Rocking Chairs on board? Prechooler naps...

[sjb95u]

What I'm trying to find out is how to get my (almost 4-year-old at that point) to nap on board and not become overtired? Currently, she's 3.5 yrs of age and doesn't nap every day but when she doesn't she becomes cranky by bedtime, which comes early on non-nap days (7:30pm).

Currently if I want her to nap I need to rock her a while (which is not the norm) in a very dark, quiet room. Does DCL have rocking chairs available for your room?

What do others with 3-4 year olds do to encourage napping, avoid over-tiring and exhaustion?

Thanks!

 

[my2princessgirls]

At that age on the ship I could put them on the bed with pretty much anything to just look at (a board book, a doll, or whatever), and they were asleep in minutes. They were doing so much more than what they would normally be doing at home, with a lot of it being in the sun. They were TIRED! Tired to the point that they couldn't/wouldn't fight it.

This year, at ages 10 & 8, was the first time that one of them didn't nap at all during the week. Normally they would curl up after having a bath (from swimming, being in port, Castaway Cay, etc.) and just zonk out, lol!

 

[canadiandisneyfamof4]

My son is 5 and when he is over tired and have g a hard time sleeping we turn out the light and rub his back

 

[njdisneylovr]

We would turn on tv and unwind with a show for about 15 minutes, then a quick back rub and she was out for hours. ( then 3). Hoping for a repeat performance in November ( will be 5)

 

[lbgraves]

I don't think so. The only rocking chairs I remember are on deck 4 on the classics midship. Onboard we took DD3 to the movies to get her to relax and at least calm down for a bit. DH took her to see POC thinking that she would fall asleep. NOPE! She kept saying WOW and COOL through the movie. LOL! She was in a better mood after that break though. We found that the regular schedule we had for the kids, who were 3 & 5 at the time and still napped every day at home, went out the window. There is just too much to see and do onboard. The first day you won't get a nap in so don't even stress trying. The lifeboat drill is at 4 and you don't want to be in the room with your DD when the alarms go off -- especially if she is sleeping. The kids sometimes passed out when we went back to the room to get ready for early dinner. We just put got them dressed, put them in a stroller and went to dinner. They stayed at the end of the table until they woke up an hour or so later, then our server brought their food out and they were good to go until around 10 pm. [NOT their normal bedtime.]

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don't think so. The only rocking chairs I remember are on deck 4 on the classics midship. Onboard we took DD3 to the movies to get her to relax and at least calm down for a bit. DH took her to see POC thinking that she would fall asleep. NOPE! She kept saying WOW and COOL through the movie. LOL! She was in a better mood after that break though. We found that the regular schedule we had for the kids, who were 3 & 5 at the time and still napped every day at home, went out the window. There is just too much to see and do onboard. The first day you won't get a nap in so don't even stress trying. The lifeboat drill is at 4 and you don't want to be in the room with your DD when the alarms go off -- especially if she is sleeping. The kids sometimes passed out when we went back to the room to get ready for early dinner. We just put got them dressed, put them in a stroller and went to dinner. They stayed at the end of the table until they woke up an hour or so later, then our server brought their food out and they were good to go until around 10 pm. [NOT their normal bedtime.]

Oh, wow, when was that? I would have loved a rocking chair onboard. I don't recall seeing any on any of our cruises on the Magic or Wonder.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you think about it, the whole ship is one big rocking chair. It's why so many people can sleep SO well onboard, because we're finally being rocked to sleep again.

 

[Momtotwogirls]

What I'm trying to find out is how to get my (almost 4-year-old at that point) to nap on board and not become overtired? Currently, she's 3.5 yrs of age and doesn't nap every day but when she doesn't she becomes cranky by bedtime, which comes early on non-nap days (7:30pm).

Currently if I want her to nap I need to rock her a while (which is not the norm) in a very dark, quiet room. Does DCL have rocking chairs available for your room?

What do others with 3-4 year olds do to encourage napping, avoid over-tiring and exhaustion?

Thanks!

I have not seen any rocking chairs in the rooms. They do have gliders in the nursery, but I don't believe they will let you borrow one for the cabin. There really is not any room in the cabin for a rocking chair or glider.

I used to rock my younger daughter when she started fighting her naps, but still needed one because she became unbearable at 4 if she did not get her nap in. If we were away, I would find any chair, turn the lights out and just rock her with my body as if I was in a rocking chair. It worked and she would get the rest she needed and we would be able to have a great evening without any melt downs. You could do this on the couch in the room.

 

[calismic]

My nearly 3 year old takes an hour to get down for a nap at home. On the cruise she passed out cold in 5 minutes. My husband and I actually wanted a nap and we were gonna leave her with gramma, but instead she climbed in bed with us and was OUT! I was shocked, I've never had such luck before, lol. I think its all the excitement, they just crash when theres finally downtime.

 

[j2k2guth]

We were on the Dream in March with my DD 3.5. She did not take a nap the first day because of all the excitement. The 2nd day we were by the pool and she was getting tired. We just made her a little bed in a lounge wrapped her in towel and told her to rest so she can go back in the pool. She was out in a few minutes. She is an every other day napper at home. Another day she took a nap in the room. Just be flexible and go with what works.

 

[AdaraRae]

I've been wondering similar things, my daughter will be 21 months when we cruise in Sept and right now she naps at 12:30 every single day. We never meant for her to be on such a strict schedule but it just happened without trying. I was going to try to book the nursery for this time and let her nap there. Anybody tried that? I'm wondering if they'll hate me for using the nursery for nap time.

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[wl1117]

OP- I've never heard of them providing a rocking chair, not do I remember seeing one on any of the 3 ships we've been on (Wonder, Magic or Fantasy). However, as previous posters have said, you'll probably be surprised how easily and quickly your little one will nap. My (then) 4 year old napped every day for hours last cruise and she'd dropped her nap completely the year before. Then she'd be falling asleep at dinner every night!

I've been wondering similar things, my daughter will be 21 months when we cruise in Sept and right now she naps at 12:30 every single day. We never meant for her to be on such a strict schedule but it just happened without trying. I was going to try to book the nursery for this time and let her nap there. Anybody tried that? I'm wondering if they'll hate me for using the nursery for nap time.

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Heck no! They won't hate you! They'll probably bless you because yours will be one little one they won't have to do much for besides watch her sleep. It'd be a great time for you to get some adult pool time.

Our (then) 10 month old napped away almost every time she went to the nursery on our last cruise. She'll be 23 months on our next cruise, so we'll see.

 

[sjb95u]

Ok, thanks for all the info. Perhaps she WILL be so tired she'll just nap away...even with early seating I'm worried she won't make it through the shows without a little rest time. And I may need some, too!

 

[jel0511]

When my kids were that age, I required "quiet time". They had to lay down and remain quiet in the darkened cabin/room for a couple of hours. They usually fell asleep, if they didn't this usually was enough to recharge them.

 

[swimfly]

I've been wondering similar things, my daughter will be 21 months when we cruise in Sept and right now she naps at 12:30 every single day. We never meant for her to be on such a strict schedule but it just happened without trying. I was going to try to book the nursery for this time and let her nap there. Anybody tried that? I'm wondering if they'll hate me for using the nursery for nap time.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

This didn't work for us but it may for your daughter. There were too many exciting thungs going on in the area outside the "napping" room for our DD to relax and fall asleep. The layout may be different on your boat but you walk through the play area to get to the nap area. Our DD had already associated it with fun fun fun. Which isn't a bad thing bc she loved it there.

ETA- we had no issues getting her to relax and fall asleep in our cabin. I'd then head out on the balcony with a book while DH and DD napped.