do you wake your toddler from naps?

[AmyBP]

Hey ladies. I have a son who's 22 months old, and he normally naps at around 12 or 1 for 2 hours, though sometimes as long as 3-4 hours. I've always been a big "do not wake a sleeping baby" mama! I think in his whole life I have woken him from a nap twice only... however... bedtime routines are seeming so long to me now. I just want some downtime in the evenings, and I'd love for his bedtime to go faster. I am thinking maybe I should start waking him after an hour or so and see how that goes... however, I think I remember Elizabeth Pantley saying something to the effect that doing so will make bedtimes even harder, because underslept kids sometimes fight bedtime more. Would that apply to cutting naps or waking from naps or what? In your experience, what might be appropriate? Thanks!

[sere234]

Oh, I'm interested in what people say! I'm in the same situation with my 23 mo!

[Honey693]

I only wake my kids up from naps if we have to go somewhere.  Otherwise I'll move bedtime back if their nap goes long.  We're fairly loose with their schedule/routines though and doesn't seem to phase them.

[katelove]

I sometimes wake my 26mo if she has gone to bed late and sleeps longer than an hour or so. Otherwise bedtime is way too late and she still wakes up at the same time the next morning. I don't do it every day, maybe a few times a week. I haven't noticed it making bedtime harder that night.

[gitanamama]

Great questions--we're in the same situation around here. I'm actually at the point where I'm considering cutting out my son's nap altogether because the bedtime routine takes so long. I've found that waking him up mid-nap is like waking a sleeping Godzilla----he's an absolute terror the whole afternoon/evening. But I think each child reacts differently to being woken up. It might be worth trying one day to see how it goes.

[Asiago]

Rarely do I wake my toddler from a nap.

The last time I did was for my Grandmother's surprise birthday party, so we had to be on time.

I made sure to pull the shades up before I needed him to wake. The daylight woke him, we nursed a while and then he was ready to get up and go.

[marsupial-mom]

Yes. If he sleeps bast 4pm then most of the time I'll wake him. I just turn on the lights and turn on some music and he wakes up pretty quickly. Usually he's fine, no serious bad mood or anything. I wake him so that he will sleep through the night. If I just let him sleep then he will stay up at night. I should note that he usually wakes up around 3 or 3:30 so I don't have to wake him up very often. If he's sick or particularly grumpy that day then I won't wake him because I figure he needs the sleep.

[graciegal]

Only if she is getting close to 6pm, our absolute drop-dead time for waking up so we can do dinner and bedtime without it being messed up. I've never waken her up from a long nap because A) I love them and need them to get work done and B) she needs them too if she's doing them. Oh and C) give it a few days and she'll stop, so enjoy it while you can ;)
 

[KellyandBean]

I was the same way (didn't ever wake her) until a little after age 2. Now i have cut what used to be 3 hour naps to 1.5 or even 1 hour so that she will still be asleep at bedtime. I ALWAYS wake by 3:15 at the lastest. From what i have gathered thus far it seems that there are children who cut their naps shorter and shorter on their own and there are others who just keep sleeping 3+ hours if you let them..it was starting to get in the way of bedtime and cutting it short is helping. I do have to transition her out of the nap though (she isn't happy that i am waking her up!) by reading books to her for a little while and doing some quiet play.
 

[sere234]

Originally Posted by KellyandBean 

I was the same way (didn't ever wake her) until a little after age 2. Now i have cut what used to be 3 hour naps to 1.5 or even 1 hour so that she will still be asleep at bedtime. I ALWAYS wake by 3:15 at the lastest. From what i have gathered thus far it seems that there are children who cut their naps shorter and shorter on their own and there are others who just keep sleeping 3+ hours if you let them..it was starting to get in the way of bedtime and cutting it short is helping. I do have to transition her out of the nap though (she isn't happy that i am waking her up!) by reading books to her for a little while and doing some quiet play.
 

Yep, I've started doing this! We were getting so tired of DS not falling asleep at night until after 10:00 PM that we have cut his naps to 2 hours or less. He is a delightful 3-4 hour napper but then we all stay up later than we want to (well, later than DH or I want to!). Plus DH and I get no alone time when DS stays up so late.

So all this week I've been letting DS sleep for about 2 hours (usually 1:00 PM until 3:00) and waking him. Now he goes to be around 8 or 9 which is a vast improvement. I actually have time to talk to my husband without wanting to fall asleep! It's so nice to have 1 or 2 hours each night to ourselves again :)

[ann_of_loxley]

Its worth trying if you think it will.  No harm in doing so!  Just take your toddlers lead.  I could do this with my first son who would easily nap 3+ hours if I let him - and it helped when I woke him up after an hour or two!  I however, can not do this with my second son.  If he is tired - he is tired and you can not wake him because if you try he is grumpy and angry and gets violent on you!  So with him...I leave him.  Of course he won't be ready for bed until 10-11pm but then its quick and easy so its not a problem for us anyhow!  You gotta do what works and every child will be different!  DS1 wasn't even having naps at this age as he dropped them very early.  DS2 is still hit and miss if he has one or not but he still really needs one so even if he doesn't have one...he will then crash at 5 or 6 and still call that a 'nap'! haha