Yes, Kylie has officially stopped taking her nap.
I wanted so desperately for her to keep napping through the month of September--through the start of school, through my Dad's Florida visit, through my trip to CA. I kept praying, "Can she please just nap until October?"
But it was not to be. When I put her down, she would pop up ten or more times. I was getting frustrated and so was she. So last week, we said goodbye to the the nap. And once again, I'm trying to find my way with a change in our schedule. I miss our pre-nap ritual. We would read 3 or 4 books and have some snuggles. I miss being able to do chores around the house for an hour without Kylie asking to "help" or to play with her. I miss my computer time. I miss the quiet.
The good news is that Kylie is more than ready to go to sleep at 7pm (our usual time) if not a little earlier. We are getting no resistance about going to bed then. The bad news is that she can get a bit grumpy in the late afternoon.
I can hear some of you out there in blogland scoffing a bit because your babies stopped napping at two years old or earlier. So I do feel incredibly grateful that I got 3 years and 4 months of naps. I promise I'll try to stop whining soon.
Do any of you have a "quiet time" or "story time" as part of your routine? If so, will you share the steps or process of your quiet time with me in the comments along with the time that you have it and how long it lasts? I think it would be good for Kylie and I since we lost our scheduled story time before her nap.
Here is a recent scrapbook page.
7 comments:
Leaving naps behind is rough I'm sure. Angie (4.5) and Lulu (3.5) still take one 2 hour nap a day at about 1or 2 pm with bedtime at 8pm. Lu is always ready to nap but Angie sometimes is a problem. If it were just Angie we'd probably do quiet time for an hour. Read or play quietly in your room. I'm dreading when the girls no longer nap because I NEED that time! Good luck with your new schedule.
I do quiet time right after lunch which is when nap time was. Slowly transitioned from naps to quiet time. I would do the same nap time routine but then leave him in his room to play quietly or rest if he wanted. Usually about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how well he keeps himself entertained. You have to have a break as a parent so you have to instill some quiet time. It is good for the kid as well as they learn to entertain themselves. Plus they need a break from us!!
I agree with your other commenters. Gotta have the "quiet time" in place of the nap. Same pre-rituals, same everything, but just give her books or something to entertain herself while playing on her bed. My son (at almost 5) still takes a nap, god bless him, but if my daughter (16 months) has napped in the morning then she won't in the afternoon. Either way, at about 2:00, both kids go in their beds to either nap or quiet time. Us Mommy's need some time alone too! :)
My son is just a few months younger than Kylie and we are on our second week of no naps. We do rest time but it is not restful for me, he is constantly trying to get my attention and ask me questions and bang on the door. I miss our nap routine, we would snuggle a bit. Now he tells me to leave. I think reading a few stories and then telling her it is quiet time is a good idea. Good luck!
Why not continue your existing ritual of books or have Kylie do books on her own.
Sometimes we watch a tv program or read books. Sometimes we just let Riley play on her own. We don't do anything set, only when we see she needs a break which is not every day.
I was lucky in that my kids both napped until they started afternoon preschool at the age of 4 and then I had to wean them from their naps. We're actually in the process with my younger one now.
We do quiet time when she gets home from school, or on weekends, after lunch. We read a book and then she goes to her room for the duration of a CD. The CDs she has to pick from have to be at least a half hour long. More often than not she falls asleep during quiet time and then I have to wake her up so she'll sleep at night. I hate doing that. She gets so grumpy, but I need to or we'll all be up half the night. If she had her way she'd still be napping 1-2 hours a day instead of a the 30-45 minutes I'm allowing her now.
I totally feel your pain. Savvy has decided that she doesn't want to nap at home anymore-- and I SO miss her naptimes. It seemed like the only time we ever got anything done. :)
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