Kids and naps

[ChrizJen]

For those of you with children past the "napping" stages...
Did they just automatically outgrow the need for naps? Or did you have to "wean" them off of them?
I have a 4-yr-old DD (just turned 4 in April) who still very much needs a nap (at least 45 minutes to an hour) or else she's melting down by 5pm!! She's in a pre-school program, and they still have "naptime". She takes full advantage of that time, while a lot of the other kids in the program just sit quietly on their cots reading or playing quietly. So my "concern" I suppose you could call it is that next year when she's headed to kindergarten, am I going to have issues with the whole nap thing? Or will it just sort of work itself out like many things do? I know, probably a silly question in the grand scheme of things, but I'm just curious to know if there's something I need to do to make her more ready for big-girl school.

And then there's the issue that started last night of the monsters under her bed...but that's probably for another thread...

 

[shirleyb]

My kids got to the point I could not force them to take a nap. They usually just went to bed earlier instead.

 

[mickeyboat]

DD10 was still taking daily naps at 4. She started being difficult to get to sleep at night, so we knew that she needed to give up that afternoon nap.

Is your DD going to full day or half day K? She will be exhausted when she gets home from half day K, and will probably want a nap.

Our school is full day K, and they still have the kids rest for a while during the day. Sometimes they fall asleep, sometimes they don't. They lessen the rest time throughout the year so the kids will be ready for a full day without rest next year.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd's are 20 and 14 and still take naps.

But back then I had to force the older dd to not nap. She was the let's sleep for 5hrs in the afternoon and stay up till late late late. I did have to break her of that. It was torture but eventually it worked itself out.

Well she is now in her element since she is in college now.

The youngest was the kid who went and took a nap on her own everyday. She would sneak off and you would go in her room and she was sleeping.

She is going to come home from school today and go to sleep. Then I wake her up later for homework and dinner.

 

[design_mom]

My DD "outgrew" naps before I was ready for her to, but my DS was a napper. I was worried about him when he went to full-day kindergarten, but he did fine. It took him a little while to adjust -- and he went to bed early some evenings and still took naps on the weekends -- but before long, he'd given up naps entirely.

I wouldn't stress yourself out. I believe it will all work out.

 

[NaLisa]

My DD7 would still nap if I let her, while my DD6 fought naps tooth and nail starting at age 2. Kindergarten teachers take into consideration that some children need naps while other don't. In the two different schools where my DDs attended kindergarten, both teachers had "rest time" for the first half of the year, then stopped doing naps/rest altogether after the winter break. When there was rest time, those children who didn't sleep were allowed to quietly look at books.

I wouldn't worry about it and I would let your DD guide your decision about whether to continue or end nap time.

 

[dngnb8]

Mu DD14 out grew it. I didnt.

 

[ChrizJen]

She'll be in full-day Kindergarten. I hadn't spoken with the school about it yet, but I figured there would still probably be a "rest" period. I'm sure that as long as they gradually reduce the time over the course of the school year, she'll be fine by the time she gets to first grade...ACK! I'm talking about kindergarten and first grade!! When did my baby girl get so big?!?!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

My DD quit napping at around 2 1/2. After that I could make her have "quiet time," but sometimes she would sleep and sometimes she wouldn't. She's 3 1/2 now, and I still enforce quiet time, although some days she is more resistant than others.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Both of my children stopped napping about the time they turned 3. I started to notice that when they did nap, it became impossible to get them to go to sleep at a decent time at night.

If your child is napping and still falling asleep at night, I wouldn't change anything right now. I would worry about kindergarten when it gets here....don't borrow trouble. We have all day kindergarten here and they start the year with a "quiet" time with nap mats and then gradually stop. By the end of the year, they only use them if it's an exceptional day.

 

[mommasita]

She'll be in full-day Kindergarten. I hadn't spoken with the school about it yet, but I figured there would still probably be a "rest" period. I'm sure that as long as they gradually reduce the time over the course of the school year, she'll be fine by the time she gets to first grade...ACK! I'm talking about kindergarten and first grade!! When did my baby girl get so big?!?!

Wow. that is so incredible... I still remember your excitement!

Mine are 15 and 12, and I feel the same way

Mine had to stop napping at 4, otherwise they would be up until midnight ..

In K it just all worked out. I believe (memory here) their rest period was 15 to 20 minutes. They each went a full day. It does just all work out. Every child is different.

Hope you are all doing well

 

[Poohforyou]

If your DD is going to full day kindergarten she'll likely have a rest period. My DD still really needed a nap in 1st grade but of course didn't get one. There were many nights where she fell asleep before dinner and slept through the night. It took a few months for her to get used to not having a nap.

 

[Bethenny]

I know this isn't the question you asked, but if she just turned 4, why are you starting K already? I would wait a year to send her, especially if she's still napping.

 

[jjant72]

I know this isn't the question you asked, but if she just turned 4, why are you starting K already? I would wait a year to send her, especially if she's still napping.

Indeed...never heard of a school district that would let a kid start K until he/she was 5 years old within a few days of the start of the school year. Our DS won't be able to start K until he is turning 6 because he would turn 5 about 3 days after the school year starts (unless we went to a private-K that allows younger kids, but that is cost prohibitive).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So out of my element. My kids give up naps somewhere between 18 months and 2 years.

I also remember having quiet rest times on mats in first grade back in 1980.

 

[bas71873]

She'll be in full-day Kindergarten. I hadn't spoken with the school about it yet, but I figured there would still probably be a "rest" period. I'm sure that as long as they gradually reduce the time over the course of the school year, she'll be fine by the time she gets to first grade...ACK! I'm talking about kindergarten and first grade!! When did my baby girl get so big?!?!

My DD(almost 8) was a big time napper and a great sleeper. She still comes home and falls asleep on occassion. I know in Kindy, they still had a rest time and I believe it was 45 minutes, but her teacher said DD always fell asleep. We moved 1/2 way through Kindy and her new school did not have rest time and it was tough the first few weeks. Sometimes she would fall asleep in the car on the way home and I literally lived less than 10 minutes away from the school. Of course once she hit first grade, there was no more nap time and I will never forget her coming home after her first day of school and telling me she was SOOOOO tired and that there was just too much thinking in first grade. And she promptly fell asleep. She did the same thing again this year when she started 2nd grade.

Your DD will be fine. She'll adjust. Just be prepared to give her some down time when she gets home and let her sleep for an hour if she needs it

 

[smitch425]

took the strangest naps! They would either sleep for 3 hours OR if they just closed their eyes for a prolonged blink for like 5 seconds that was considered their nap and they would go about their day! LOL! They were both done with naps well before age 2, but every now and then my DS(6) will crash when he gets home from school (he is in PM K), but usually it's only if he is sick or didn't sleep well the night before. There is a lot of growing that can happen over the summertime. I would suggest that if she is used to taking naps at a particular time of the day that you try to be doing something out of the house during that time to wean her off of the midday nap.

 

[laughinplace199]

My older kids both stopped napping around 3 yrs old. They went to full day kindergarten when they were 5. Our kindergarten does not have rest time, and I'll admit, the first few weeks of school were challenging. They did fine at school but would fall apart when they got home because they were so tired. Over time, they got used to the new schedule and did fine.

My youngest is 4 and still naps 1.5-2 hrs a day. He won't be going to K next year because he won't be 5 until October. It'a another year of preschool for him. So, if he still needs naps, he'll be able to take them.

 

[diznygirl]

Naps for us stopped before preschool. For kindergarten - full day - they would come home tired and there would be a meltdown by dinner if I didn't arrange for some quiet time as soon as they got home. By the end of kindergarten that wasn't needed anymore.