The nap dilemma
My youngest turns 3 at the end of June and that means her naps may be coming to an end. She's been resisting for a couple weeks now, much to my dismay. You see, this little girl is a bundle of energy so the afternoon rest allows me to have a little downtime of my own. Most of the time is spent cleaning up after our morning activities, doing laundry or putting away dishes but it's MY TIME.
This week, she was determined not to nap. She went in for her usual time and occupied herself for about an hour with playing, singing, laughing, jumping and pretty much expelling as much energy as she could.
Around 5pm, the house was silent, which is a rare occurance. I went into the living room to see this...
So, we will keep the naptime expectation for as long as we can! I found that an almost 3 year old waking at 6pm, is a very cranky almost 3 year old!
This week, she was determined not to nap. She went in for her usual time and occupied herself for about an hour with playing, singing, laughing, jumping and pretty much expelling as much energy as she could.
Around 5pm, the house was silent, which is a rare occurance. I went into the living room to see this...
I have been going through the same thing with my girls. I expected it from my now 5 yr old but My 3 yr old has given them up too. She still needs them and gets cranky or goes through what I call the witching hour everyday at about 5. How I miss nap time! Encourage her to rest as much as you can - she obviously still needs it but as they get older they fight it - it's natural
ReplyDeleteYup, we're in the same boat. Naps are needed about 5 days out of 7. The days she fights it, this is what we do: She goes down at about 1:30. If she isn't asleep by 3 I usually know it's not going to happen so then i let her stay up (with a discussion about how she can't be whiney or she needs to go to bed). If she does sleep (especially if she goes to sleep later) we wake her at 5 because otherwise she doesn't go to sleep at bedtime. Days we have to wake her and the days she doesn't sleep (and goes to bed early) are BRUTAL suppertime battles. I think this is one of my least favourite transitions!
ReplyDeleteI am right there with you, no nap today, but I shall continue to keep on trying and somedays I get lucky!!
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