Would you wake up your toddler from a long nap???

36029 Views 18 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Justmee, Dec 9, 2008

Vortexing

Discussion Starter · Dec 5, 2008

Um, I can't believe I'm asking this, but we've been battling about naptime for weeks now. She just doesn't want to take one... I'm newly preggo and I NEED her to nap so that we can make it through the day (both b/c I need a break, and b/c she's a hellion w/o a nap!!).

So today she (and I

) fell asleep at 2pm - the earliest in weeks and the normal time at which she generally took a nap last month when naptime was working well. But now she's been asleep for 3 hours! Do I let her sleep? Do I wake her up so that she goes to bed at a reasonable hour? I would never have woken her up as a baby, but a 2.5 yr old... maybe?

Ugh, this is such an awkward time since she's trying to ditch the nap but soooo needs it still. If she's trying to ditch the nap, maybe she just needs shorter naps during the day, and to keep bedtime the same... but that would mean I'd have to wake her up from a nap. If I don't, then she very well may go to bed late, then get up late, then not want to take a nap tomorrow or take one soooo late that it REALLY screws up bedtime.... darn cycles!! I have no clue what to do!

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sugarlumpkin

· #2 · Dec 5, 2008

I'd wake her...but I tend to wake my son if he sleeps over 3 hours or past a certain time. That's bc I like bedtime to take 30 mins or less (preferably 20 mins or less).

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Limabean1975

· #3 · Dec 5, 2008

I used to say NEVER wake a sleeping baby/toddler. But nap & bedtime troubles made me change my tune a bit. And reading Sleepless in America - she advocates choosing a wake time and sticking to it. I normally would consider that too unnatural, but like I said, serious sleep troubles made me change my tune!

Shera971

· #4 · Dec 5, 2008

When my DS was napping (ah how I miss the days, he stopped when he turned 3) he would sleep away the afternoon if I let him. I usually only let him sleep a maximum of 2hrs... otherwise he was going to bed at 11pm and still waking up early in the morning. When I did wake him up he was cranky but I made sure to have quiet play like stories or cuddling so he could wake up fully.

There have been occasions when I have let him sleep though. He was sick with a cold recently and fell asleep at about 5 in the afternoon. I debated on waking him up but decided to let him sleep. I am soooo glad I did! He didn't wake up again until the next morning.

azmomtoone

· #5 · Dec 5, 2008

I don't wake DS up after a certain amount of time napping, figure if he's sleeping longer than usual then his body needs it for some reason. However, if for whatever reason his nap started later then usual, I do wake him up at 5 pm so that he'll go to sleep before 2 am. It's very rare around here, naps are usually 12-2 or 1-3 .....

reezley

· #6 · Dec 5, 2008

I'm with the pp's, I wake a toddler by about 5pm - brighten the room, puttering around the room making little noises to try to "naturally" wake him.. and resort to nudging and talking if I have to. I think the too-late nap interferes with a fairly normal bedtime.

katheek77

· #7 · Dec 5, 2008

My DD's just a little younger than yours, and is in an inbetween stage.

Usually what happens is if she takes a late nap, she stays up later, gets up later, and then doesn't take a nap the next day, but goes to bed at her regular time (7-8ish). It's kind of worked itself into a decent cycle of one day nap, one day off.

Alyantavid

· #8 · Dec 5, 2008

Yeah I have to. My 2 1/2 year old doesn't nap during the week at daycare so on weekends he takes 3-4 hour naps. I have to wake him up by 5 to get him to go to bed by 9.

Jess_n'_the_bean

· #9 · Dec 5, 2008

Yes, on occasion to salvage some semblance of a normal schedule (ie - dd not staying up until 10 PM) we will wake her from a long nap.

Meems

· #10 · Dec 5, 2008

Yes, after some loooong nights following the 3 ish hour naps, I wake DD up after 2-2.5 hrs. She usually only sleeps 1.5 hrs.

PatchChild

· #11 · Dec 6, 2008

I hate it when I ever have to wake my DS. That said, I really only wake him if we're late in the mornings. Naps are all his. I've found that if he's sleeping a long time, he needs it, and most likely it won't impact his sleep that night.

AkRotts

· #12 · Dec 6, 2008

If mine sleep too long, or too late, I don't hesitate to wake them. I have to get up way too early for work, so late or long naps don't work well at my house. At least not during the week

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Sasharna

· #13 · Dec 6, 2008

Mine? No...

My DS is high-energy, so I can't rely on him to signal when he is ready to sleep. I've learned through trial and error that he needs to go down to nap before 1 pm. On days when I mess up and he ends up not getting to sleep until 2 pm, I just plan on a late bedtime rather than waking him. He will scream for a long time if he is woken up before he is done resting. But most other kids are a lot more flexible, so waking up your DD might work just fine.

kirstenb

· #14 · Dec 6, 2008

I will depending on the time. On the weekends DS goes down for a nap at 1pm at the latest so it's rare he sleeps too late but at times he is still asleep at 4-4:30. Those times I will go and wake him up so he still goes to bed at a decent hour. I wouldn't wake him before that though.

OkiMom

· #15 · Dec 6, 2008

I would. If DD isn't awake before 3pm then she won't go to bed until after midnight. DH doesn't like going to sleep with her up so he ends up staying up with her and that makes him tired for work the next day. So, to save everyone from exhaustion the next day I wake her up. Its rare though that shes asleep that late.

Llyra

· #16 · Dec 6, 2008

I will wake a well child if he/she sleeps past about 4 pm. But that's mostly because we're all tied down to DD1's school schedule. I need the kids to be up at a certain time in the morning to bring DD to school, and I need them to be well-rested enough to be cheerful. If they go to bed too late at night because of a long nap, that doesn't happen. So nobody sleeps in my house between 4 and 6 pm unless they're sick, getting sick, or there's some other unusual situation.

With one kid, I never did. I figured if she was tired, let her sleep, and I had nowhere urgent I needed to go, so if we had an irregular schedule it was no big deal.

If you're trying to deal with sleep problems or establish regular sleep times, then yeah, I'd wake the child.

_betsy_

· #17 · Dec 6, 2008

There are 2 days a week we have to be on the road to MIL's by 4 p.m. so I can drop DD off and get to work on time. Those days, I have to wake her up. I hate to do it, but I have to leave the house by a 4, and she refuses to fall asleep before 2/2:30ish.

Most days, I get her down around 2/2:30 and let her sleep, but not longer than 5 p.m. Even that is getting too late because then nighttime is a nightmare.

WildCanaryCait

· #18 · Dec 9, 2008

I can understand needing to wake a lil person if you have some other time constraints to meet.
I am at home with Aidan. He sleeps when he needs to. If I'm able to settle, I nap too. I am with the PP's who said if they're sleeping, they need it. and their spirits need it...so many changes, so much learning and growing going on so fast and all at once. I figure it will all even out. We all sleep together , Da is first one asleep, and Aidan and I are usually tucked in by ten. He sleeps until seven, still takes a daily nap.

Justmee

· #19 · Dec 9, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatchChild

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I hate it when I ever have to wake my DS. That said, I really only wake him if we're late in the mornings. Naps are all his. I've found that if he's sleeping a long time, he needs it, and most likely it won't impact his sleep that night.

:

I don't like people waking me up when I'm trying to catch up on sleep, and I don't wake up my kids unless there is a good reason (like... have to pick up another kid and no one else to do it).

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