Dropping the nap

[Yazzie]

Hi Girls,

DS, now 2.7 years old has been recently dropping his nap, occasionally, like 40% of the week ( not sure it's really occasional  ), he usually naps for around 30~45 mins at daycare and we have 12ish hr nights, however on weekends, I try and let him get a longer nap, usually around 1.5~2 hours.

I got a note today from his daycare saying that napping at this age is no longer a necessity, and that children are more inclined towards exploring the world, so although this is somehow true, I'm reluctant towards letting him drop the nap since he gets too tired, and I'm not sure I can always guarantee early nights, so wyd?

[Tweakster]

If he's regularly doing 12 hr nights I would tend to agree with them, however, it's not really up to them to decide what age the nap should be done by, each child is different.  How is he at bedtime? Does he fight you?  Any NW?  Has he ever done no nap days?  How did he handle them?

I don't think it is really worth keeping it if your nights are good at 12 hrs and he's happy in himself and only managing a 30-45 min nap at school.  BUT you know that early bedtime will be key for this.  If you notice that your nights start to drop and he gets cranky and OT, then you will have to reconsider the nap or how committed you can be to an early bedtime.  Is he high sleep needs?  I recall he's Spirited right??

We're just about to drop F's nap too at school, here's my thread:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=226814.0

 

[Nauvoo]

DD just turned 3 last month and will nap maybe 2 times a week.  I also find that she is not ready to completely drop it even with 12+ hours a night.  It seems most often her naps will occur Sundays and Mondays and occasionally during the week if she happens to wake early one day or just be tired in general.  After a week of no naps though come Saturday she is needing a nap but usually doesn't get it because we are out and about doing things.  I also would think it depends on how your LO is acting in general.  With DD it is really really obvious when her behavior is affected by OT.

[Yazzie]

He can sometimes be super cranky with no nap, and other days like today be a trooper! - he is spirited Wendy, and a bit touchy as well, with a dash of angel - yes he does keep me guessing

I think part of me can't let go of the nap, god knows I worked real hard to get here, and of course am afraid I won't always be able to do a 06.30 ish bedtime, with my schedule. He is becoming more and more reluctant to go to sleep, naps, bedtime anything and keeps nagging that he doesn't want to sleep, but as soon as he's in his bad he's off in a blink of an eye, he just gets too caught up, and I'm sure this happens at school.

I will try waking him up a bit earlier, so that maybe he's tired enough at nap time, although I'm worried they might be dropping naps of the whole class, in which case I'll be kissing naps goodbye!

We'll see, and good luck Wendy