Recently Took Away the Binky, Now NO NAP...help

Every child is different so it will be a call you have to make as you know him best. At three it may just be that naps are over, a hard reality to face but it may be time. My daughter was 3 when she stopped taking naps, although, she would stay in her room and look at books or do something quiet. So we changed from nap time to quiet time. Some days she would fall asleep and some days she was ready to come out of her room when "quiet time" was over. My son, naps were done at 2yrs old. There was no quiet time, it did not work for him, but earlier bedtime did. So you just have to try and guide them into what you prefer but be prepared that the schedule may have to change.

He is three, right? May just be time to give up the naps. My middle child would not nap at two. I 'fought' him on the idea for a few weeks and then decided to just put him to bed earlier in the evening. This worked well for us. Our evening routine went smoother, he fell to sleep faster, and I did not have to struggle to put him down for a nap.

Good luck!

You could always enforce "quiet time" instead. You could tell him he has to stay in his room and be quiet for X amount of time. Sometimes, they'll fall asleep on their own then.

Try to get him to love a blanket of a stuffed animal not too big though.Just so he still has a feeling of securaty.

My oldest gave up naps at 3, the middle son at about 2 1/2 b/c big brother was up and he wanted to be too. The youngest napped until 4---would even fall asleep at preschool nap time. Some kids just need more sleep.

We did quiet time when naps were over, also.

And on the plus side, bedtimes are earlier and more evening time was for me and my husband. I'll bet with 3 hour naps, bedtime was pretty late.

It's a little late now, but we slowly and very gradually got off paci together.
A day or 2 after 3rd bday, we started talking about how he'd be getting too big for paci soon. And just mentioned it every once in a while for a couple weeks. The I cut a tiny little piece off the end of paci. Not at the base (choking hazard) but right off the nipple end.
I did this all three times.
Each kid had this weird look on his face when paci went in the mouth at nap time, but I said, "well, we knew the day was coming when you'd be too big for paci." Two of them gave up paci in a couple days because it felt weird in the mouth. The third boy, THE most stubborn boy in the world, would still not give it up so I cut a little more off the same place every couple weeks. He finally threw it away! My mom came to visit one day around nap/ quiet time and asked my littlest, "Don't you use paci for nap anymore?" And he said, "No Grandma. I too big for paci. I broke it because I am too strong for paci."

I'm another one in favor of quiet time. I put my 3 y/o in his room with a kitchen timer (the old fashioned ones that 'tick') set for one hour. I tell him he can get up when the timer goes off. The 'ticking' serves two purposes. One, it soothes him to sleep (white noise) and two, because he can hear it, he doesn't have to worry about whether or not he missed the buzzer. If it's still ticking, it's still quiet time!

Yup & Yup...I have/had the exact same problem with taking the binky away! Its been about 2 months since, and he has no problems at bedtime & no problems asking for it. Naptime is another story & he's waking about 2 hrs earlier too!

I've stuck with it and I'd have to say this past week, just when I was about to give up on the whole napping thing, he has gone down for a nap for a good 2-3hrs! Can't tell you if its a fluke or if this battle is over with. But I have a 17mth old who FINALLY is taking more than a 1 hr nap so having the 3 yr old up and making a noise is not an option at this point.

I bsically give him about 45 minutes to play with his trains or blocks, read a book or color. At that point I go in and tell him its time to lie down and close his eyes. Sometimes he did sometimes he didn't! BUT he did stay in his room until his brother woke up! I wouldn't give up so easily if by the afternoon you're thinking he SOOO needs a nap!

My son's problem is that he can't sit still when he's tired (or at least doesn't want too) The binky seemed to allow him to do that? Taking that away he fights sleep to no end. A few times during these past few months I have physically, but gently, held his legs still and scratched his back. He was out in 5 minutes flat.

Hang in there I know its tough!

I know exactly what you are dealing with D.! Only two if my 5 children used the pacifier and I had to "cold turkey" it to get it away from them. With my 1st dd, it wasn't so bad when we took it from her at age 2.. With my 5th, though, it was a different story. She ended up having it to age 3, too. We replaced it with a special "lovie/silky burp cloth". She cried at first about needing it for naps, but I would just re-iterate that she had her new ballet lovie. There were MANY MANY times that I was just ready to give her the pacifier back, BUT I just stuck to my guns.

Maybe you can find a new thing that is comforting to him. My girls always like "mommy's scent" on their lovies. They would ask me to rub their lovie on my neck and arms so my scent would be on it. Sometimes they would ask for me to spray a little perfume on it. With regards to naps, he may be weaning from them as this is normal for the age.

My almost 5 year old takes her 1 hour quiet time (on her bed with books) and will sometimes end up falling asleep. In our household it has always been the rule that there is either nap time or quiet alone time; regardless of the age (13, 11, 9, 7, 5). I homeschool my two oldest and two youngest, so we all need that "get away from one another" break!

As for getting them to stay in bed for their nap/quiet time, which is something that they really do need, it is a matter of obedience. What I did with my first two children was have a chart right outside their room because they would get up so many times when they went to bed at night. If they stayed in bed they got a smiley face, if not, an "x". After their quiet time they earned a small treat or something like a food treat or extra computer time or mommy time; something that was highly motivating to them. Let them give you some ideas.

Once they started getting smiley faces for longer periods of time, they got the treat at the end of a three day or 7 day period. You make the goal very attainable in the beginning and slowly make it a little longer as they learn what is expected of them. In the beginning I used to youngest settled in bed, read her one story, rub her back and then leave the room. He may get up a million times at first, but the key is to lovingly, patiently put him back into their bed, tell them that they need this rest time so they can have more fun later, and that they just need to obey mommy.

Perseverance, D.! I hope this helps. Please feel free to e-mail me if you feel the need to chat personally! ____@____.com

Good luck!
C.

We took my son's binky at 2-1/2 and it was the same thing. It took him about 4 months to fully "recover" (learn to fall asleep without it).
I figured that he needed to learn all over to fall asleep on his own, so for a week, I skipped his nap. This way he was good and tired at nighttime. (When I resumed naps, I put him down 45 minutes later than normal so he would be tired). I also made him sleep in my bed for naps - no toys in there :)
At night (if he was having a hard time getting to sleep, or constantly making excuses to get up), I would lie down with him until he fell asleep. I gradually stayed shorter and shorter until I didn't lie down with him at all.
This was my last attempt after 3 or 4 months of trying everything to get him to stop getting out of bed a bunch, crying, etc.
I think you could take away the nap, and put him to bed earlier, but I knew that my son still needed the nap - he would fall asleep during cartoons and in the car almost every day. Also, my oldest son napped until 4-1/2.
Good luck. It's definitely not an easy transition - for you or for him!

First, I admit I bribed my DD to have a nap by offering a lollipop after rest time when we took away the binky. It worked for us. When she stopped wanting to nap we started rest time rules. She has to stay and have a quiet time in bed for 1 hour ( she can see the numbers on the clock 2:00). Some times she sleeps, sometimes she doesn't. t know lots of moms who allow quiet play for an hour, whatever works. Don't give up on expecting a rest peered even if he doesn't sleep. You both need it.

Mine stopped napping right around then. Now he is a little over 3.5yrs and if he falls asleep in the car or something, he might sleep for like 3 hrs, but he will not nap if we are home, and I am ok with it. In fact, now if he falls asleep in the car, I only let him nap for about an hour bc with no nap I can have him in bed at 8pm with no issues, he's tired:) I know some kids will nap longer, but I know a lot of kids won't. I started testing it, once naps became and issue. I would go to the store around nap time and take the long way home and see if he fell asleep on the way home. He started staying up so I knew that naps were a thing of the past. He has been through a major change so I wouldn't press the nap thing if it were me, maybe let him takes books in bed and tell him he can read, or make that the time of day he can watch a favorite show and have a snack. If he stops napping, it will be ok. :)

D.,
he may, he may not. You may simply have to stay with him to ensure he gets some rest time. some days he will not need rest - and enforcing something not needed is nothealthy. But not enforcing something needed is not healthy either. Forcing either one is well, cruel. and crying it out causes brain damage in infants (gah I wish I had that link!) so I can only imagine it is not going to be healthy for a 3 year old.

Look up Rudolph Steiner and his timeline for how children interact with the world and you will see more of what I am talking about.
good luck,
M.

PS:my 3.5 year old, no binky, only naps 2-3 days out of 7. It's rought with a newborn, rougher when the newborn starts to shed naps because older brother is 'LOUD' with him. but binky or no, the nap will eventually go away. be gentle with the process. and you are fantastically LUCKY with the binky removal process IMO. FANTASTIC little boy you have there!

3 is a pretty normal sort of age for a child to drop daytime naps - both my kids stopped daytime sleeping around then. You may find he will sleep longer at night now - maybe try an earlier bedtime if you find he is a bit tired, rather than trying to get him to nap in the daytime.

This isn't an unusual age to stop napping, my oldest stopped right around her third bday. However, if you are at home with your child, I would encourage you to continue having a quiet hour, where he must stay in his bed/room, resting, looking at books, playing with stuffed animals.