Earlier this week I talked about how my baby boy and I spend our afternoons after he gets home from pre-Kindergarten and shared a free printable preschool daily routine chart! I mentioned that he now has quiet time since he has outgrown his daily nap. This is something I’m pretty bummed about, but in the end, I’ve realized letting go of nap time is the best thing…for both of us.
Prior to the beginning of this school year, baby boy was in preschool (daycare) during school hours. During his time at preschool, he followed the class’ routine, which included a two-hour block of nap time. If the kids didn’t actually sleep, it was fine, but the rule was they had to stay laying down quietly. Once this school year began, we shifted to a new schedule of pre-Kindergarten for three hours per day, then being home in the afternoon. I thought it would be a good idea to keep a similar routine at home, so I wrote up a schedule for our afternoons which included nap time! Little did I know that the slight change in place (home instead of school) would cause a significant change in my boy’s attitude towards nap time.
For the first two weeks of our new routine, I tried and tried and tried (to no avail) to get him to take his daily nap. I did everything I could – read him a nap-time story, sang to him, tucked him in, and talked to him about how important it was for him to get some rest. I even told him it was ok to not sleep, as long as he stayed quietly in bed (as they do at preschool), and also tried various locations for his nap. But without fail, every day he would fight his nap, screaming things like:
“I don’t want to take a nap!”
“Mommyyyyy…I want to be with you!”
“I’m not tiiiiired!”
Switching From Nap Time to Quiet Time
I started wondering if maybe he was ready to stop taking naps, but hesitated because I truly could use his nap time to get work done. However, the daily battle was getting to be too much. I decided to see if switching from nap time to quiet time would work better for us, removing the requirement that he stay in bed and instead asking him to play quietly while I got work done.
I also switched our schedule around and instead of coming home straight to nap time/quiet time, I moved quiet time to later in the afternoon. This allows baby boy to get some one-on-one time with me first and helps ease him into quiet time later. He’s much more willing to play alone after a little time with mommy!
Letting go of nap time was difficult…for me. Baby boy was super excited the first time he found out he just had quiet time instead of nap time and has fully embraced it. He is doing well with our afternoon routine and isn’t even getting a case of preschooler grumpies due to no more naps! I’ll admit that holding on to my preschooler’s nap time was just causing unnecessary frustration. Realizing that my boy outgrew his naps and deciding to let go of nap time was the best decision for our household.
At what age did your kids outgrow their naps?
All photos © Melanie Edwards/modernmami™
My son, four, just gave up on naps. He usually naps a couple times a week for about an hour, but if he’s a daycare he may nap five times a week. It’s hard to establish a routine like this and on days when he doesn’t nap I have a bear on my hands at night! I’m at a loss for what to do to make him not have to nap, but not be so miserable come dinner time.
I hear you, Brittani! It’s so hard to find that balance and help them transition. The quiet time has helped my son, as he gets some rest (mentally and physically) without the need for a nap. You could also try to lessen the time of the nap and gradually reduce it to none and switch to the quiet time. Good luck!