3 year old and naps

[chkpea]

My DS is just turning 3. He is very difficult to get to nap without me nursing him or driving him to sleep. I also have a baby to who needs assistance with getting to sleep. I NEED my 3 year old to sleep as well as he needs his sleep. Are there any thoughts out there as to how to get him to have a nap? He pretty much won't stay in his bed if I just put him there.

[crl]

I'm sorry you are going through this. My son (turned 3 in June) dropped his nap about a month ago. I put him to bed about an hour earlier now. I'm sorry I don't have any ideas to help your son nap, but given his age I do wonder if maybe he is just ready to give up napping. Does an earlier bedtime work for him and for you?

[JBaxter]

Nathan will be 3 next month and dropped his naps about 2 months ago. He did start going to bed a half an hour earlier. All 3 of my boys stopped napping about 3.

[InstinctiveMama]

I tried to get my 3 yo to "rest" or allowed him to play quietly in his nap room. Sometimes he fell asleep and sometimes he did not. So I thought maybe he was not tired enough for a nap. So I started taking him to the park, the zoo or just outside every day. Still he sometimes took a nap and sometimes did not. I had to drop the afternoon nap effort. It was wearing me out and he was not getting anything from it. I did "set" a bedtime so he is getting the 11-12 hours of sleep he needs. By the end of the day, he is much more ready to sleep so bedtime is smoother than naptime ever was.

I feel for your situation though. I am sure with a toddler and baby, it would really help if you toddler would nap. A friend of mine has her almost 4 year old go in her room for quiet time every afternoon. If she sleep, she sleeps. If not, then she does not. But at least my friend gets a small break from having both kids all day.

[chkpea]

Yes I would really like him to have a nap for a break for me for sure but also for him. We have gone through days without naps and they aren't fun. He has more meltdowns, etc, etc. WHen he does nap he sometimes naps for 3 hours which I know is way too long and then goes to bed way too late. I have to get out of the habit of going for a drive if I want him to nap and just suck it up and come up with more activity for him to do. He just won't stay in his bedroom, but I guess I should look into a fun game or toy just for his room for him to play with. Thanks for the suggestions.

[crl]

I did have one more thought. I'm not sure what your weather is like, but can you put both kids in a stroller and go for a walk at nap time? My son used to nap in his stroller and even when he didn't it was a break of sorts for me. . . . He also slept in the car, but I hated to drive around using gas up and not getting a break for myself--walking is calming to me while driving is stressful.

We do "quiet time" now which means he has to stay in his bed for 45 minutes (until the beeper goes off). He gets a book and stuffed animal and he's allowed to talk in an indoor voice. He usually sings to himself for the whole time. He used to sometimes fall asleep during this time (over the summer it was about 50/50 whether he'd sleep), but he never does now. Still it is a bit of a break for me and some rest for him. He doesn't try to leave his room so I don't have any ideas for you there.

[anarchamama]

My 3 yo is also giving up his naps, he has started putting himslef to sleep with books on tape, but that means sometimes he doesen't fall asleep in the afternoons. I just tell him he has to have a quiet time in his room untill the cd ends (basically an hour). The down time seems to be enough for him and he sleeps longer at night. I'm willing to give up the nap in order to have him put himslef to bed. The only down side is that he's grumpy in the evenig which is the only time he really gets to see dh.

[thedevinemissm]

I am totally with you. There were days that I litterally thought I was going to pass out on my feet. Keeping up w/2 kiddos so young is exhausting!

I agree w/PPs, even if he doesn't sleep...try to create some reading/rest time and a safe environment to quietly play if he's not up to napping. If all else failed, and I really needed to sleep ~ I would put in a video. It would at least give me about 30min of rest. We now have a InteracTV. I will set that up for him and give him the play cards and take a quick nap with DD.

You might also try some activities early in the day that "take more out of him". The days we went to the park, went for walks, or played lots were the times that he was more likely to take a nap.

Oh, the other thing we did... DH would wake DS up when he woke up to get ready for work. DD & I would sleep in. For about 6 months that increased the chances DS would nap later that day.

HTH!

[mom2noah]

We are in the same shoes. I finally decided that it was best just to drop the nap altogether. These days he falls asleep around 6-6:30 PM and wakes about 6 AM. The first few days were looong afternoons because DS was so tired and had some major meltdowns. I just got him out of the house on a walk up to the park and that helped a lot. After dinner it is straight to the bath, brush teeth, read stories, and then he falls asleep nursing. Usually he is out within 5 minutes because he is so tired.

A few days a week he will nap, usually if he falls asleep in the car or asks to nurse and falls asleep nursing. (I only allow him a few minutes nursing which is why he rarely falls asleep nursing at naptime). Anyway, on those days it is much harder to get him to bed at night. Usually he is up until about 9:00. That is hard on me since I have to nurse DD to bed as well. So what I usually do it watch for signs of tiredness, do the bedtime routine, and then nurse for a few minutes. If he doesn't fall asleep while nursing then I kiss him goodnight and DH comes in a lays with him until he falls asleep. That way I can tend to DD.

[MamaRabbit]

I've started doing quiet time. Or I'll sit her on the sofa with one of her videos on. For some reason the monotone voices of Thomas the Train put her to sleep. But usually she's up from when she gets up in the morning until we can convince her to go to bed at night.