A Simple question:
How old are your children and what does their sleep schedule look like?
A little history:
Currently attempting to change my soon to be five year old (in May) son's sleeping schedule and looking for some ideas. He wakes up ridiculously early (well, in my book anyway - I am a night owl and I HATE mornings, LOL!) around 6am. This is after falling asleep anywhere between 9:30 and 10:30pm the night before. He typically has a nap from around 2 until 4pm. However, for the last 5 days he has not had a nap - just trying it out to see how it would affect him. We've made sure to have him in bed, lights out, by 8pm and he has definitely been falling asleep earlier! (which is great!) He is still getting up at 6am though and I feel that's he's not getting enough sleep as he's been a very short fuse since we started this experiment. Should he got to bed even earlier? Should we still do nap every day and only let him sleep for a shortened amount of time? He goes to pre-school two days a week and I thought perhaps I should give him a nap just on those days where he's more tired due to being more active? Part of my problem is that our house is ridiculously small, (736 sq. ft. - no basment) he shares a room with his brother on one side of our small house (who is 3 and still needs naps), and his baby sister sleeps in our room on the other side of our small house (she's almost always sleeping during nap time as well). So, ultimately, once he's done with naps - what on earth am I supposed to do with him during the time the other two are napping??? And also, If I'm being honest, I am dreading the zero alone time from here on out. I am a much better Mommy when I have at least a little bit of time to myself. How to I manage all of this successfully?
A few more detailed questions:
What time do your kids wake up in the morning? What time is nap and for how long? If no nap, then at what age did you stop naps and what was the transition like? How did you make the transition easier? What worked, what didn't? What time are they in bed at night and what time do they actually fall asleep?
Sorry this got to be so long - it really was supposed to be just a simple question :) Hope you all can help - any thoughts or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
K. :)
My twins stopped naps at age 2. For a while they went to bed earlier when the naps stopped but not for long!They now always go to bed at 7.30 and wake up at 7am. Sometimes they read in their rooms for 30 mins before sleeping.Works well for my kids now aged 8 1/2...
My daughter still took daily naps until 1st grade. She needed it, would be tired, and still went to bed at night fine. Bedtime being 8:00-8:30.
She would nap afterschool.
My son, is 3 now. He is napping right now. He still takes naps everyday. He needs it, gets tired and naps. It is a daily routine. Today he even told me he is tired and is going to nap, and just went to his bed to lay down.
Both my kids, no matter what time they go to sleep at night... will wake up at the same time in the morning no matter what. It is "their" clock. I was not one who manipulated their bedtimes at night to make them wake up later. I figure, that is the way they are. They wake at a certain time in the morning, regardless. They were that way since babies.
My daughter is now 7. If she is tired afterschool or what not, she will still nap. I don't force it. My son still naps everyday. They both will nap in the afternoons. OR, it is quiet time. But they usually nap no problem. BECAUSE I have a daily routine for them. They know it like auto-pilot. I don't force naps... but I know their cues and when they are tired. And they get into their routines, and will nap. AND, I also tell them Mommy is going to nap too... and then I lie down. It is a routine.
And yes, if one kid is napping and the other(s) are not... then you need to have them be quiet. My kids KNOW that if one is napping and the other is not, they NEED to be quiet, so they don't wake them up. And they do do quiet things. Its a "rule" they understand. And yes, that means "you" do not have a down-time nor alone time. Because you need to be up with the child that is not napping. OR, you tell that awake child, that it is "quiet" time... and you BOTH do quiet things... or you tell your child that you are going to do "work" and he has to do quiet things too. With my kids, that works.
Both my kids nap for about 2 hours. Their timing. Not mine.
All the best,
Susan
My 6 yr old and 4 no longer nap (6 yr just stopped age 2) 4 yr old stopped age 3. They both go to bed at 8pm and wake around 7/7.15....week days and weekends.
Personally I think they should no longer nap after age 3 , I much prefer to have then in bed earlier on the evening , and naps intefere to much with that. You say you don't know what to do with him when the others are napping , can you just let him sit quietly and watch some TV? He should be off to kindergarten this year shouldn't he?
My kids are almost 3 1/2 and almost 5 (April). Their bedtime is between 7:30 and 8. My older on goes down right away, the younger one varies (sometimes right away, some nights you can hear her talking and singing for an hour or so). They generally wake up between 7 and 8. If they get up before 7, the rule is they have to entertain themselves in bed quietly until 7. It took some practice, but they rarely wake up before 7 (this morning being one of those rare exceptions, lol). My 3 1/2 yr old takes a daily nap around 1:30 and sleeps for 1 1/2-2 hours. On the 3 afternoons a week my 4 1/2 yr old is not at afternoon preschool, she has a nap at the same time. I also was not willing to give up my "me" time when my oldest started preschool, so she naps when she is home. I don't think you are being unreasonable. One thing I have heard on changing wake-up time is waking your kid up earlier to use the bathroom and then put them back in bed and they will sleep past their normal wake-up time. It takes a few repetitions but is supposed to work. Also, sometimes an earlier bedtime results in a longer sleep (even earlier than 8). Also, this take a few nights and then you can gradually move the bedtime back to 8 when the am wake-up moves back. Best of luck to you!
I read this book when my first son was 1 or 2. http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp...
It was great and really helped me out with his sleeping. One thing I learned is that the later you put a child to bed (and the more tired they are) the earlier they wake up. I put my son to bed at 8pm. When he was one, he went to bed close to 6. And I too was in a small house (800 sq. feet) with a very large German Shep and a Great Dane, not the quietest dogs just because of the size.
I didn't have luck with naps as both my kids gave them up by 4. I really suggest putting him to bed earlier and they you'll have your winding down time in the evening :)
Best of luck!
My daughter will be 4 in may. SHe is in bed at 8 on weekdays. MWF has about 2 hour nap, TTH has an hour nap at school. Weekends she goes to bed from 9-11 depending on what we are doing and usually sleeps 10 hrs. May or may not have naps on the weekend and is usually fine either way.
My son is a little over 4 years of age and he no longer naps. He stopped napping as he got closer to 4. He still has a nap every once in awhile but this is probably once every few weeks if that. If he naps, he is up much, much later (9 or 10) and still wakes at the same time the next day.
He goes to bed at 7 and wakes up at 7. This has been the routine since he has gone without a nap. If he goes to bed later than 7, it is highly likely that he will have an absolute melt down which I think we all want to avoid.
It was hard when he stopped napping as I too am a SAHM. I was used to having that time during the day just to collect myself and stay sane. I try to do a couple of things with him during the napping time (I have 2 others that still nap) like board games, books, etc. I also have him take 'quiet time' which consists of him maybe doing a puzzle, having a snack, watching a DVD. I can usually get 'quiet time' to last up to an hour on a very good day:)
My daughter just turned 2 and takes about a naps from 1-4 daily. She goes to bed at 7.45 and wakes up about 7. If she takes a shorter nap, as in less than 2 hours, she goes to bed between 7 and 7.30, if she is acting tired.
My stepson, his mom decided at 2 he was done with naps. That was a struggle as he still needed them. We let him have them when he was here and he slept about 2 hours for nap, and went to bed at 8 and slept till 7 or 8, but I know at his mom's he would go to bed at 6 and get up about 7 or so. The morning time didn't change becaues he needed the sleep. She put to bed at 6 so she has her ALONE time at night.
Now when he is here and my daughter is napping, he has quiet time. He is to be in his room on his bed. He sometimes does take a nap, bt I encourage him to read. So then I still have my time.
I have twin boys, turning 5 next month. They stopped napping around 3yo. They go to sleep at 7pm and wake up 6:30am. For a while I tried getting them to sleep longer, but it didn't work. The only way I could get them to sleep long enough was to push their bedtime earlier. They do have quiet time during the day where I usually separate them and they can read or do whatever, as long as it is quiet and doesn't bother my "mommy time"! :-)
My girls are 6 and 2. My oldest stopped taking naps at about 4 1/2, when she started preschool (she was in afternoons) My youngest takes a nap from 12-2 or 2:30. They both go to bed at 7:30-8, most nights in the winter. They get up at 6:30 becasue we have to be out of the house by 7 during the week. If it is the weekend they will sleep till 7:30-8 am. my girls are asleep within 10-15 mins after laying them down at night. As far as what you will do when your oldest is done taking naps, thats when i would put a movie on and have queit time.
