At what age...

[houseelf]

...did your kids start to fight taking naps.

For whatever challenges that I have had with my little guy, sleeping is not one of them. However, this weekend my little guy (2 and 1/2) would not go down for his afternoon nap and kept talking and playing in his crib with his stuffed animal toys. Finally I asked my dh if he could help get him to go down. Daddy decided that they would take a nap together because daddy was exhausted after a grueling night of call. Twenty minutes later, I walked into our bedroom and Daddy is enjoying some serious REM but the little guy was walking around our bedroom finding mischief wherever he could with his paci in his mouth and bunny in tow.

Ugh. I'm not really sure that I'm ready for him to give up his nap. At a minimum, I'm going to really try for him to keep taking an hour quiet time. Any suggestions?

Kelly

Around 2 is when all of my children have decided they would PREFER to not nap. I, however, fight that impulse of theirs and require naps up until they hit 4. My daughters (3) get sooooo tired by about 2pm and start lying sleepily lying down on the floor. I take that as a cue that they need to get a bit of sleep. I think quitting naps is probably normal anywhere between the ages of 2 and 5.

Jennifer

Dallin is almost 3 and he just started skipping naps. I am so bummed!!! Tyler was taking naps until 5! He is a grump though. The plus side is that I have no trouble getting him to bed a little bit earlier. I still make all my kids have quiet time on the weekends where they have to play quietly or sleep in their rooms. I need a break in the middle of the day and actually, I think they do too.

I would definitely try to do the nap or quiet time every day and have him know that is the routine. Yeah, easier said than done.

Robin

[SueC]

Our daughter is 2.5 too, and although she fights taking a nap sometimes (occasionally wins!), for the most part I don't think she is ready to do away with them all together. I would say keep trying, and maybe even bump his nap to an hour later, or give him some serious outside time before the nap to really wear him out. I know for my own sanity I need a few hours of quiet time in the afternoon, so I'm dreading the day when she really doesn't nap anymore. Also, once in awhile she is fine without napping, but it seems like if she goes several days without a nap, she gets very worn down and whiney. Seems like they can occasionally function without napping, but if it becomes a regular occurence the cumulative effects build up and they are dreadful to be around! Good luck!

Age 2 sounds about right, I'm afraid. It really differed depending on the child. Andrew napped much less than Finny, but once she got old enough to figure out that he wasn't napping anymore, it was very difficult to get her to lay down. Alex was wonderful about naps until this summer (age 3) and now it's all over for dear old mom..


Kris

[Meenah]

Between ages 2 & 3 for my girls.
Luanne

My girls were 2.5 years when they shifted their sleeping patterns. Normally, they would take an afternon nap (maybe 1.5 to 2 hours daily) and then go to bed around 8 p.m. At age 2.5 they started staying up until 10 or 11 at night. I got so frustrated with no evening time without children, that I cut out their nap altogether. I figured it was better to have some kid-free time in the evening than time during the day.