This is my first time, so I'm just looking for what is typical with other people's children. Graeme - he'll be two years old on March 30 - is increasingly more-often-than-not staying awake for his nap. I leave him in there for upwards of 2 hours, and sometimes (yesterday) he falls asleep...sometimes (today) not. He's been in his crib talking now for almost two hours!!!
He did this a few weeks ago, then seemed to go back to taking naps...now, I'd say over the past week or so, he's taken a ration of 60/40 (60% awake, 40% took a nap).
When did your child stop taking naps? I plan on enforcing a "quiet time" up through the early elementary years with our children, but not sure whether I need to start offering books for him to look at quietly in his room or what. Sometimes he complains (cries) for attention, and I ignore it, so usually he just ends up sitting in his bed and talking.
Please share, tell me what your toddler/pre-schooler does, and if you have talked to other mommas about what their children do, I'm all ears!
8 comments:
Sarah Beth still takes naps, and she won't be three until May. She has gone through a few periods where she napped rarely, but then she went right back to taking naps. Sometimes those periods lasted a couple of weeks, and I thought she was giving up her naps. Like you, I leave her in her room for two hours whether or not she sleeps. Sometimes it's kind of nice (and I almost hate to admit it) when she doesn't nap because then she goes to bed early.
I hope this helps.
Izabella naps sometimes and then other times she doesn't. She has only napped about 4 times since we got here I think. I make her have some quiet time in her bed and if she doesn't sleep I just put her to bed an hour earlier. I wish she would be a consistant napper but she is not. When she doesn't nap she is fussy in the evening. A few months ago, she started napping again on our walks in Poland. It was so cold and she was so warm in her stroller she went right to sleep. Everything is new again to look at and the weather is pretty so she would rather play than sleep!! :) I kind of like putting her to bed early though. That gives me more time with Irek! :) Have a great day!
I planned on enforcing quiet times, too, but quickly fell out of the habit.
This is a good reminder to reintroduce them!
My first stopped taking naps when he was 3. My second has already weaned himself from them before his 2nd birthday. I can sometimes still get them both to nap if they had an especially busy morning, but that's rare.
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Interesting, thank you all for sharing! Glad to know this is not unique. Daddy is currently getting Graeme's pjs on so he can get to bed early...
I bet when he is outside more, and exerting himself both mentally and physically, he will need to rest more.Some days my 2 yr old sleeps some days he doesn't;)sigh***xoJayna
Sounds like you're doing a great job to me! Of course every child is different. Esther is still napping at 2 1/2, and Joshua and Abigail didn't give up their naps until they were at least 3, but that's just my children (so far). I know that plenty of other children quit napping a lot earlier than that. I think it's great that you plan on keeping a "quiet time" in the routine though. We do too, and it's not only helpful (and sometimes necessary!) for me, but it is for them as well. It helps to build their imaginations and helps them to learn how to occupy themselves. My oldest two are allowed to have a few books and toys at naptime now, and they have learned how to keep themselves busy for 2 to 3 hours. It gives me a nice break and time to get a good bit of work done.
Since Andrew is younger, I haven't reached that point yet as he still takes 2 two hour naps. I can tell you what Alana's kids have done, though. Kate is 6 1/2 and has to take naps on Wednesdays & Sundays. The other days she has quiet time in her room for at least an hour. (She is in first grade). Alex will be 5 in April. He still takes a one hour nap on most days, and has quiet time for 1-2 hours the other days. They stopped the long afternoon naps when they began to not be tired for bedtime--I think it was around 3 1/2 or 4. They went to one afternoon nap around 15-18 months. Sounds like you're on the right track!!
Lo and behold: Naps yesterday and today :) Thanks for the advice...I'll continue to put him down for naps, as it seems he still needs the sleep sometimes. Once we get him in his toddler bed, I'll probably allow him to have a syack of books by the bed to read if he likes.
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