nap issues with pre-schoolers?

[HouseofWool]

Kill me now - I forgot how challenging pre-schoolers can be. S will 3 at the end of January and we are full on in the throes of the trying threes.

Her sleep is completely screwed up and I don't know what to do. A few months ago I took out of her crib because I found her sitting on the railing during the middle of a tantrum (that was a fun moment). Until a couple of weeks ago she was doing okay during nap and at bedtime. Then she stopped going to sleep during nap. As a work around I let her have a few books and normally she would crash after 30 minutes or so.

Fast forward to the last week or so. She simply won't go to sleep. I have removed all of the items that she likes to play with, so all of the brushes and pony tail holders are gone, as are numerous other things. Today, she pulled out all of the cloth diapers. (That I need to sell)

She does need the sleep, she's tired and grouchy. Today, she screwed around in her room for nearly 2 hours before falling asleep.

[HouseofWool]

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Here's Mattie in hour 3 of what I was sure was going to be a most awesome nap.

[Michele]

Kai may wake up at 4:30 but he does nap everyday for at least 2 hours. No advice. Just commiseration on the wacky sleep pattern.

[Tenacious_D]

Dh has the pic of e destroying his room after the transition to a big boy bed. We finally stripped the place and it took 4 months before we could put clothes back in the dresser. As for naps he gave them up but now sleeps like a champ. 8pm -7:30am. He used to get up at 2am begging for milk or water. I'm now fine without the nap.

M normally naps for 2 to 3 hours, and goes to bed at 8:30 every night. She sleeps through & wakes around 7AM. Today was super duper cloudy, icky, and we were out and about earlier than normal, so when we came home she thought it was naptime (b/c it usually is after our errands). I went along, thinking I'd SCORED, and she ended up playing in her room for 2 hours, and then playing around while I tried laying down with her for another 1. We did have a very cute 1/2 hour where she decided as long as she wasn't speaking, it was okay to be awake, so did all sorts of pointing / non-verbal communicating, including mimicking my pursed up face as I was trying not to laugh or speak before she did.

[Ravenclaw]

. We did have a very cute 1/2 hour where she decided as long as she wasn't speaking, it was okay to be awake, so did all sorts of pointing / non-verbal communicating, including mimicking my pursed up face as I was trying not to laugh or speak before she did.

DD does this too sometimes (she'll be 3 in January too). If I mention her napping, I get a tantrum. So I tell her I need to nap and she can read books quietly next to me. Then she pretends she's at a library and whispers. Really cute. But sometimes she takes hours to fall asleep, and then will be up late. We're having the same problem since she really does need her nap. We started putting her down in our bedroom instead of hers, since there's no toys in there. Before that she'd just climb out of her bed and play for hours. As for solutions, I really don't know. The days she's more active (either class or if DH takes her somewhere), she'll settle down quicker but other than that I don't know. Do you have black out shades? I've been meaning to put our black out drapes up but need DH to do that since I can't right now.

[spotty_dog]

DD is a few days younger than S if memory serves. She hasn't napped since early this year. She goes to bed at 8-8:30 and gets up at 8 or so. Fortunately we don't get afternoon crankies, but I do try to provide a lower-key activity during the afternoon slump time.

Cute pile of diapers, I also have a ton that I need to sell. My cats have been sleeping on them so I need to re-wash them AGAIN. Where do you plan to sell yours?

[houseelf]

My solution was to take every toy and all furniture out except the mattress off the floor. Black out shades darken the room and I look the door from the outside. He has a huge pile of books if he needs something quiet to entertain himself. This POW routine produces a nap about every other day. On other days he looks at books for 15 to 20 minutes before pounding and yelling "MOMMY!!!! UP-y! UP-y!!!" at the door.

[Ladybug122]

No advice, just sympathy. DD just turned 2 and so far her napping is staying regular (1-1 1/2hr). She still sleeps in a crib (which I plan to keep her in indefinately, haha) DS (who is now 5) was a TERRIBLE napper, basically from birth. Seriously, he would sleep for 15-30 minutes at a time. I would be intensely jealous of the "2-3" hour naps/day babies. Anywho, because he was a chubby baby/toddler, I had to take the crib away at about 2 years because he got his chubby thigh caught in the crib rail (and I had to use butter to get it out - it was really stuck!). From that point on, naps went from brief to nonexistent. SO, the fact that DD is an "okay" napper is extremely satisfying to me.
However, DD's new thing is that she requests books be put in her crib when I leave her for her nap and once she is done with them, she chucks them around the room (I can hear "boom, boom, boom" as the books hit the wall/floor). Sometimes she then throws everything out of her crib (blanket, stuffies) then screams b/c she wants them for sleeping. Aarrggh. Needless to say, it complicates the whole napping process.

p.s. the pic of S with the pile of diapers is hysterical!

Jenn. You have just revealed part of your secret of how you get so much done!!!!! I now feel a smidgen less inadequate

Ladybug122. Perspective right? I totally understand. My 3 1/2 year old hasn't taken a nap in almost 2 years. And I have an 11 month old who naps for about 1 1/2 hours each afternoon, way less than the "norm" but I think it's awesome!!!

Jenn. You have just revealed part of your secret of how you get so much done!!!!! I now feel a smidgen less inadequate

Ladybug122. Perspective right? I totally understand. My 3 1/2 year old hasn't taken a nap in almost 2 years. And I have an 11 month old who naps for about 1 1/2 hours each afternoon, way less than the "norm" but I think it's awesome!!!

Jenn. You have just revealed part of your secret of how you get so much done!!!!! I now feel a smidgen less inadequate

You are anything but inadequate! I've outed myself many times, but people need to remember that I do these things in LIEU of what I should be doing! My house is generally messy, and I'm lucky to have a bi-weekly cleaning lady so that it never reaches "gross". My laundry is sitting, clean, in baskets at the top of my stairs, which will be moved into the guest room so my house is "ready" for the cookie exchange I'm hosting tomorrow night. My husband travels weekly, so I have a lot of alone time in the evenings, and if I don't keep my hands busy, I eat. My daughter is *generally* easy, and watches far too much TV. I do all these things b/c I'm selfish and selective about what I WILL do ... there's no "super" anything about it.