Of those of you with little ones Jeanne's age, do your kids still take a nap? Jeannie sleeps like a big dog from about 3 or 4:00-6 or 6:30 each afternoon. She's always been a good sleeper, and if I hadn't been so sick with depression after she was born I could have had her on a better schedule right away. She gets sleepy right around the same time every day.
Becky~ Gracie just turned 5 (in June). She has never been on a nap schedule (or, I should say, since she's moved out of a crib). I never enforced a naptime with her, because she's always been such an easy kid. With Ashley, it was enforced, more than anything because I needed a break now and then! (I was also babysitting several other kids at the time, so naptime was "my time"!) Some days, Gracie will just drop and sleep somewhere in the late afternoon. Or, if we go somewhere, she often sleeps in the car. But, no, no nap here.
I never put her on a nap schedule, she just naturally goes into a zone about 2p.m. she'll watch a video and have a snack, then we'll go up to her room and read a few stories. By no later than 4 she's tucked in and asleep.
Becky, each kid is different. If you were to go into an all-day kindergarten class, they have a "rest time" in the afternoon, usually right after lunch. Some kids fall asleep; most just lay there quiet and rest. The classes that I was in (subbing) had the general rule of NOT disturbing a child that fell asleep during rest time. When it was "over" after a half-hour or 45 minutes, any sleeping child was allowed to continue sleeping until they woke up on their own, or they had to woken up to go home. If Jeanie needs her nap, then by all means let her do it! With my kids, I transiitioned from Nap Time to Reading Time. I most recently did this with Phillip. He was sometimes falling asleep, sometimes not. So I would send him to his room for a half-hour "rest". If he fell asleep, fine. If not, after his half-hour rest, he could read in his room for another half-hour. Now he just does the reading (as does his sisters), and that's my Mommy Time. Occasionally (very rare) he will ask if he can rest insteaf of read, and I will let him.)
My ds is 4 and he gave up naps at about 3 I guess. However, if he gets up too early or has had a really active day he will take a nap on the couch if he gets too still in the afternoon. He also naps in the car if we are out late in the afternoon. I taught kindergarten for a long time. It was funny to hear so many parents ask about naptime. They would often say that their child NEVER took naps and surely wouldn't at school. Their kids were usually the ones that DID go to sleep. Full-day kindergarten is exhausting for some children and they really need that nap. My kids are kind of hyper and they often can't wind down enough to go to sleep. :cry:
Oh I wish lol, I cant remember when the last time my youngest took a nap, he is 5 and seems to have so much energy, he would stay up until 11pm if i would let him. I think he would have been about 2 when he stopped
My oldest rarely slept at all, starting from when we brought him home from the hospital! My 2nd slept almost all the time, and took naps until he found out other 9-yo's didn't nap! :lol: he stopped then, but he still needs lots of sleep at night or he can't handle life in general! My 3rd was in between, and stopped naps around age 5 or 6. My younger two liked naps enough to ASK if they could take one when they felt tired! I loved it! I encouraged them to listen to what their body needed, not what their friends said, and it worked well! I did install a QRT (Quiet Reading Time) pretty much everyday. We'd have lunch, playtime, then QRT. They learned to enjoy that and still ask for it! We usually did that for 45 minutes. That was my rejuvenating time! :wink:
My 11 year old still takes a nap almost every day. He has a muscle problem and it makes him very tired. You can always tell when he needs a nap he will get so cranky that you can't stand to be near him. He will usually lay down after lunch and sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. He has done this almost everyday of his life. I love nap times. My daughter stopped taking naps at 11mons old. She would just lay in her crib and play, but she never slept. Some kids need lots of sleep and others need very little. Now our ds has to be in bed by 9:00 or he will fall asleep no matter where he is, and he gets up around 8:30 or 9:00. Our dd can stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and be up at 7:30. Naps are great for moms.
LOL. I haven't had real sleep since July 4th, 1986- the night before Kevin was born!! He's 19 years old yesterday, girls! And he's got a lady friend now!!!! :shock: :wink:
I would be lost if Tanner didn't take naps. Especially when all my preschool kids are here, nap time is part of the written curriculum (per my handbook). That's my lunch break! Tanner also gets SOOOO unbelievably crabby if he doesn't take a nap. He's so grumpy and he'll fall over by 5pm if he doesn't have one. I'm gonna keep the naps a must until he absolutely wont take them anymore. I need to keep my sanity.
5 o'clock must be a universal meltdown time, because I've heard more than one person say their kid is okay without a nap until 5 o'clock. Jeanne is the same way.
