Feb 12 2008
To sleep or not to sleep
Show me a parent who doesn’t worry or fret over his or her child’s sleeping habits and I will be happy to ask him or her how they do it.
Fuller is great about sleeping through the night, going to bed at 8, up at 7 or 7:30ish. Is the afternoon nap I wonder about.
I tend to put Fuller in his room around 2 p.m. If he doesn’t sleep, I am fine with him “resting” in bed for an hour or two. But if I wait until later in the day to have him “rest” he inevitably falls asleep and is asleep for almost three hours. This means when 8 p.m. rolls around, he is not ready for bed at all. Just keeping him up and occupied for the entire day isn’t really a great idea because he usually melts down during dinner or soon after. And if he goes to bed earlier, he gets up earlier. Everyday the afternoon nap is a crap shoot.
I have a feeling this isn’t going to resolve itself any time soon, but is a classic example of how we have to continually go with the flow as parents. And regardless of if he sleeps or not (or when) I still get some “me” time in the afternoon.
How long did you kids keep up with their afternoon rest?
Technorati Tags: napping, kids sleeping
i am wondering the same thing. my 14 mo. old sleeps from 730 or so at night until 730 am. we are finished with the morning nap, so only one now in the afternoon. used to be 3 hours. now i’m lucky if she’s down for an hour and a half. do i let her stay in the crib and talk/cry to herself for longer?…….so yeah, i guess i stress about the sleeping too!
Jaden began outgrowing naps at the same age…. He sometimes took one, and sometimes wouldn’t… I think it was more painful for me!
You could leave Fuller up and put him to bed at 7pm- 6.30 if he’s worn out- he’ll still probably sleep through til 7.
(Jade, at 5, STILL goes to bed at 7 and gets up at 7…alas- he is changing a bit now, outgrowing the need for 12 hours a night. Boo!)
Just know if he’s getting about 12 hours all together (so that could be nap-less- more at night) then he’s good to go….
Every kid is different, so take this or leave it… Around 3yrs, Livia’s naptimes were drastically reduced so she’d continue sleeping well at night. And now she doesn’t nap at all (oh the tragedy!) but she does do a “quiet time” where she is allowed to play in her room. If I were you, I’d let Fuller have his afternoon rest in the late afternoon and I’d wake him up after one hour of sleep. That way he should still be tired at his normal bedtime. Some folks hate waking up their children; I didn’t mind doing it in order to keep our nighttime schedule the same. Hope this helps!
they say at that age they need 11 hours of sleep per day. i think as long as he is getting his 11 hours then you are fine. Rehema still takes her 2 hour afternoon nap but she goes to bed a little later.
@ Jill- when Fuller was still in the crib we would let him stay in there if he was happy. Eventually we would get him out, before he started fussing. But I see no problem if the kid is happy and safe.
@ Lissa- I think the not knowing if he will sleep or not is the most annoying thing about this. But since he is usually happy when “resting” then I can count on some quiet time for sure.
@RT- I have been putting him down later, and that usually means some sleep. But because of the “grump” factor I might do an hour and half of sleep.
@ Grace- HI! I guess you are juggling sleep schedules for two little ones now! Thanks for stopping by!