Why Won't She Nap??!!

[Sprouts]

My daughter who is going to be 4 soon has always given a hard time when it came to naps. Since I started the daycare and have had a regular routine for her she has layed down and fallen asleep. She DEF. needs naps, because if she doesn't take one she is a rude little monster, i know it sounds harsh but thats what is when nap is passed due. I play background noise, worked the first few times...but am at wits end. I also have another little girl who I watch who doesn't take naps, so as soon as my daughter sleeps i let her do quiet activities, but now my daughter is saying she "doesn't need naps anymore like so and so".....any advice?? My husband thinks he knows it all "ooh I didn't take naps at her age, blah blah blah" but I would like to see him with his kids all day (this might be another thread)

I am all ears....help!

[Heidi]

My daughter who is going to be 4 soon has always given a hard time when it came to naps. Since I started the daycare and have had a regular routine for her she has layed down and fallen asleep. She DEF. needs naps, because if she doesn't take one she is a rude little monster, i know it sounds harsh but thats what is when nap is passed due. I play background noise, worked the first few times...but am at wits end. I also have another little girl who I watch who doesn't take naps, so as soon as my daughter sleeps i let her do quiet activities, but now my daughter is saying she "doesn't need naps anymore like so and so".....any advice?? My husband thinks he knows it all "ooh I didn't take naps at her age, blah blah blah" but I would like to see him with his kids all day (this might be another thread)

I am all ears....help!

Honestly, my kids didn't nap at that age anymore either, they just had quiet time in their rooms. I could count on them to keep the door closed and be quiet for 2 1/2 hours, yes that's right, ladies and gentlemen, it can be done! The deal was, you do not have to nap, but you do have to stay in your room for nap time. Every once in a blue moon, they would willingly crawl into bed and go to sleep, but not often. We had a similar deal at night. You don't have to sleep, but you DO have to stay in bed. Books or small toys (my oldest favored matchbox cars or brio trains), were ok, as well as a small light. They always stayed in bed, because they knew that if they got up, it would be lights out.

I have frustrations with my kids just like anyone, naptime or bedtime was just, fortunately, not one of them.

[AmandasFCC]

Yeah, my 3 year old has recently began to give up her naps. Sometimes she still sleeps but for the most part, she knows to stay in her room with the door closed, bring some books to bed and read for 2 hours. As long as I don't hear her, frankly I don't care what she does. If I go into my laundry room often I can hear her telling stories to her stuffies (because it's directly below her room), and I know on those days that she'll need to go to bed earlier than when she naps.

[sharlan]

My 4 1/2 yo gave up his naps at 3 1/2. I let him stay downstairs and watch Sprout. I can't put him in his room because he quietly sneaks out and gets into his mom's scrap booking stuff, destroying stuff.

I tried calming music cds, fan, ceiling fan, fish tank, threats, and bribes, but nothing worked.

The 3 1/2 yo still gets naps most days. If he doesn't fall asleep within 5 mins, I bring him down.

[caligirl]

Ok, here is the trick.........

Have her lay on her bed, give her books to read.......get a timer of some sort.......set the timer up on her dresser where she cannot touch it......Tell her that she has to have 'quiet time' while the kids are napping......and that she has to lay in her bed, read her books quietly until the timer goes off.....Tell her that if she doesn't lay there quietly, then you will have to start the timer all over again until she does. Tell her you will be checking on her to make sure she stays in her bed and she is quiet.........Mine always fell asleep after about a half hour.....then I'd sneak in and take the timer out and turn it off LOL so they would nap longer. Now, if THAT doesn't work........tell her that mommy needs rest time too and that you are going to lay down in a little while, so she has to too

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

We have a 4 yr old who also NEEDS a nap or she is one very very grumpy little girl and really emotional that afternoon. She takes the longest to go to sleep and is the hardest to wake up... She will NOT go to sleep until she knows everyone else is asleep and nothing else is going on. If anyone of the other children are awake, she will not nap either (and then everyone gets to pay for it later ). This summer we had several school agers and on the days they went to sleep, she would too. On the days even one of them stayed awake (they still had to do quiet time on their cot, but for school age we allowed a "Quiet time bag" of quiet activties for them after all the preschoolers were asleep), she would make herself stay awake also (although she just had to lay there without anything to do). Now that school is back in session, she naps everyday unless we have a random day of another child not sleeping. I know almost all of our children would stay awake if they thought someone else got to do something besides nap, so I wonder if maybe that could be what's going on for your 4 yr old? She realizes that another child gets to stay awake and do quiet activities, so she keeps herself awake, as well. After all, she might miss out on something is there anyway to keep your dd from knowing the other child is awake and doing activities? like putting the other child in another room, or having dcd sleep maybe on your couch in same room as you? At least then you'd know if she got up, and she wouldn't be able to see the others. And make sure the other child doesn't say anything around your daughter, "spilling the beans" that she gets to get up!

[Heidi]

Ok, here is the trick.........

Have her lay on her bed, give her books to read.......get a timer of some sort.......set the timer up on her dresser where she cannot touch it......Tell her that she has to have 'quiet time' while the kids are napping......and that she has to lay in her bed, read her books quietly until the timer goes off.....Tell her that if she doesn't lay there quietly, then you will have to start the timer all over again until she does. Tell her you will be checking on her to make sure she stays in her bed and she is quiet.........Mine always fell asleep after about a half hour.....then I'd sneak in and take the timer out and turn it off LOL so they would nap longer. Now, if THAT doesn't work........tell her that mommy needs rest time too and that you are going to lay down in a little while, so she has to too

good plan!

[Sprouts]

I like all of the ideas, especially her being in her room, I am just kind of nervous leaving her unsupervised...and the other girl gets emotional "I want mommy"...so if my daughter leaves she might feel some sort of way...I know my daughter feels left out maybe....actually today she didn't take a nap and emotionally she seemed more stable then unusual and went to bed early...so we'll see....Thank you all