I Sometimes Wonder If These Kids Nap On Weekends

[Martha Stewart]

I just fail to believe that they do.

I always stress the importance of keeping a schedule similar to the one we follow during the week, but I know most of my kids (even the ones under 2) just get dragged around all weekend and if they catch a quick nap in the car - happyface - but otherwise, no schedule at all. Monday's are especially frustrating.

[Baby lady]

I find they often take really good naps on Monday happyface because they may not have napped much over the weekend

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

That's funny to see a post on here about just that. I find that most of the kids are total train wrecks on Mondays, too, until afternoon and they've had a nice, structured day and a solid nap.

I had 2 DCMs tell me this just last week:

1. DCM of 4mo says "we love to shop and eat out on the weekends, and DCB sleeps in the car some; you know, 20 mins here or there. You keep saying he's such a good boy, so we stayed home this weekend and he took 1.5-2 hour naps a few times, and he was such a happy camper!" Ya think?!

2. DCM of 2yo admitted that he usually doesn't nap at all, just goes till he crashes, sleeps till whatever time in the morning, then does it again on Sunday.

Yeah. On Mondays, everything gets shortened so lunch then nap can happen an hour early. They need it!

[Blackcat31]

I just fail to believe that they do.

I always stress the importance of keeping a schedule similar to the one we follow during the week, but I know most of my kids (even the ones under 2) just get dragged around all weekend and if they catch a quick nap in the car - happyface - but otherwise, no schedule at all. Monday's are especially frustrating.

I totally support the idea of having a similar schedule at home as you have in daycare but as a parent, my child rarely needed a nap on the weekends.

We were much lazier on Saturday and Sundays and spent a good portion of our day just being lazy together. We also attended church on Sundays so my kids did plenty of "resting" during the sermon so I definitely didn't head home to put them down for a nap right afterwards.....kwim?

My kids also slept in a little longer than normal and probably weren't half as active as they were in daycare.

So with that being said, I don't really expect my DCK's to nap on the weekends but I DO expect them to have been in bed early enough the night before care to compensate for having to get up early and begin the "work" week.

[Heidi]

I totally support the idea of having a similar schedule at home as you have in daycare but as a parent, my child rarely needed a nap on the weekends.

We were much lazier on Saturday and Sundays and spent a good portion of our day just being lazy together. We also attended church on Sundays so my kids did plenty of "resting" during the sermon so I definitely didn't head home to put them down for a nap right afterwards.....kwim?

My kids also slept in a little longer than normal and probably weren't half as active as they were in daycare.

So with that being said, I don't really expect my DCK's to nap on the weekends but I DO expect them to have been in bed early enough the night before care to compensate for having to get up early and begin the "work" week.

I'm trying to remember that far back, but I seem to remember doing a lot of mall walking when my first was a baby. We'd time it so he'd take his nap in the stroller while we shopped. Kind of a compromise: he'd get his nap, we'd get to shop. Once we had our second, though, that got tricky, because the older one didn't really nap in a stroller any more. Of course, he was born in the summer, so we could actually go outside. The first one was a January baby.

On the other hand, if we were home or at night, they always slept in their bed, never in ours, so I think when they were in daycare, they had no issues. Once I did daycare, they were in their own beds, on routine, at least 5 out of 7 days anyway.

[nanglgrl]

I agree that the daycare kids are a tad more tired on Mondays, if it's a gloomy Monday even more so.
As much as I think it would be great for parents to follow the same schedule as us I don't expect them to. They've been working all week and probably have a ton of errands to get done before the next week.

[Gemma]

I just fail to believe that they do.

I always stress the importance of keeping a schedule similar to the one we follow during the week, but I know most of my kids (even the ones under 2) just get dragged around all weekend and if they catch a quick nap in the car - happyface - but otherwise, no schedule at all. Monday's are especially frustrating.

I'm pretty sure all but one of mine, if they nap, is in the car.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Monday's are especially frustrating.

I share your frustration. I'm quite sure mine don't nap on the weekends. Not only that, but every single kid event around here seems to be scheduled at a normal kid lunch/naptime--and they all go. Drives me wild. I find it nearly impossible to get them to sleep on Mondays.

[Thriftylady]

I know that kids don't nap on weekends. The parents only have the weekend with them and they cram in all they can. This is where the kids just have to learn the difference between home and daycare. If my kiddos acted overly tired, I may change things up a bit on Mondays to make things go smoother. That is why even though I have a schedule and try to do certain things, it is in my handbook that our schedule is not set in stone. If we need to have a little extra rest time, we do. If we want to play outside a little longer, we do. I offer preschool, but also believe in child led.