanity!

cAtWmN84

pb wrote:

Beckham is the worlds worst sleeper. He hasn't napped since he was 2. He goes to bed at 7-8 and wakes up at 5 am. If he naps for some odd reason, he won't go to sleep until 10-11 and still wake up at 5 am. It's just not good!

this sounds exactly like adri!

Lauran

Cruz stopped taking naps (for the most part) several months ago, but I think a lot of that is because I haven't been working so he can sleep as late as he wants in the morning. Typically he goes to bed around 7:30 and will wake up anywhere from 6:30-9. Once in awhile he crashes out on me by 6 PM, but will still sleep through the night. Once I go back to work, I am hoping for nap time to return!