Napping on the way home from day care.

[StefWill]

We have a DD3 at day care 4 days a week. She dropped her nap around the start of the year.
She wakes up around 5:30 or 6am nearly every day. I drop her at day care at 8 and pick her up around 5pm.
She goes home in a trailer on the back of my bike, and this is where the trouble starts. The trip is about 25 minutes, and she usually falls asleep, anywhere from 10 go 15 minutes into the trip.
This translates into 7:30 bed time turning into up to 2 hours of tantrums and negotiation. Tonight she was in bed by 7 and finally asleep by 9!

Any advice is appreciated.
Cbeers

[Artechim]

Is it an option to drive to the centre? Do you have any devices that she could play with on the way home? I have a few friends who successfully use iPads to avoid the situation you are describing

[Dot Face]

If she's falling asleep on the way home I would say it's a sure fire sign that she still needs a day nap. I don't know the situstion surrounding her dropping her nap but kids appear to "drop" naps when they still need them for reasons like change in environment, lack of opportunity to go to bed, some kids need to be taken to bed and made to sleep etc. She could have just dropped it because she found play more interesting? There's research to show that kids still need that day nap even around 4-5 years old and it actually makes them smarter as it helps them retain more information which aids in learning.
So maybe you could ask the daycare to ensure she has a day nap at some point?

[Dot Face]

Just saw your other thread where you mentioned your dd is 3 years old. At that age she more than likely still needs that day nap, so I'd say rather than focusing on how to keep her awake on the ride home, it's probably better for her if you focused on getting her to nap at daycare.

[StefWill]

Yeah we reinstated the midday nap now life is much better.

[bbr]

Good to hear, that's what my daughters problem before. She have to have a day nap. she wont fall asleep during your trip on your way home, she wakes up too early so shes sleepy in the afternoon. By 7pm she'll be asleep and tired by then cause her nap is in the morning.I did that to my daughter.