He and his sister have been jumping around (literally) for about 1 - 2 hours after lights off the last couple of weeks.
D and I have tried to deny it but I'm afraid we finally decided - no more naps during the week. On Tuesday they went silent at 9.35!!!
Some of you don't have a problem with this... My oldest friend has had her child up and about his whole life til 11 ish. I was horrified when I heard. Not for any parental judgement but "when do you have your me time?"
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| coming to "visit" me in the study "just for a little bit, Mummy" |
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| another evening when they decided to sleep on mattresses (the crib mattresses) on the floor, for fun! This is as close to camping as we get around here. |
Is there anyone with 4 year olds who still nap?
PS I realise I owe you an update on the school stuff!
I just wrote about this on HDYDI today! ;) Our girls seemed to hit this stage at the same time a couple of months ago, which was at least convenient. You may remember we went through four months last fall where B napped but A didn't. It wasn't all that bad, but now at least I feel like we have a cohesive strategy / schedule for our family.
ReplyDeleteI talked with the girls about it and said we weren't going to nap any more during the day. I outlined the new schedule -- an hour of quiet time -- and we moved forward as such.
There were about 2-3 weeks in there that were HARD. The girls were SO TIRED and behavior was NOT GOOD. (I think that was coupled with the dissonance over discipline strategy with J home during the summer, too.) We all worked through that, though, and things are relatively normal again.
Honestly, I'm still coping sometimes with not having that *true* quiet time (for me!) during the day. Although the girls have "quiet time", I am not truly alone from 6:30am until 6:30pm, and that's tough for me. I'm often drinking a midday cup of coffee!
In sum, it was helpful for me not to try to fight the no napping. I just drew the line...ripped off the bandaid...and moved forward.
Good luck, Sweet Friend!!!
I saw your title and said, aloud, SHUT YOUR MOUTH! But yes, I think we may be right there with you. I've been clinging to nap time, and although it's not a fight to get them down for nap it's bedtime that kills us. Although I think they still need a nap, Em gets suuuuuuuuper cranky, so I plan to start limiting nap time. I'm not ready to move to Mandy's quiet time because a few tries with that left me with children secretly falling asleep near dinner time when things got too quiet. That was a disaster! The long ride home everyday would do them, and my night, in.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that as long as they stay in their room, I could really care less if they're sleeping or not. If you're not disturbing me or burning the house down then everyone is happy!
Gosh that would make me dilly! Even my big kids are in bed by 8 now (it used to be 7 until earlier this year when they managed to convince D to stay up until 8). They don't need to sleep BUT I do not want to hear them! Cameron will stay up all night if we don't tell him to go to bed so we have to watch him!
ReplyDeleteI think Kiara still napped until quiet late - definitely longer than Jack because we were at my moms already and she was still sleeping so she was older than 2.5 but they slept at school.
Some days with Jack it is actually easier skipping they nap - he will fight to sleep for 45 minutes to sleep for only 45 minutes.
On weekends when the kids want to stay up watching with D later than 8 - I go to my room - I need the break :-p
I still try and get Olivia to nap a couple of days a week, especially after a Tues (she has lots of sport on a tues), but generally, she doesn't nap. Bearing in mind she is 7.5
ReplyDeleteAt four she was still napping every arvi tho. And in bed by 7.
But I would far rather have my 'me' time in the eve and let your nanny deal with the craziness (and maybe feed them) before you get home!
sterkte xx
The only time we see the nap around here these days is if Nicola is coming down with something - and then she wakes up in a particularly foul mood might I add.
ReplyDeleteDon't fight it...just let it go. ;-)
Ps! Good luck!
Kade still naps and there are times I wish he'd not nap anymore cos it will make life a bit easier. He's fine if he doesn't nap but by the time bed time comes he's so grumpy!
ReplyDeleteGood luck dropping the naps!
xx
Naps are good in the day...but me time at night is even better.
ReplyDeleteA all of a sudden started napping (but only once a week on weekends ) in grade 1, but that is over now. We try for some rest time on Sundays but often its just resting on the couch with a DVD. Best of luck and yes, claim those evenings back
ReplyDeleteMine only nap once in awhile. I love it when they do though!
ReplyDeleteI love that first pic of Connor. No advice about the naps except to say don't fight it. Just go with it. And good luck. The first few days will probably be a bit rough while they are adjusting.
ReplyDeletexx
A & M nap at school during the week--it's maybe an hour and a half. On Mondays and Fridays they are with my mom all day and don't nap. Saturdays, we usually don't make them take one even if we are home, which we often aren't. But we ALL love our Sunday naps, so those stay for now. : ) Every once in awhile, they have a super-tired afternoon, but our bedtime is much smoother!
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