Support for dropping the last nap age 2-3 yrs

[OliverRowland]

Thanks Niknlily....how quickly did you shorten your lo's nap time?

[NiknLily]

I actually never had to shorten them dramatically as Lily only ever slept an average of 1.5hrs which she dropped herself down to 1.15hrs then to 1hr.  For us it was just that she extended her A times so nap got later, ended later then she started messing about at bedtime.  So I had to start waking her no later than 2pm and push bedtime to 8pm.  Most of Lily's pre-nap dropping involved her skipping naps here and there which slowly increased in frequency.  We are down to 2 naps a month on average now.

[OliverRowland]

wow!  was it tough to read her and know how to handle it?  how do you know when she needs that nap now?  does she still have a "nap time" or quiet time?

[NiknLily]

yes it was tough!! What I used to do was just try to have her in bed 1hr early on days she dropped her nap.  Fortunetly she is textbook/angel so even on days when she dropped her nap she wasn't to hard to deal with.  Starting preschool last september probably didn't help as she couldn't get a nap on tuesdays and thursdays so she got used to missing those days regularly.  Over last few months early nights stopped working they resulted in ew's because her overall sleep requirements dropped to closer to 12hrs a day, which she does at night so any nap she does take makes for a later bedtime and shorter night and actually she gets more tired from this than not napping, its just occasionally she does need to take that nap. She still does quiet time almost every day in her room for 45mins, longer if I can get her to stay in there and not just keep talking to me over the monitor!

[OliverRowland]

so she occ. takes a nap when she is in her room for quiet time.  when she does this is it because she has had a busy morning or up the night before?

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

I've been trying really hard not to join this board but I think I might have to! 

For the last couple of months now Enfys has been first taking ages to fall asleep for her nap and now taking ages to fall asleep at night.  Like an hour to fall asleep for her nap and at bedtime.  For ages her routine was
Wake 6.30
Nap 1-3
Bedtime 7.45 asleep by 8.

Now it's
Wake 6.15
Down for nap 12.30.  Sleep 1.30-3 (I wake her)
Bedtime 7.30.  Asleep 8.30 or 9   I really cannot do bedtime any earlier than 7.30 as I don't get home from work until 6.45

She's actually having less than 11 hours' sleep per day now.  She's at nursery one day a week and doesn't nap there and maybe one other day she won't nap either.  Bed time is a bit easier on those nights in that she falls asleep quicker. 

[OliverRowland]

it's getting worse here!  we were doing ok with 1hr 15min naps.  But then we went to the zoo on sunday.  ds woke at 6:30am (bearable) and off we went to the zoo (90min drive).  we had planned to stay t'ill after lunch  and hope for a nap in the car on the way home.  I had no idea if it would work as he had never napped anywhere other than the bed.  But instaed we left earlier and ate lunch in the car and kept him awake t'ill we got home.  He was super tired in the car but stayed awake on his own.  I didn't get him to sleep until 1:45pm and woke him at 2:45.  He was a bear when i woke him and it took him 30min to settle down .  He was in bed that night at 7:30pm.  He was wide awake and babbling t'ill 8:30pm, when i went in to snuggle.  He fell asleep with a couple of minutes.  The next morning and mornings since he has been awake before 6am (5:45).  Yesterday i shortened his nap to 60min instead of 75min and still no change this am.  I will keep him at 60min for a couple more days.  But not sure what to do next as his total sleep is decreasing and I am afraid to shorten nap more with reduced night sleep.  I think i am stuck in that tough zone...needs to drop the nap but also needs that nap with less night sleep! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[katemom]

Hi, I'm by no means qualified to say for sure what's going on with your lo - but I'm in this ick zone with you (mine is 2.5)...

Does this happen often, when he goes down late for a nap, or skips it altogether?  How does he usually handle it?  I ask because this rarely happens here, but when it does, it throws my lo out of whack and takes several days to sort out.  It's weird, you think they are less sensitive to OT by now, but it some ways they are just as fragile as a newborn in my opinion because they are just learning and processing so much all the time.  Maybe the excitement of the zoo combined with the later nap pushed him a bit too far?  That would totally happen for us, anyway.  We were out late last Saturday night with the kids, and she had a short night, and I therefore put her down earlier for her usual nap before the OT started to stockpile.  Then she has a bit more time to fit in a longerish nap than usual, and still have plenty of time to get tired again.  Maybe I'm wrong in your case, but since you mentioned the zoo/late nap it just reminded me of our recent issues that start out like that.  Anyway, watch him.  If you think he's building OT, go for earlier bedtime and naptime and give it a try.  If you're getting early wake-ups anyway, what's the worse that could happen?  Sorry for your troubles, it's so aggravating sometimes!

katemom

[OliverRowland]

Hey, thanks for the insight!  this is the first time for us.  i have always been a stickler for times!  this was new territory.  i know he is OT cause he is just unbearable right now!  he's not usually like that and tonight i saw someone else's child!  maybe i should have let him sleep longer at nap today instaed of waking him up at 60min (it was tough to get him out of bed!).  maybe i will try an earlier nap time and plan to wake him at the same time so he can sort himself out and then try reducing nap time again.
fingers crossed!

[OliverRowland]

omg! i thought for sure ds would fall asleep super fast tonight.  but NO!  while doing our snuggles before i leave the room, he could barely keep his eyes open.  that was 7:30.  he didn't fall asleep t'ill 8:20!

[NiknLily]

Oliver Rowland
No guarantee if it will work but in your situation, with him waking so early I would try a nap at 12pm-1pm then bed by 7pm.  Hopefully that would give him the chance to catch up on dome sleep and his mornings might get a little later again.

[OliverRowland]

woohoo! he slept t'ill 7am this am!  and i have my angel back!

[OliverRowland]

ok, so back to 6:00am wake up today!  when he woke later yesterday he was much tougher to get to sleep at nap time.  u don't think if i try to get him to sleep earlier at nap and bed he may wake even earlier tomorrow am?

[NiknLily]

if he wakes early you can try for an early nap/bed if he wakes normal time say 7am, then I would do a 1pm 1hr nap and try for a 7.30pm bedtime.  thats what I'd do as a starting point and see how it goes from there.

[Sarahboosmom]

Hi there!  Okay so I was here a while ago and got some great advice.  I hope I don't jinx myself by posting this!!!!! 

However, the last 2 weeks we have had a 2 hour nap everyday in a row!   

So I'm hoping that all these months of re-inforcing the nap is paying off!  I worked on two things

Earlier naptime: moved from 2 pm back up to 12:45 pm (even Noon or 12:30 when needed)

Longer wind down and repetition of the naptime rules. 

However as the weather is warming up, she's getting to play outside alot more now in the mornings.  I'm thinking that this is also a big factor.  She has so much energy, even just 30 minutes outside to just let loose seems to keep her satisfied. 

She is very good at repeating the rules for naptime, even on the car ride home from her daycare!!!  She is now asking to go to night night and informing me when she's tired. 

The great news is our attitude has GREATLY improved as a result of her not skipping her naps.  I'm also impressed with her more grown up approach to her naps.  I've tried to point out that mommy takes a nap (I'm preggers with #2 so I like to nap!), older kids at her daycare still nap (she actually saw this one day) and so do the babies.  So I think she now thinks that everyone naps, 

But it is working!  We even went on vacation a few weekends back and she faithfully took her naps in the hotel, of course we completely wore her out! 

So for those who are struggling, if I can help a spirited one get back on track and ASK for her naps, you can stick with it!  DD is 2 years 7 months old.

Good luck!  Keep on Whispering!