5 year olds and naps

[peachsmama]

Anyone else's 5 year old still nap? It's getting to be more and more of a battle to get M to nap. But he's down right hateful by 6 if he doesnt. Idk if I keep trying or stop and work on his attitude in the evenings.

[wedding]

C officially dropped them about a month ago. He’s cranky towards bed time but tolerable. It’s more annoying not having that break during the day.

[vino]

B hasn’t napped since he was 3, but I think at any age when you do a sleep transition it’ll be rough for a bit. B is up from 6.30am-8pm, it takes all of 7 seconds for him to fall asleep most days.

[wineallthetime]

No nap here, L rarely naps either. I'm always in shock when I read about all the N13 kids who still nap.

[loony]

P hasn’t napped since 18 mo - 2 years and only if we’re driving for more than an hour.

And now my 3 year old only naps if we’re driving.

I am glad and not at the same time. At least now they’ll both take their tablets for “quiet time” for an hour if we’re home in the afternoons, but that’s like one day a week.

[guster]

No naps here since 2 1/2 for Josie, and it was spotty for Charlie after 2 1/2 (September), but he stopped completely before Christmas.
They have relatively early bedtimes, and no one really sleeps in past 730 (Charlie is the earlier riser, usually up by 6:45).
Would you consider skipping the nap and doing an earlier bedtime? I’m sure it’s difficult with you all sharing a room now.

[lfig]

S naps about 50% of the time still. But it’s glorious when she does! But if it’s a struggle with M, I would just try for an earlier bedtime and deal with a bit of crankiness until he adjusts fully.

[mwhip]

My kid only naps for certain people, I did not make that list. She will nap for FIL/SMIL, and occasionally for my dad. On the days she doesn't nap, like today, I just put her to bed about an hour earlier.

[klong11]

Cadence doesn't nap at home at all. At school they can get MAYBE 30 minutes out of her. Her teacher is going to be weaning all of the class off of them by the end of May to prepare them for kindergarten. Honestly, it makes bedtime easier, so I'm all for them being gone.

[peachsmama]

Feb 24, 2019 15:06:04 GMT -6 guster said:

No naps here since 2 1/2 for Josie, and it was spotty for Charlie after 2 1/2 (September), but he stopped completely before Christmas.
They have relatively early bedtimes, and no one really sleeps in past 730 (Charlie is the earlier riser, usually up by 6:45).
Would you consider skipping the nap and doing an earlier bedtime? I’m sure it’s difficult with you all sharing a room now.

That's the problem. In the new house we absolutely will. I think I'll just have to deal with the attitude until then.

[tgrimes]

M only naps at daycare. She stopped napping at home shortly after she turned 3.

[Sunny41]

E still naps on average 1.5hrs day. But really we tell him that it is quiet or sleep time just like at school. I think you can still tell him it's quiet time if you need it. Give him a book like a seek and find or something. But really you need into that house asap

[jewels]

Feb 24, 2019 16:35:16 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

M only naps at daycare. She stopped napping at home shortly after she turned 3.

+1. He naps about half the time at day care but never on the weekends unless he happens to pass out in the car.

I don’t think he needs it.

[tallb]

J naps an hour a day at school and only naps on weekends if it's a car nap. He goes to bed much easier on weekends at least. It's typically quiet time while N naps, so he plays by himself or watched something..mostly so we can get a break🤷

[joelies]

Colin obviously doesn't nap during the week because of kinder, and he rarely intentionally naps on the weekends. He does, however, pass out for little cat naps in the car after skiing, between birthday parties, etc. He actually falls asleep quite a bit in the car, far more than Chase ever has.

He had still been napping for 1 hour to 90 minutes immediately before school started - like, literally the day before. And he was an emotional wreck for AGES in the evenings because he was so exhausted. That was NOT a fun time.

[peachsmama]

Feb 24, 2019 19:34:41 GMT -6 joelies said:

Colin obviously doesn't nap during the week because of kinder, and he rarely intentionally naps on the weekends. He does, however, pass out for little cat naps in the car after skiing, between birthday parties, etc. He actually falls asleep quite a bit in the car, far more than Chase ever has.

He had still been napping for 1 hour to 90 minutes immediately before school started - like, literally the day before. And he was an emotional wreck for AGES in the evenings because he was so exhausted. That was NOT a fun time.

Well shoot. Guess we need to phase them out by fall.

[peachsmama]

I love nap time... it's my happy time lol.

[trtlcrzy]

H naps only if she isn’t feeling well or I make her take one because she’s whiny/crabby. S naps every day and, normally, H does quiet time in her room with her kindle.

[chrisy01]

So naps are hit and miss here and at school. However he is starting to finally understand he at least has to be quiet during nap time because he kept getting in trouble for talking/being disruptive at school. We try to continue nap at home but some days, like yesterday, we were out and about during nap time.

I won’t let him watch any tv if he doesn’t lay down/be quiet during nap time. After 10 minutes he’s usually asleep. But if he’s refusing I guess his punishment is both our punishments.

[flamingo]

Feb 24, 2019 14:45:31 GMT -6 wineallthetime said:

No nap here, L rarely naps either. I'm always in shock when I read about all the N13 kids who still nap.

This is us, B dropped them while I was pregnant with C (so b/n 2.5-3). He sleeps 7:30-6:30/7. 

C started fighting bedtime after the holidays and is only napping 50% of the time, I'd say...otherwise we just do some 'quiet time'. Maybe you could try that, @peach, with a book or whatnot. 

I agree with vino that there's a transition as they get used to it. From about 5:30-6:30 C is in a mood but a bath typically rights her spirits and then she goes to bed easily at 7. 

[nam2013]

Ds sadly stopped napping around 3.5. Dd (2y9mo) still naps, but is starting to refuse more often. She kinda does okay if she doesn’t nap. It would make road tripping a lot easier if she’s has dropped her nap by then, but the hour of peace now is enough to not push it .

ETA both kids go up at 06.30, have a bath & are in bed at 7. Ds falls asleep within seconds, dd will muck about for around 20min. Both kids are normally awake around 06.30-07.00.

[wedding]

Feb 24, 2019 16:17:19 GMT -6 peachsmama said:

Feb 24, 2019 15:06:04 GMT -6 guster said:

No naps here since 2 1/2 for Josie, and it was spotty for Charlie after 2 1/2 (September), but he stopped completely before Christmas.
They have relatively early bedtimes, and no one really sleeps in past 730 (Charlie is the earlier riser, usually up by 6:45).
Would you consider skipping the nap and doing an earlier bedtime? I’m sure it’s difficult with you all sharing a room now.

That's the problem. In the new house we absolutely will. I think I'll just have to deal with the attitude until then.

Why can't he go to bed earlier now?

[mwhip]

I WISH someone would make me take a nap every afternoon...these kids have no idea how lucky they are!

[peachsmama]

Feb 25, 2019 7:02:10 GMT -6 wedding said:

Feb 24, 2019 16:17:19 GMT -6 peachsmama said:

That's the problem. In the new house we absolutely will. I think I'll just have to deal with the attitude until then.

Why can't he go to bed earlier now?

Theres really no reason he can't. We've started trying to prepare them to transition for the new house and being in there own rooms. So we lay them down around 8:15-8:30 and they're usually out by 9. Before we started this we all laid down together at 9. But they've taken well to the new routine. I just need to get my butt in gear and make dinner earlier so we can get them down earlier.

On school and sitter days, he naps no problem. It's mainly weekends and when hes with me during the week.

[peachsmama]

Feb 25, 2019 7:22:32 GMT -6 mwhip said:

I WISH someone would make me take a nap every afternoon...these kids have no idea how lucky they are!

That's what I tell them!

[lfig]

I am a firm believer that even rest/quiet time is greatly beneficial if they don’t nap. I’d go for laying in bed with a few books for 30-45 minutes.

[cagoldi]

Never unless we’re in the car for awhile or he’s sick. He quit napping several months before his fourth birthday.

[flamingo]

This is very timely b/c a child sleep and behavior coach came to our MOPS meeting and talked this morning! I'll try to summarize some of her tips in case it helps anyone here:

-Children need two main things: to feel significant (within the household/family) and to feel loved. She discussed when you want to make a change, having a 'family meeting' and laying out your new expectations to help gain the child's buy-in. Give them tasks/chores (feeding a pet, picking up toys, helping with recycling) so that they feel capable and like part of the family. Give (limited) options to help them feel valued/included. For ex, during meal planning for the week, you could say, "on Monday, should we have spaghetti or tacos?"
-instead of saying something like, "Don't get out of bed and come to mom's room," say: "Tonight you'll stay in your bed until morning." Use the action that you want them to do; our brain is wired to kind of ignore the "don't" (same applies to behavior...instead of "Don't hit your brother", try "Keep your hands to yourself.")

Sleep specific:
Biologically, the body is set to rest b/n 12-1 pm, so that is the ideal time for children to nap b/c the sleep they get then will be the most restorative.
-If a child is in the process of dropping naps and is a wreck late in the day, bump up bedtime to help them get over the hump. You can do so by as much as an hour if needed.
-naps should be phased out by 3.5-4 at the latest.
-2 y.o.'s need to be in bed b/n 6-7:30. 3-4 y.o.'s by 7:30. 5's by 8.
-also during the nap-dropping process, try an hour of quiet time in their room. Lights off, no screens; they can look at books in bed or play quietly. If the child still needs the nap, they'll often fall asleep. If not, they recharged and you got a break
-Set expectations for bedtime behavior/manners during the day. Follow through at night. For ex) for a child who is waking up and trying to get into bed with mom and dad at night, you would say during the day, "tonight you're going to stay in your bed until morning. If you come to our room, I'm going to take you back to bed without talking". If child gets up in the middle of the night, follow thru on that.
-Routine is critical (again, establish during the day)...so at night, when child is asking for extra books, or more songs, you can point to your routine and say, "We've already read our two books/sang our song/etc tonight. We'll read more tomorrow after you get a good night's sleep." 

[wedding]

-Routine is critical (again, establish during the day)...so at night, when child is asking for extra books, or more songs, you can point to your routine and say, "We've already read our two books/sang our song/etc tonight. We'll read more tomorrow after you get a good night's sleep."

C will turn on the water works sometimes when I say that and I can't stand to see his little face crumble and leave him crying. I give into this more often than I should at the end of the day.