3 year old trying to drop nap but is miserable by 5pm

[Anonymous]

She won’t fall asleep at nap time. Even if I do a forced quiet time. But by 5pm she is a sobbing or tantruming mess. Last night she was begging to take a nap at 5pm. So she’s clearly not ready to drop the nap. What do I do? She used to nap from 1-3:30. I have tried moving nap earlier. I have tried moving nap later. I’m at a loss here.

[Anonymous]

Mine was very ready to drop her nap* but still went through that phase. I think it's common when you drop the last nap. Do quiet time later in the day, move bedtime earlier, and just power through. It's rough, but doesn't last forever.

*Mine couldn't fall asleep at home before 4:00 PM even if she tried, and if she did fall asleep, even earlier in the day in the car, she couldn't fall asleep for bed before 10:00-10:30 PM. There was no way to maintain nap without bedtime getting pushed way too late. That's how I knew she was really ready to drop her nap and wasn't just going through another stage.

[Anonymous]

I think you keep doing forced quiet time, and she's likely to go back to napping.

[Anonymous]

Those weeks after dropping the nap are rough! But you can get through it. If you can, move dinner and bedtime way earlier I think my kid was eating dinner around 4:30 and then in bed by 5.

[Anonymous]

I put my infant to bed at 5 all the time. Maybe that’d work for her too?

[Anonymous]

Move her bath to 6 and 7 bedtime.

[Anonymous]

Following, my son turned 3 in April and hasn't taken a consistent nap since. The 3 - 7 period is a yelling, screaming mess of a time.

[Anonymous]

Bedtime is now 5. We still do bedtime at 6:45 and one child is in middle school.

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old (turned 3 at the end of January, for reference) dropped his nap about 3 days into stay-at-home. I suspect part of it is we just can't run him crazy like they do at daycare.

So we do quiet time, and that's a bit of a mess. It's more like one hour of "Mom? MOM? MOM! I need you!" every five minutes. And the first two weeks was extra rough, one of us had to physically stay in his room. No at least we can attempt to work. We got a timer so he can see how much time is left (like these: https://www.amazon.com/visual-timer-kids/s?k=visual+timer+for+kids) and that has helped a bit.

We pushed bedtime up by 30 minutes because otherwise it's impossible. Late afternoon is a lot of making things as calm as possible and avoiding landmines. Also a big snack with lots of protein around 3.

[Anonymous]

PP here, and I should add, he now sleeps 45-60 minutes later in the mornings. HUZZAH! Because 6:00 am wake ups when we no longer have to be out the door at 7:15 really sucked.

[Anonymous]

Would he stay in his room with an audiobook? Would he lay down with you? Maybe just 15-30 minutes of quiet time in the afternoon would help.

Make it a point to be outside in the late afternoon because the sunlight and fresh air will help. Bedtime should be quick. Move bath time, story, everything other than teeth and pjs and bed to another time of day so when he gets tired at like 7, you can just go right up to bed and he will be in bed at like 7:15 or 7:30.

[Anonymous]

Move everything (dinner, bath, bed) up a couple hours and keep her occupied during her tired time (but NOT in the stroller or car or in front of TV). Gentle, fun play or a walk outside. Then put her to bed at 6.

It takes time to readjust but she will.

[Anonymous]

DD dropped her nap right before turning 3. We moved the bedtime up, so that she was in bed by 6:30pm. Now, 7 months later, we are back to regular bedtime, between 7pm and 8pm. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

3 yrs is too early to drop the nap. Make sure she eats a big lunch, that could make her a bit sleepy, and have her outside for couple of hrs in the morning. Do not let her sleep in. Those kids who stop napping early are in for difficult afternoons for couple of yrs. Mind, she can be back to napping once school resumes and she is back to her routine. Maybe you can try re-create school routine at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bedtime is now 5. We still do bedtime at 6:45 and one child is in middle school.

You put your middle schooler to bed at 645?