Enforcing naps for older kids

[DocDCT]

Everybody knows the importance of naps for the little ones, but I think that there may be some days in a Disney trip when even older kids may benefit from an afternoon nap, expecially when a late night is planned.

Have you ever enforced a nap for kids 10 years old or over? Did they protest or could be convinced easily?
I've read that a good trick is to avoid talking about a nap and just ask them to lay down for a while in a dark, quiet room, they often fall asleep against their will.

 

[aaarcher86]

I think if you go back to the resort the older kids will nap if they need to. But if they don't want to or fight the sleep there's really nothing you can do aside from force feeding some Benadryl.

 

[Baklava]

"We are all going back to the hotel for a break" has always worked just fine. It helps to set the expectation in the morning or even before the trip and to make it time for everyone to lie down.

 

[amygphillips]

No I do not think they will nap when they are older. I don't even take my toddlers, preschoolers, or elementary age kids out to nap. The littles might nap in stroller but that's it. To me it wastes a ton of time to leave the park and come back. However if we were staying super late then we might let everyone sleep in that morning... This works well with my 15 yr old. Also if you are OK with leaving the park for a few hours everyone could have downtime at the resort to swim or watch a movie. We are open to close people for the most part with 4 kids in tow ages 11 months to 15 yrs. BUT everyone does Disney differently... No right or wrong! Whatever u chose will best for your family.enjoy your trip!

 

[Thing 1]

You cant forced an older child to nap, but you can enforce a rest period back at the resort. For me, swimming is not a break. Resting on the bed in a quite dark room is. We don't rest every single day but many or most days we will. Drapes drawn, TV on low, no games or toys. I always fall asleep. DH always falls asleep and oldest DS occasionally will, but the little guys rarely does and has not since about 5. It still helps a lot to make our days better and our nights later.

 

[DocDCT]

You cant forced an older child to nap, but you can enforce a rest period back at the resort. For me, swimming is not a break. Resting on the bed in a quite dark room is. We don't rest every single day but many or most days we will. Drapes drawn, TV on low, no games or toys. I always fall asleep. DH always falls asleep and oldest DS occasionally will, but the little guys rarely does and has not since about 5. It still helps a lot to make our days better and our nights later.

This is exactly what I mean. Obviously no one can be actually forced to sleep without using drugs, but you can make them rest and relax so that they are more likely to fall asleep even if they don't admit they're tired. Some kids will fight sleep if they know you want them to nap, they won't if you just ask them to relax for a short time.

 

[worm761]

No. Not even on our later nights. The only time we have ever gone back to the resort in the middle of the day was when I was pregnant with DD and that was because I needed the rest.

We are planning on doing MNSSHP this year and my plan is to let DD sleep in as late as she wants. And not have an early morning the day after.

 

[Alesia]

My family finds that going back to the hotel and trying to nap to be much more exhausting than just staying in the park.

Having someone tell you to lay down and be quiet when your Adrenalin is pumping and your brain won't shut off just makes everything worse. For us it's much better to slow down for a bit in the parks every couple of hours by getting a snack, going to a slow-paced theater show like the Hall of Presidents, or even hopping to another park.

 

[GusGus77]

We have tried it (and kids were only 2 and 4 but had long since given up napping already) and it was way more stress than it was worth. We spent the whole time telling the kids to quiet down, lay down, etc. all to protests of "we did! We rested already!" ( for about 30 seconds!) we were exhausted from fighting with the kids over resting! We found it was much better to just let them sleep in until they naturally woke up and then went on with the day.

 

[katyjeka]

Our girls usually do not nap at disney. We no longer rush them from ride to ride, and try to walk at our youngest daughters pace. When she seems tired we find a quiet place to grab a snack and a few "down" minutes. In regards to our ten year old napping, unless she's sick it's never gonna happen. Now my dh and I, we'd nap everyday if we could but that too is never gonna happen. (Darn kids won't allow it)Have a great time.

 

[3Gsandme]

I really don't see how it's possible to force a nap for a kid of any age. I've never had luck with that at all once I stopped nursing.

I think having down time is a good idea, if your family needs to take it, but I can't imagine how I'd get my kids to nap if they didn't want to

 

[Newsies]

I am the queen of naps (during the summer I take one almost every day) and I find it impossible to nap while I'm at Disney. The only time my family has ever had a collective nap at Disney was the first night we arrived and we had just eaten lunch and everyone had a headache. The rest of the time, if my family wanted to "cool down", we'd go back to the resort and go to the pool- we just can't sit down in a quiet, dark room knowing there's so much fun to be had outside! That being said, we all slept incredibly well every night and woke up refreshed in the morning. It's hard to enforce naps, especially between the ages of, say, 8-13. Once my sister and I were around 14 years old, naps became less of a burden and more of a blessing.

 

[Disneylvr]

Now that my daughter is older (12), we don't nap at the resort but we do return each afternoon to have some down time, swim, relax...but rarely sleep.

 

[Superchikk]

I think it depends on what your kids are used to. My almost 8 year-old doesn't nap anymore, but we do have daily "rest time" in the afternoons, where he watches a movie or reads. It really does help him recharge his batteries, even though he doesn't sleep. We did nap (parents too!) on our last trip, and we will most likely plan for afternoon rest times on our upcoming trip. We may skip them on nights we're planning on leaving the park early, but we'll definitely need some downtime on nights we're staying for fireworks.

 

[Lilliputian]

We have daily "nap time" at home when little people sleep and the bigger kids have to read quietly. We do the same thing at WDW most days, and if they're tired, they'll fall asleep. We homeschool, so my older ones are used to having a quiet reading time every afternoon year-round.

You can't make people sleep. I can't even make myself sleep sometimes. You can insist that they stay in bed and rest. What they're used to, your kids' personality, and a multitude of other factors will impact how well it works.

 

[sprousehouse]

We've TRIED and it never seems to work. Mostly it turns into a fight with me insisting they be quiet and them ignoring me. My kids are up at the same hour every day, regardless of how late they go to bed. So my plan is to skip nighttime activities, focus on RD and see how it goes. My kids are more interested in rides than in fireworks, parades or characters so hopefully this will be a good strategy.

 

[DocDCT]

Maybe the word "nap" is improper, but it is possible to make them lie down, then they may fall asleep or not. Many kids may not need it, but some probably do at least when both an early morning and a late night are planned.

 

[tink9702]

We've TRIED and it never seems to work. Mostly it turns into a fight with me insisting they be quiet and them ignoring me. My kids are up at the same hour every day, regardless of how late they go to bed. So my plan is to skip nighttime activities, focus on RD and see how it goes. My kids are more interested in rides than in fireworks, parades or characters so hopefully this will be a good strategy.

this is our situation. My kids have a very hard time being quiet and end up talking/bouncing/won't lay still. They also wake up early daily. On our last trip we skipped all the nighttime activities, made RD every day and they made it until 7pm at the parks almost daily. Our next trip I'm planning on a couple late nights followed by late mornings/no park days.

 

[gatormom2tots]

Last trip my older kids were 9 and 8...and we ALL nap.

The expectation has always been that they nap at Disney- we have been going since they were 3 and 4. But we stay at accommodations where there are at least 2 bedrooms so they get a room to watch tv and nap and so do my husband and I. I our philosophy has always been, if you don't fall asleep that's fine. But mom and dad are napping so you WILL stay in your room and watch tv quietly. It has worked EVERY TIME.

With getting up to make rope drop and not getting back to the resort before 11ish at the earliest everynight, it has NEVER been a problem. The problem arises getting them back up sometimes!

 

[Rampy94]

Maybe not nap, but definitely rest. I have an 18yr old, 17yr old and a 14 yr old.