Enforcing naps for older kids

[dprincessmom]

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.

My DD is not a napper by nature - but at WDW she will. When she was 5 she would fight us so we started calling it rest time. The next couple of trips we stuck with that wording. Our routine is the same (when we travel in the summer) cool off shower and back into jammies, low lights, cool AC and either a book, tablet or quiet TV. Typically by the time I am ready to lay down for a few minutes she has been passed out for a while.

I don't force a nap on her, but I do force a rest break - after the first day, it usually isn't even a discussion.

 

[Dizlvr]

If my older kids took a nap they'd never go to sleep at night. We don't take breaks but we aren't commandos either. We get to the parks late morning or early afternoon and stay late.
You have to do what works for your family.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

If my older kids took a nap they'd never go to sleep at night. We don't take breaks but we aren't commandos either. We get to the parks late morning or early afternoon and stay late.
You have to do what works for your family.

My older kids are the same way. If they sleep during the day, they get completely thrown off. My oldest has always had a hard time getting up in the mornings. If he happens to fall asleep during the day, we have to get him up all over again. It's best if he just stays awake. My younger son can go 100 miles an hour in the parks all day long, so no nap needed for him. We do enjoy taking long meal and snack breaks where everyone puts their feet up and chills out for a while. I like people watching, while the rest tend to bury their noses in their phones! It's relaxing and gets us to slow down and recharge.

 

[Tiffylv]

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[Nancyg56]

No one is forced to nap, rest, or relax but we always go back to the resort and after swimming and a shower most of the time we all either fall asleep or at least rest. We tend to have early days and late nights so even those of us who never take a nap at home will fall asleep for a bit

 

[monorailmom]

While some of my "kids" are technically adults, we still always head back to the room for a rest. We have a ban on using our phones while in the Parks and at restaurants...but they are allowed on busses and at the resort. They love just laying on their beds and "catching up" with their phones. It definitely helps them relax in their own way and puts us all in much better shape for an evening out.

 

[pooh4evr]

No , never our are now 14, 12 and 8 none of them napped past 3 yrs old. We have gone back to the hotel once during the day to swim in the 6 trips we have taken them on over the last 10 years. Wearer open droppers, and park closers. When they were little (11mos has been the youngest we have had on a trip) they napped in the stroller. They would be more upset to leave the parks! No way jose!

 

[maxiesmom]

By age 10 no, no forced naps. I would judge on a day by day basis. Some days everyone is fine and can keep going, other days a ap could be a great thing! I wouldn't force anyone 10 or over to nap though.

 

[AshleeH]

We have older boys and a younger girl - we plan on nap times for the toddler, obviously. My husband takes the boys swimming, then we they get back to the room, my husband and I take a nap. My boys usually end up playing/watching TV quietly or occasionally taking a catnap. Once our daughter is awake, we go through the motions of preparing to go back to the parks. It's worked out well on the last two trips and the trip we took when I was pregnant with her.

 

[travelgirl06]

At summer camp we had "flat on bunk" time even through middle school age, you could do whatever you wanted as long as you were quiet and flat on your own bunk. This way people who wanted a nap could get one, everyone rested their bodies and if anyone was tired enough they would likely fall asleep.

That said, I can barely get my almost 4YO to nap at home. She frequently just plays in her room quietly during "rest time", but if we have a big adventure (swimming, amusement park, lots of time outside) she'll conk out wherever and take a long nap.

 

[luvmy2babies]

It hasn’t worked well for us. My older child would either not relax at all, which would defeat the purpose of going back or she’d get too relaxed and not want to leave the resort again that day. I’ve had both happen. The first resulted in a “My feet hurt” meltdown on the walk from MK to Chef Mickey’s after she’d bounced around the room instead of resting. The latter resulted in me missing MSEP and Wishes on one of our trips.

We’ve done okay a couple of times; but the times it didn’t go well were enough to let me know we just aren’t midday break people. She finally told me that trip she just doesn’t like to leave the resort after coming back and getting relaxed. It’s just me and my children; so I go at their pace. Even the times we just came back to change and clean up for a dinner reservation it was a little tough; so now we rarely do it. Most days we tour from rope drop to about 2 or 3, then spend the rest of the day at the resort. Or if we want to do fireworks at MK we sleep in and relax until between 1 and 3, then head over there and stay until after Wishes. The day after doing that we go to Epcot because it’s the only park we don’t “rope drop”. We sleep in a bit and hit it around 10:30 or 11 and tour until dinner time which is about 6pm for us.

We generally go in the summer so this works because we have a decent amount of pool time and time off our feet and still get to do what we want to do in the parks. Now this is our summer touring style. In 2011, we went to Orlando in October. It was much cooler plus it was a shorter trip; so, we went open to almost close each day with my younger one napping in the stroller and had no issues.

 

[ophelia2002]

Others might have already posted this, but I don't call it "nap time"- I call it quiet time. I tell them that MOM needs to rest and they need to lay quietly- they don't have to sleep. Nine times out of 10, they conk out.

 

[DocDCT]

Others might have already posted this, but I don't call it "nap time"- I call it quiet time. I tell them that MOM needs to rest and they need to lay quietly- they don't have to sleep. Nine times out of 10, they conk out.

How old are they? This is exactly the situation I was thinking about, when they ARE tired, but don't want to admit it.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

If I would have let mine nap at that time of day at that age they would have been up all night. I'd plan this one carefully.

 

[ophelia2002]

How old are they? This is exactly the situation I was thinking about, when they ARE tired, but don't want to admit it.

Last trip they were 8 and 10.

 

[Pesky]

I couldn't force anyone to nap on our last trip. Trust me, DH and I WANTED to nap but the kids were too wound up. We simply had a rest and some downtime. So while you might be able to do that, I don't know if you can count on a nap. What I've found can help is a swim and then suggest nap or rest time. For some reason, everyone conks out after the pool.

 

[DCbride]

DH and I need a break every day. So we go back, close the drapes, turn up the air and have tv on no sound. Sometimes she naps but we all get a break from stimulation.

 

[quakechicago]

They might not nap the first or second day, but eventually they will

 

[snoopy5386]

Just would never happen here. Never once since they have gotten past the toddler napping stage have my kids fallen asleep in front of the TV, not when sick, not at midnight, never.

 

[ForeverAlice]

We tell our children if they don't nap we won't go back in the evening!!! A bit harsh, but they know we mean it and they go to sleep!! But we use the boat to get back to resort and skip MK driving so that may be why it works great for us. The other parks we just do for a few mornings...