Should I Cut My 3 Year Old's Nap?

Yes she'll adjust.

If not tired for after lunch nap but she dozes just before supper, let her nap 20 minutes. Cat nap. Wake her, feed her, bath, routine, early to bed. She'll adjust in a week or so.

If some days she needs a nap after lunch, let her. Just push her bedtime back that evening if you need to if she's not tired. Kids that age have different sleep needs per day (I found). Being flexible worked best for me. But I definitely would do a wake up if falling asleep later in day.

What time is her nap? How long are you letting her nap? I would move the nap till right after lunch and only let her sleep an hour and you can adjust from there.

Mind napped for 2.5-3 hours well past the age of 4, so I think some kids just need it. But my son also went to sleep easily with no problem, so I didn't consider cutting the nap. But your situation is that she's not falling asleep at night. I think I wouldn't let her sleep too long if she passes out a 4 PM. Your thought that "she needs it" is on track, but she seems to need it more at night. So I'd let her sleep a little while at 4, but wake her, then stick to your bedtime routine. The other option is to have an earlier nap that 4 PM. Maybe she's fighting you on that but if you have "quiet time" in her room and then just see if she falls asleep, that can take the fight out of it. I do think there's a big advantage to fresh air and running around to wear them out. Same with bath time and quiet story time at night so it's not go-go-go all the time. I think the early morning wake time is often geared to the sun and the birds, so you can't mess with that as much.

By the time my kids were three they had given up naps and slept 10+ hours a night. I did give them a quiet time late in the afternoon while I prepared supper, and on occasion they would fall asleep if they were tired, but I just made sure to wake them for supper and keep them up until bedtime. To keep them up I would take them outdoors to play, like to the playground. I was quite happy to have the kids give up napping. That way naps weren't interfering with afternoon plans. I also preferred to keep them up later in the evening, so we could still do evening activities. Ideally they went to bed an hour before me and slept an hour later than me.

Here's what "I" see the problem to be. Nap time is around noon. Stop doing this to her. She needs to eat lunch and go lay down. Train her to nap around noon for an hour or so then she will be ready for bed time.

Letting her take her nap at 4pm is....I just don't have words. Okay? Thats' early bed time and not a nap.

It's up to you to arranger her schedule. She is 3 not 1. She doesn't need a 2 hour nap plus 11 hours of sleep at night. That is 13 HOURS of sleep per day. She isn't supposed to have that many hours of sleep per day.

If she's taking a 2 hour nap during the day then she should be able to sleep at night maybe 8 or 9 hours. That's 11 hours per day for her. That's more than enough.

I suggest that you need to put in her bedtime to a reasonable hour. For instance. If she is sleeping during the day for 2 hours and wakes up at 2pm then she should be good to go until at least 8pm. Then bath and bed. She should get to sleep around 8:30 or 9 then.

If she's up by 7am she has had a full night's sleep. She doesn't need more.

So many people put their kids down so early and don't have much of a life.

I knew a young mom that thought she was supposed to put her kids in bed at 7pm. It's still daylight outside at 7pm and people are upset because their kids are wound up and wanting to go outside to play. All the neighborhood kids are running and playing and having fun outside and these parents are mad at them because it's keeping all their kids awake. Come to find out they wanted them to go to bed so they could watch the TV shows they liked but didn't want the kids to see. As the kids got a little older the oldest girl wanted to play T-Ball but the games didn't even start until 6:30 and 7:30 so the family told her she couldn't play. How very sad.

Just because someone told this mom that their kids should be in bed by 7pm. Crazy in my opinion.

You could go to parentcenter.com and search for hours of sleep a 3 year old needs. Remember though that includes sleep during the daytime hours too. If it says 10 hours then she should be able to take a 2 hour nap during the day, around NOON, and then go down and sleep 8 during the night.

I'd sit down and seriously look at her schedule to see what's going on because it just comes across that you're trying to get her to sleep too many hours during the night.

Ask the pediatrician. When I told the pediatrician that my son (12 months at the time) slept about 9-10 hours at night, she said that was fine. So I would think a 3 year old sleeping about 9 hours at night is fine.

I personally wouldn't cut your daughter's nap. She's passing out on the days you skip naps because she can't handle that yet -- her body's telling her she still needs a nap. My daughter just turned 4 and continues to take a nap.

What is her bedtime?

I think sleeping 9 hours per night, and having an afternoon nap, is totally acceptable for her age and makes for a good family schedule. One of mine was this way. Starting around age 2.5, he would wake at 6AM, nap solidly (at least 2 hours) in the early afternoon. Then go to bed around 9PM and wake at 6AM again. Worked just fine for him and us. He had that sleep pattern until he was 5. At 5, he gave up the nap but kept the same bedtime and wake up time - and it's been that way ever since.

I'm wondering if you are struggling because you are still trying to put her to bed at 7:30 or 8PM - which makes her wake-up time unreasonably early, and which also leads to her afternoon nap interfering with bedtime because they are too close together. If that's the case, move bedtime back an hour or so, and that might straighten everything out.

Children generally need at least a rest/quiet time until they are 5-6 years old. In our state, they are legally required to have a 2 hour quiet/rest time in PreK. However, in K, they are not supposed to nap. My oldest napped until the day before he started K and occasionally in K. My second napped through PreK - but didn't seem to need it in K. A lot of this depends on your daughter's schedule and level of exercise. If she is at home full time, here are some schedule ideas: http://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/toddler-schedule/

If you chose to go no nap, then at least institute a quiet time - in her bed with books. She can do this at 3 but you have to parent - when she wants to be done - you tell her quiet time isn't over yet. She will learn and you will have a break which you BOTH need.

I think part of the reason you are seeing changes in the total number of hours she sleeps is that kids tend to need more sleep when they hit a growth spurt.

Definitely consider the total number of hours she is sleeping. Nap time is sleep time, too, so don't just look at how many hours she sleeps at night.

In the months before we cut out naps, both of my boys were sleep 8 to 9 hours at night and taking a 3 hour nap. I have to admit that the 3 hour nap was kind of nice, but 8 to 9 hours at night meant I only got to sleep 6 to 7. When they were ready to drop the nap there was some late afternoon/early evening crankiness for a couple of days, but then they got used to it and were sleeping 11 to 12 hours at night.

I never woke my boys up from their long naps. It was really when I was fighting them to go down for a nap that I decided to try going without the nap.

nither of my kids napped after turning 2. they went thru a period of time where they would randomly pass out somewhere and i would let them snooze for about 15 minutes then wake them. this helped with the crankies. but after a while they stopped falling asleep randomly and were awake from the time they got up till bedtime. and then if they napped it was because they were sick.
now that they are older bed time has become a challenge but thats due to stubbornness not because they are not tired.

Sounds like she is still tired and needs the sleep, well rested kids aren't cranky (at least not most of the time). Is there something else that might be interfering with her ability to sleep? I would start with checking out her diet, her screen time, and then her sleep environment. Good luck

When my kids were little, we had a nap time after lunch. We all went down for the nap. We were up around three and I would start dinner. After that we went to the park for a good two hours a day. Hubby would pick us all up and bring us home after he got off work.

They were up by seven and in bed by eight or so.

Good luck to you.

the other S.

PS Four is too late and it does interfere with dinner and such. Otherwise, take her out for a walk after dinner to wear her out before bedtime.

3 year olds still need naps and most 4 year olds still do too. Do not skip the nap if she needs it. A nap at 4 is WAY too late. Children get cranky because they are overtired or have not had enough sleep. Bedtime needs to be preceded by no TV, no other electronics, nothing stimulating. A bath, a story, something of that nature. At the age of 2 my daughter needed her tonsils out and at age 3 my son did. Both were very cranky because none of their sleep was restful. They both had sleep apnea and snored. They were both much happier and healthier once that issue was taken care of.

In preschool and kindergarten they'll have nap/quiet time around lunch.
You might want to get her use to that - it's a good time for a nap.
Our son napped till he was 7 yrs old.
He's 17 now and will sometimes grab a nap when he gets home from school.