What time in the evening does a nap constitute earl bedtime?

[MarciaMSPT]

We are starting to dabble with my 3 y/o falling asleep for his normal 1:30 nap later and later in the day.  What I've learned since this started about 3 months ago is that wether I cap it or not, he still won't fall asleep at bedtime until about 8:45 or 9pm. 

I'm getting this gut feeling that he is generally tired.  I remember learning that nap time and bedtime sleep come from different parts of the brain.  So, is there a time in the evening where a "nap" just rolls right into bedtime?  So, to be clear, I'm not talking about early bedtime, I'm talking about if my little guy were to "nap" (finally) at 5pm and then wakes up 45 to an hour later and is hungry, would it be likely that he will still fall asleep at his normal bedtime or even right after he eats?   Would that 5pm nap fall into the bedtime sleep part of the brain?

Am I making sense? 

Marcia

[Lolly]

I'm getting this gut feeling that he is generally tired.  I remember learning that nap time and bedtime sleep come from different parts of the brain.  So, is there a time in the evening where a "nap" just rolls right into bedtime?  So, to be clear, I'm not talking about early bedtime, I'm talking about if my little guy were to "nap" (finally) at 5pm and then wakes up 45 to an hour later and is hungry, would it be likely that he will still fall asleep at his normal bedtime or even right after he eats?   Would that 5pm nap fall into the bedtime sleep part of the brain?

Am I making sense? 

Marcia

If he isn't wanting to nap until 5pm and going to sleep late after an earlier nap then I would say that it's time to drop the nap and have an early bedtime instead. There is no way either on mine would have gone to sleep until way too late if they named at 5, with my DD she dropped the nap by 2.5 and even a 10 min power snooze in the car at that time meant sleep time was 10pm or later.

I would make sure that he had a good meal in the middle of the day and then offer evening meal around the 4.30/ 5pm point and do bed time for 6/6.30 depending on what time he wakes in the morning. Once he adjusts you can move bedtime later.

I don't think you can reasonably expect a 3 year old to nap at 5pm and it not have an impact on night sleep - there just won't be enough A time for him to be tired for night sleep. We found that getting the longest night sleep was much better than a nap and shorter night.

HTH!

Laura

[MarciaMSPT]

So, he's NOT napping at 5pm... that was just a hypothetical... but he's not falling asleep for his afternoon nap until almost 2:30 or 3:00 now... which really messes up the BT...

Do you suggest I do a cold turkey nap drop and EBT?  Is that what I hear you saying?

[jessmum46]

Just as an idea - when DD wasn't sleeping until that time of day we just did a 20 minute catnap (in the car if poss - she was much easier to wake there than in bed) and then pushed through to bedtime.  May be a touch easier than a total nap drop?

[MarciaMSPT]

Yep... always have the car for those forced and manipulated naps!  I'm thankful to live on a gravel road that has a loop in it as well...so I can drive 2 mph and still get what I need without much waste of fuel etc...

[binxyboo]

My second child, when she was about 2.5 or so, would often fall asleep for a nap at 4pm and sleep for an hour. She went straight to bed around 8:30 pm without a fuss for quite some time. Totally unlike my other two children. So, it is unusual, but just to let you know it can work for some children to take a late nap without it affecting bedtime.