Does your 3yo still have a day sleep?

[Willow]

Yes, I know, ANOTHER sleeping question from me! But this time its not about the little man, it's about the little lady - lucky me, just happen to be having drama with both of them at once

DD has always been a pretty good sleeper (well not when she was a tiny baby, but from about 6-8 months). She did have a dummy but we've recently taken it off her, we felt it was time.

She's just turned 3 and has decided that she will not sleep during the day. She was doing a sleep between 1-3pm.

She seems to cope with it OK for a few days but then it seems to catch up with her.

I have to say that I think I've felt it coming for months, I was struggling to get her to sleep during the day even when I was still prg with DS. I've been persisting and keep putting her in her room every day but she does not sleep and does a fair bit of crying some days. I let her cry to an extent because it's more of a tantrum than her being upset IYKWIM. After an hour if she's still awake, I let her out. Most of the time I find her sitting on her bed quietly.

We have the same thing at night, her saying she doesn't want to go to bed, and sometimes she will cry for a few minutes but I am much more able to reason with her at bedtime and she settles much quicker at night. She goes to bed at 7pm and usually wakes around 7.30am.

She has not asked for or mentioned her dummy since before xmas so I am not sure if it's this (ie she can't settle without it) or if she's just come to the point where she doesn't need this sleep.

What are other 3 year olds doing?

[MantaRay]

Willow, Jack isn't quite 3 yet but has been close to dropping his day sleep for a while. He will go for spells of 2 or 3 weeks where he might only have one or two day sleeps the whole time. Luckily he always seems to get over the phase and go back to sleeping well most but not all days. He is asleep atm but didn't sleep yesterday so it is a bit hit and miss. But luckily he is sleeping most of the time atm.

Friends of ours have a DD who dropped her day sleep just shy of 3 1/2. But other kids that age still sleep at day care so I think it depends on the child.

I suggest that you keep persisting for a little while in case it is a phase that she gets past. I am sure you are really dreading her dropping the sleep, especially now while your DS is not sleeping well. GL with it, I hope she goes back to sleeping. If not, I guess there are always DVDs!!

[Michelle71]

Willow - my niece doesn't usually have a day sleep but she is *made* to have one if she is going to be up late or has had a few late nights in a row. Most of the time though she will just lie there talking to herself or her dolls She will be 4 in April but she has been like this for around a year.

[MistyFying]

My son had well and truly dropped his day sleep by 3, and my DD was in the process of dropping it at that age.

[Willow]

OK great, I thought maybe my luck was running out! My sister tells me neither of hers were sleeping during the day at 3 and hadn't been for a while, but my best friend has twins 3 months older than DD and they are still doing 1.5 hours every day (they've always needed lots of sleep though). I don't really know any other kids her age.

I'd love her to keep having this sleep but to be honest she's never been a kid who needed a lot of sleep to function. Right now I'm happy that she still sleeps so well at night!

I think I'll persist for another month or so (or as long as I can stand it!) just in case she does go to sleep some days.

She starts pre school two days a week and I've been told they don't have a sleep there so maybe this is just a natural progression...

[aussienic]

My 4 yr old will still sleep IF I lay down with him.. same goes for my 2 yr old.. They can cope for a few days without it but then bam one day the tantrums start,. so the next day I lay down to get them to sleep..

[~Trish~]

I SWEAR we are living parallel lives LOL! My 3yo DS sleeps between 1-3pm too! My DS still really needs his sleeps though and comes and tells me he wants to go to bed. He literally drags himself there he is so tired. My problem is that he starts 3yo kinder next month and one of the sessions a week starts at 1pm right when he needs his nap. I really don't know how he'll cope, I guess I'm soon to find out!

Anyway, I'm not much help, but just wanted to let you know what my DS does.

[Lea13]

Just dropping in with my own question... sorry to crash! I popped into read because I had no idea when they dropped their day sleeps. And it seems by about 3 is the general age that they are dropped by.

My question is - when they do drop their day sleeps do they go to bed earlier at night?

My DS is 20 months and most certainly still needs his day sleeps for now. He goes to bed at 8.30 and I was hoping that when he dropped his days sleeps he might start going to bed at 7.30... or am I just dreaming lol!

[Willow]

Good question Lea - crash away!

If she has well and truly dropped her sleep then I will be making sure she is in bed by 7pm on the dot. We are a bit flexible now and some nights it's not till 7.15pm, 7.30pm.

Trish - LOL!! I wish my DD was still doing her sleep, it makes life so much easier!

Aussienic - have tried laying down with her, makes no difference, she still doesn't sleep.

[*Nessa*]

Well my DD is just over 31/2 as as i type she is snoring her head off in bed.

Most days she does have her day sleep and sometime sit can be for up to 3 hrs so i def know she is tired. And she gets really cranky about 1 s thats when i put her down, sometimes she goes no worries but other times she cries but is asleep within minutes.

There are only like 3-4 days a month where she doesnt have her day sleep.

Prob not want you want to hear right??

[Willow]

LOL, not really!

But obviously there will be variances, I'm sure there are still some 4 year olds who have their day sleep.

[*Nessa*]

Sorry

[diva det]

I am soo jelous of your girls having kids at 3 that will sleep during the day.

with my twins - DD the week after her 2nd birthday she dropped her day sleep and has never had one since and my DS went to every second day, then every third, fourth, once a week etc until he was 3.

Willow agood way to do is is to skip every other day sleep to start with and see how you go and how they go as well. Try and get them outside playing or doing something the day that they don't sleep, from around 3-5pm as this is the time when they get the most tired and ratty. A vitamin packed smoothie for arvo tea and even a multi vitain taken at around 4pm helps to keep their sugar at a good level and stop them crashing and burning. Bath DD before dinner, even in the arvo, and have her ready for bed as soon as dinner is finished in case she crashes right after tea.
HTH and if you have any other questions just ask. I have just about tried every trick know with my twins as they were shockers, so if it doesn't work - let me know-i have more up my sleeve!!

odette

[mbear]

DD#1 - dropped her day sleep at 2.5 years ...grrr
DD#2 - 22 months still has her 1-3pm sleep.

Both are in bed by 7pm.....

Yep, defn depends on the child. I know a little girl who is in yr 1 this year and she has day sleeps on sat and sun when she is off school....her busy week knocks it out of her.

We introduced 'rest time' to DD#1 at 2.5 years. Whether it be watching a DVD, lying on her bed looking at her books (something she does now, rather than at 2.5 yrs), we found her little body and mind still needed a rest.

You may notice every 2nd or 3rd day she may need a sleep...other times just a rest.

[Charlyfrog]

DD#1 just turned 3 a couple of months ago. Just before that we had started reducing her naps from 2/2.5hrs to 1.5 as it was messing with her going to sleep at night (still awake at 9.30pm in her bed!) Now she still has an hour nap and if she is still asleep at the hour mark, we wake her otherwise her 7pm bedtime is thrown out. And we try and make sure she has her nap earlier in the afternoon (ie 1 - 2pm etc) so there is a big gap from the time she gets up and bedtime for the night.........as in enough time to completely wear herself out

We are able to be more flexible with her now, on the odd occasion doesn't have a nap at all, especially if we are out and about but we try not to let that happen for more than a few days in a row otherwise she is absolutely feral! We mix it up too with maybe quiet times where we set her up on her bed with a book and a teddy...........occasionally she will fall asleep with the book in her lap!

I feel like her nap is slowly dwindling but am holding onto it as tight as I can as it gives me that one hour of the day of quiet time to either potter or catch a few energy boosting zzzz myself!! And even if she stops sleeping, I think I will maintain that 'quiet time' as I agree with mbear that their little minds and bods need a rest!

[Lucy]

Olivia is nearly 4 and dropped her day sleeps a few months ago.

That said, she still has "rest time" everyday from about 1 -2.30pm when she will either play quietly in her room, or will get comfy on the little fold out couch in front of a DVD (and I am canny.....I always make sure it is a LOOOONG DVD, LOL!)

That said, about once every 10 days she will actually sleep....& when this happens I have to go wake her at about 3pm.

She goes to bed at 7.30 ish, and weakes at around 6.30am.

[Antheia]

Lily hasn't had a day sleep since she was about 2 i think! but lucky for childcare she will have a day nap for them!

[Ambah]

Aidyn began dropping his day sleep a couple of months after turning 3. However the problem was then that he would fall asleep at around 5 or 6 pm (just on the beanbag or living room floor) and then because of this short nap he wouldn't go down properly at bedtime and would want to stay up till all hours!
So we had to endeavour to either get him to have an earlier sleep, or to make sure he didn't crash out somewhere before bedtime.

Now that he is over 3.5 he has definitely outgrown his need for a nap, and lasts ok until bedtime each night. Although he does tend to get very tired still around 4pm I find.