S/O naps - when you "don't let them nap"

[jfh]

I don't get this. I mean, I get the idea - if they take their last nap too late, they won't go to bed on time. But if Kai needs a late nap he NEEDS A LATE NAP or he's a total nightmare. I would need a cattle prod to follow that advice. And if I really force the issue, then he needs to go to bed so early that he's up for the day at 4am. Am I missing a secret, or is it just that some kids are more capable of this than others?

BTW he rarely takes a late nap. But when he does, I don't see any way around it.

[Deleted]

I let her take a nap when she wants to. I try to make sure she is up 3 hours before bedtime but If not I just make the evening nap shorter. Luckily since she's not in daycare anymore she hasn't needed evening naps and it makes bedtime much easier.

[mumegs]

Macy sometimes takes late naps and i just wake her up by like 7 usually, otherwise she will never go to bed.

[jfh]

I guess I need to be more serious about waking him up. He's just so grumpy if I wake him up from a nap, then he's often grumpy for the whole evening.

[Deleted]

Thad is pretty nap adaptable. So, I can keep him from taking a nap but it isn't fun.

[silverjm]

The latest I will put him down for a nap is 5:15. If he does take a late nap I'll wake him up by 6:15 so he has time to eat dinner and play before we start bedtime routine around 7:15-7:30. Sometimes he refuses his afternoon nap and then he does get crabby, but I won't start bedtime any earlier than 7:00. I just have to be more hands on with him and keep him entertained. Micky Mouse is also helpful.

[lauranicole91]

I can usually avoid a whole nap by letting her take a power nap on my boob for like 10mins. Then she's all set. DH doesn't have that luxury though, so when I'm at work and she NEEDS that late nap he just makes sure she's awake by 7.

[laurack]

Matilda often falls asleep on the way home from daycare now, or if not then, she falls asleep on me when I nurse her then (at about 6pm) I let her sleep because she is a NIGHTMARE if I don't. I wake her after 30 minutes or so and even then she is hugely grumpy from being woken up. And then she won't go to bed until 9ish.

She only takes one nap at daycare but she needs two naps a day!

[jfh]

Apr 8, 2013 9:18:02 GMT -5 laurack said:

Matilda often falls asleep on the way home from daycare now, or if not then, she falls asleep on me when I nurse her then (at about 6pm) I let her sleep because she is a NIGHTMARE if I don't. I wake her after 30 minutes or so and even then she is hugely grumpy from being woken up. And then she won't go to bed until 9ish.

She only takes one nap at daycare but she needs two naps a day!

This is exactly how it is for us. Not every day, but often.

[Deleted]

I feel like a lot of us are in weird nap territory. Thad does best with one long middle of the day nap. But, the only way for that to happen is if he has mega stimulation in the morning and a good nights sleep. So, most days he takes a long early nap and then fights his afternoon nap.

He is a one nap kid with a two nap problem.

[laurack]

her daycare nap is often 30 minutes too. So I feel like I HAVE to let her sleep on the way home/after work. What baby takes a 30 minute nap ALL DAY?!! aaah

on a good day it is an hour.

I just feel like I only have the evenings with her and she's no fun when she's all grumpy and miserable, so I'd rather let her sleep and then stay up later than struggle through a couple hours of her being a PITA before putting her in bed earlier.

[bebeetmoi]

Apr 8, 2013 9:08:55 GMT -5 @thadsrad said:

Thad is pretty nap adaptable. So, I can keep him from taking a nap but it isn't fun.

Same here. She NEEDS her morning nap, but her afternoon nap can go the wayside if necessary. She sleeps better at night if she gets both naps in, but sometimes it just isn't possible.

[jfh]

I agree @thadsrad I think they're just at a weird age. At daycare he only takes one nap, but on the weekends he clearly needs/wants two naps. Sometimes after daycare he's fine, but if his one nap started early, he needs a power nap when he gets home. I feel like he's not clearly a one-napper or a two-napper yet. I'm always amazed by people who can make plans based on their kid's naptime, because for us it could be a 10am and 3pm nap, or it could be one 12pm nap, or it could be an 11am and a 4 or 5pm nap. And each nap could be 25 minutes or it could be an hour and 45. HTF am I supposed to plan around that??

[formerlyllizzyb]

On a normal day, the VERY latest I will let him be asleep is 4, because he goes to bed at 7. It's best if he's up by 3 or 3:30. Occasionally he'll fall asleep in the car if we're out running errands btwn 4-6, but that's really rare. We're normally always home during that time frame.

Say he only took a catnap from 1-1:30...I would just put him to bed at 6:30 or so. I wouldn't do a late afternoon nap, unless we were going somewhere that evening (like a dinner out) and needed him to be cheerful.

ETA: We're still very firmly in the two naps camp. Kid gets up too early to go to one nap.

[skiesthelimit]

I will let X take a late nap. Some days he skips his afternoon nap at dc, and when I get home from work I nurse him and he will fall asleep in my arms. If he does I let him sleep. He usually naps form 30-45minutes then he's up, has dinner and he's still usually in bed by 7:30pm. If I didn't let him nap he'd be a nightmare. And it's a great excuse for me to sit on the couch and play Candy Crush while he naps on me and DH makes dinner. Win-Win!

[bigapple]

Carter's been a nap-fighter his whole life, so we're thankful he's finally settled into one long nap each day. I don't let him nap within five hours of bedtime or he'll NEVER go to sleep. The few times he's napped later, he's been manic until after midnight, so it's worth it to me to deal with grumpiness until bedtime to avoid that.

[carawestt]

I'm with you, if Lincoln needs a nap he takes one. Like yesterday, he was a nightmare at 5 so he took a nap until 6. He was still in bed just before 8, so late naps don't mess with his schedule too much.

[SteelCity44]

I think we got through this awkward stage of nap/no nap after "school." Once he got his one nap/day routine down, he was fine at night. But if he's sick or teething, and I can tell that he's just off, then I'll let him take a late nap. He napped like crap this weekend for various reasons. I let him take a nap at 4 last night. I knew there was a chance he was down for the night or that he'd wake up a little later. He woke up at 5:30 ready for dinner and play time. He was still back sleepily in bed by 8. I still go with the flow, but I remember that change to one nap being really rough in the evening for awhile.

[Deleted]

I don't let Cam take a late nap. It will screw with his bed time sleep, and his bedtime sleep is amazing so I am not going to even mess with it, haha. The latest I'll let him sleep is 5:30. Like, if he went to sleep at 4, and is still sleeping by 5:30, I'll wake him. The other day we were out and about and didn't get home until like, 4. He was tired, but by the time he could have went down for a nap, it was 5:10. I said screw it, and kept him awake. He is crabby, but not a nightmare.. so we can deal. Usually after dinner he perks up and gets more energy and he's good until bedtime. But if thats the case, then I'll put him down to bed a little early.

[katie]

If she needs a nap she takes one and I don't wake her up at a specific time. At one point she was napping after DC until like 8 or 9. But she would get up, take a bath, bottle and back to sleep. Now she doesn't take an after DC nap, not counting the 10 min ride home if she falls asleep. As soon as we get home we are prepping dinner (it's 6), then she plays for a bit, then bath around 7. So there really isn't a lot of time. She usually takes 2 naps at DC, noonish and 3 or 4 ish. I count on that second nap for a decent evening. On weekends she will take 3 naps sometimes. She is moving to toddler room in 2 weeks which is 1 nap scheduled from 12-2. I am very scared of how she will be after DC... But in general I have never been one to wake her up or prevent a nap. She was a little monster with colic so any sleep back then was ok with me. And now, I don't want to wake that beast

[christidee]

I think every kid is different with this. We don't let jake sleep past 4. But, this rule is very flexible depending on his day. If he is still napping at 4 and its been a good day, we will wake him up. On really crappy days where he is exhausted, cranky and won't go down, I will nurse him to sleep and just hold him while he is napping his second nap so that he gets some sleep in. On those days we let him cat nap until about 4:30.

[imimahoney]

Even if Ari is a mess at 4:45 the kid won't nap past 4. We just deal with the insane fussiness and put him to bed 30 minutes early.

[hass2001]

The latest I put Sam down for a nap is 5. She'll only nap for 45 min so she's up before 6 and will usually go down by 9 if this happens. If she is refusing a nap or we just don't get to it, I'll put her to bed early, 7 or 7:30. It wont mess with her wake up time, she's normally up between 7 and 8 in the am.

[biblionerd]

I've stopped letting Fiona take her evening nap most days. I could NEVER have withheld a nap from DS if he wanted one because he was a terror and let you know when he was unhappy. Fiona, for the most part, is pretty easygoing. She'll grump and be fussier than usual, but rarely gets inconsolable. I don't feel great about it, but her schedule has gotten so messed up at this age. She's wanted to go too long in between naps and then sleeps to long and doesn't go to bed on time, etc. so either way she's fussing about one thing or the other. I figure this way is the lesser of two evils. It's also one of those "sorry you're the second and have to do it this way because I have two of you now" things.