Nap time

[Michele]

My boys' sleeping schedules are all out of whack from moving. My mom has a "rule of thumb" that says nap time should be around 4 hours after wake-up time. That seems early to me, but darnit if she isn't right when it comes to the boys!! They do go down for nap better if I get them settled around 4 hours after they wake up. The daycare schedule in Louisiana was nap after lunch for one-nappers/older toddlers...basically 12-2pm. Which is 6 hours after they usually wake up...sometimes 7.

How much time elapsed between wake-up and nap for your kids?


ETA: my boys are 2.25 and 4.5 y

[scrub-jay]

We have no nap time. *sob*

[diggitydot]

I think DD1's first nap began probably 3-4 hours after getting up the morning. DD2's were usually after lunch (if she'd even take one), and DS's were usually around 10AM no matter what time he woke up.

[Pollyanna]

It usually depends on their ages. 4-5 hours after they woke was probably true from 12 months to around 22 months. After they hit two naps didn't happen until after lunch and by the time they were 2.5 the naps were pretty much over.

[JC76]

I'm curious to see people's responses to this too. Right now, at 17 months Zoe is taking one nap a day, usually starting around 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours after she wakes up. We're planning on sending her to daycare a few days a week starting in the next few months, and I think their naptime is around 1pm. We've been trying to adjust her schedule gradually now so that it will work for her when she starts there, but most days she's just tuckered out before 1pm. I have no idea how to get her stamina up so that she can last all the way until 1pm.

[Urowife]

Naptime is 4-5 hours after wakeup. It does seem early compared to other kids (she is usually asleep by noon). But if I wait longer, she won't go to bed at a decent hour. So I stick with what works.

Eta: DD will be 2 in a week.

[SuzySunshine]

Nap time here for both of my kids is about 6 hours after they get up assuming they get up at 6am but some mornings they sleep later then that. Nap is always after lunch around 12:30 or 1 and they are 3 and 16 months.

[alison]

Dd is down around 11:30, but that's just 3 hours after she gets up. Sometimes we have stuff going on in the morning, and I don't get her down until an hour later than when she should go down. We miss the window of tired and go into overtired. If that's the case, she talks to herself in bed for a long time (1 1/2 hours sometimes!) and then falls asleep. Those days I feel like she's in her room all day.... Sometimes 12:30 to 4:30...

I usually error on the side of putting her down for nap on the earlier rather than late side. I feel like she wakes up happier and calmer than when she's overtired and then goes down for her nap.

[SuzySunshine]

I should say that R would definitely nap earlier if I let him but having a big sis to pick up from preschool, etc there is no way to put him down before lunch.

[v-girl]

I miss nap time.

[houseelf]

I like to nap whenever I can.

As far as the kids, more like 5 hours after wakeup. This last one is a champion sleeper. I'm going off topic, but I swear that swaddling helped get him to set his little internal clock early on. He sleeps 7:30-7:30 and then naps everyday at 1 for 1 to 2 hours. He is the exact opposite of number 2 who continues to be a light sleeper and night owl and was a poor napper.

[Ladybug122]

DD is 15 months and takes 1 nap per day. She goes down about 5-6hrs after her wake time. Honestly, I think she would go down earlier, but between drop off/pick up at school and trying to get errands done, giving her an early lunch (11-11:30) then naptime seems to work best. I have to be careful when we are in the car close to naptime because she's been known to doze off (for hardly any time it seems) and then she won't nap. Car in the late morning = danger zone.

[Vishenka69]

About 4 hour after wake-up works for us too. Sometimes we have activities that stretch it to 5 but that's her absolute limit and she gets pretty cranky at that point. Bedtime is 5-6 hrs later.

[ladymoreta]

DS is still taking two naps, so it's between 3 and 4 hours each.