My son is 33m old now and when he was 22m old he started skipping nap. When he was 22m, he slept from 9:30pm to 8:30am and then he play for the whole day long (go to mommy and me class in the morning and park in the afternoon) after that he always fall asleep during dinner time (at 7pm), so i shifted the dinner time earlier to 6pm to avoid him fall asleep when eating. Now he still slept from 9:30pm to 8:30am and still go to mommy and me class in the morning and park in the afternoon, but he don't fall asleep in dinner time anymore. It seems that he really doesn't need any nap anymore. Except sometimes when he is sick and he take medicine then he will sleep on those sick days (just like today)
I feel so tired these days and always fall asleep with him at 9pm too, so i don have any free time =_=

What is the sleeping schedule of your DS and DD? If they do skip the nap, what activities do they do during the day time to fill their time?

Thanks for sharing ^-^

My DD was always a terrible napper. When she was an infant she would take 2 one hour naps a day & sleep about 10-12 hours a night. From 15-30 months we got one 1.5 hour nap on weekdays. From 30-31 months they could get about 30-45 minutes 3-4 days a week at preschool that she fought HARD. That's when we gave up & told them at preschool to just give her "quiet time". During quiet time at school she can read (we used to send her TAG in with headphones) or do puzzles by herself. At home, she plays quietly in her room, usually reading or having "picnics" with her dolls.

Now, at 48 months She sleeps about 8-10 hours at night (she prefers to stay up reading & will sometimes pretend to be asleep & then be caught 2 hours after bedtime -- she's a girl after my own heart). The only time she naps is if we take a long car ride (2+ hours) or if she is sick, she'll put herself down for a nap.

I can only assume it's genetic at this level of sleep since I also was not a napper as a child & even now I only sleep 5-6 hours a night! I hope that helps! Our free time is from 8:30 (when we put her to bed) and 12AM!

Yup, I forget exactly what age, but DS gave up his nap early. His nursery used to send him to an older group of children who were having "quiet time" then, and I started to do the same at home - designate an hour when he had to play quietly in his room, but need not sleep. Worked well for him, and was extremely helpful to me, though I know not all children will cooperate! It helped that he was starting to enjoy reading independently around the same time. We did similar at bedtime: allowed him to read/play quietly if he didn't want to go to sleep immediately.

Neither of mine napped well. DS8 gave up naps entirely and was sleeping 11-12 hours per night by 30 months. He gave up the morning nap at 11 months.

DS6 was roughly the same, maybe a little earlier to give up naps.

It's exhausting when they are little and you're trying to fill the time. I had both kids in a Mother's Day Out program at a local church for 2 days a week from 9-2 just to get some downtime for myself.

We also did story time at the library (there were 2 libraries close enough that did different days), swimming lessons, park play dates with a neighborhood group, Pump it Up, Gymboree play and learn classes, gymnastics, soccertots, and basketball for toddlers, not all at the same time of course, but those are some ideas.

Sadly, I was not successful at enforcing an hour long quiet time, but it worked for some of my friends.

My younger son had an older brother homeschooling and he never wanted to be alone in his room napping when there was stuff going on. We set up a cot in the living room so he could nap there, his room, my room but generally he resisted until he collapsed where ever he was. I wouldn't do battle. In the end we got a pretty good routine where he would nap on the cot.

It is funny though for the last several years (and my boys are 14 and 9) in the summer we have one hour quiet time after lunch...no electronics, no loud noises, everyone in their own room. Activities that are sanctioned are- thinking, Reading, writing, napping, and quiet crafts or play (no noise alowed). We all are nicer and less cranky when we have that hour to recharge...there is a lot of togetherness over the summer. I'll even set the timer. I'll start the hour over again if they don't follow the rules. That has cut down on the summer bickering to a tolerable level.

At DD's 2 year wellness checkup, I asked her pediatrician if we can cut all naps since if she took one, she was up until the wee hours of the morning. At that point, he said we shouldn't skip naps and he was very firm about it. He didn't offer any medical explanations. Then around 30 months, we saw him again and I told him she was staying up until 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM almost everyday. Finally then, he told us to try skipping naps because that sounded crazy.

So DD dropped morning naps around 11 months and afternoon naps around 30 months although until recently, if she was beyond exhausted, she'd fall asleep around 7:00 PM only to wake up around midnight and then stay up until 4:00 AM.

People who have the nerve to ask me when I'm going back to work full-time have no idea how exhausted I am.

That's really interesting! Our ped. asked about naps and when we described our struggles he said he was un-surprised & we shouldn't force it - especially with the amount of stress it was causing us & her teachers to try to make it happen! She's very independent, so when she's tired, she sleeps.

DD never napped much or regularly -- she forced herself to stay awake so she wouldn't miss anything. She slept deep when she slept, but she never slept through the night either. And I mean never... eventually she just got old enough to get herself a snack, go to the bathroom, read or hang out in the middle of the night without our help so at least we could finally get some sleep. She also had terrible colic, night terrors, and sleepwalking issues over the years.

There's a reason she's an only child.

Oh the nigh terrors. When DD had her first one, we ended up in the ER because I thought she was literary dying.

DD is an only child too but I feel like I'm raising 10+ children.

I second that, Ivy-- I mean, other parents (I think) must just have no real idea what one of these kids is like. Her first three years took many many years off of OUR lives, I'm pretty convinced. The sleep deprivation alone is mind-boggling. Her first year, I don't think that DH or I either one slept for longer at a time than two hours. I'm really not kidding.

She also screamed. REALLY screamed-- for hours at a time. In retrospect, a combination of horrific allergy issues and upper respiratory/ear infections was a significant contributing factor to some of that horror show, but still.

Napping? What napping? As a newborn, DD seemed to need about 12 hours of sleep a night, and it's never been that much since. She sleeps almost as little as I do (7hr daily, sometimes 6), and she's a teenager.

I made both kids give up napping a week before kindergarten started. Everyone is different.

DS always hated napping--seriously, he could go 10 days when he was a baby, and it was a miserable 10 days, but he'd do it. But he napped fairly regularly from about age 1 to age 3, then stopped.

My DD was a regular napper until she was 6, as long as she was in a quiet, dark place. Man, those were the days.... but you never appreciate it with your first kid. You just look back later and realize how awesome it was.

DD10 stopped napping as soon as she turned 3. Then, she was the only kid in K4 that they ever allowed to stay up and read. She was good as gold if she didn't take a nap, but if she actually fell asleep it was never until the very end of the time and then they couldn't get her up.

DD8 continued to take naps in school through k5 but stopped at home at 3.5/4. She is the one in my house that doesnt need a lot of sleep. Stays up late and pops up early.

Night terrors SUCK! I still get them as an adult, DD only gets them during growth spurts now!

Ours too! We stopped naps when she started SCREAMING at naptime at school because she wasn't tired and they were forcing her to sleep. For the sake of everyone's sanity we told them to stop trying & just let her have quiet time -- she's awesomely behaved when she doesn't have to nap!

I have 3 kids: DS7, DD3, DD2. No one sleeps in my house like a normal person. No one ever has. None of them want to nap - unless we are in the car and the car is moving. (The 7 year old doesn't nap regularly, obviously. But if we go for a car ride that is longer than 30 mins or so, he'll still nap!) The 3 yo and the 2 yo will occasionally nap in the stroller or after they've had a particularly exhausting morning (ex. running in snow).

I gave up trying to get any of them to nap at regular times or for regular lengths. Generally speaking, they are all pretty pleasant kids (most of the time) and don't seem to suffer from their lack of sleep. They all sleep about 9-11 hours a night.

As far as what they do during the day when not napping - read, read, read, read, read, ask me to teach them how to do everything, drag out the real toolbox and ask me how to fix things, the 3 year old has begun engaging in theological discussions with me, run around the playground, ride public transportation in our city, go to museums - you know, basically
(delightfully) they spend the day exhausting me.

my eldest didn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time until she was 2 years old. 2. she didn't nap for more than 20 minutes until she was 18 months old.at 2 I managed to get 90 mins napping if I drove around for an hour first, I gave up at 28 months. She was never grumpy, just me :-) Now, she sleeps from 8 till 6.30 ish every night yahoo.

Have to say though that we later discovered allergies had a big part to play so it might be wroth checking that out...

DS1 who is way further ahead on all milestones to DD has always slept well, but he gave up morning naps at 10 months. Now he does 7 till 5/6am and then 12 - 1.30 lick clockword. After DD this is terribly exciting for me!

My ds7, was a very irritable, alert baby. I essentially forced nap/ quiet time upon him aka he cried himself to sleep or atleast was quiet. Once he started talking (8 months), he would talk to himself for 30+ mins when he woke up. We were not supposed to get him until he cried- then called. He continued to nap through K just on Saturday. (He's not a morning person.)

Ds3.5 is a very light sleeper. He has always slept ok if it's silent aka if we're sleeping too. He still naps about 2 hrs in the afternoon. We let him stay up 1-2 days a week. Yet, he is a bear with no nap. It's just hard to be silent (no walking around, going to the restroom, etc) everyday.

In saying the above, both boys are full energy and full intensity while awake. I've always attributed this to their need for sleep. Who knows?

Thanks all of you for your sharing, having a quite time is a great idea, I will try it on my son. ��
Btw, did any of you try iLs pillow? My son's OT recommend it when he heard that my son skip his nap when he was 22m old. He doesn't like to use it much at that time due to his hypersensitivity to sound, but now he like it. Even though it doesn't help him to fall asleep and have nap, it does help him to stay clam and reduce his nightmares in the midnight.
Mana, may be you can check it out,
http://www.integratedlistening.com/dreampad/

For the day my son does nap, he always wake up at the midnight and said he want to go out to play and then cry so hard. It makes me prefer him to skip his naps. ��

My daughter has never napped. We had the hardest time when she was in a one year old class at her childcare center. She would sit on her mat
and sing at the top of her lungs. They used to walk around the hallways with her during nap time because they could not get her to stop singing. She is seven now, still loves music and still requires very little sleep;).

I completely understand. If my husband hadn't had a history of them, I wouldn't have known what was going on. As it was, I thought WE were going to die!

I think the hardest part was that we'd never had a baby before and weren't close to anyone who had one. So we thought this was just how babies are... which meant that we were always judging ourselves very harshly against other parents we'd see. They looked so well rested and groomed. Babies with cute, clean matching little outfits. Mothers of infants whose hair was washed, who were actually smiling and coherent (as opposed to shuffling zombies). Happy families out for outings.

I remember night after night of fast food in the car, eating our dinners while parked at a hiking spot outside of town... because the only way to stop her screaming was to keep driving until she finally fell asleep -- and of course she'd wake right back up when we got home. I remember hallucinating from sleep deprivation "honey, there's a giant dog in the baby's room." I remember DH and I would pass her back and forth like a tiny squalling football, just so the other could get some rest.

Hi Ivy, I really can't imagine how you could handle it, it is just too harsh! So when did your LO out grow it?
Sometimes it is even hard to find a friend to talk about it, especially if they have a baby that sleep all the time. They only think that it is our parenting problem, and never realized that it is actually the personality, sensitivities and the needs of every babies ate different.
I
When I complained to my friends and my parent that my LO is too picky and doesn't nap, they all blame me on my parenting style. ��

My friends and family did the same to me.

My son dropped the first nap before 1 and second before 2.5. I really miss naps. He is not yet 3.5 but thankfully still sleeps a 12 hour stretch at night so he is rested.

We knew it was time to drop the nap because he really couldn't sleep during the day. We could occasionally force a nap by driving around for 90 minutes until he drifted off but he would be miserable when he woke from the nap, up all night, and miserable the next morning. It was really clear he was done.

Plus one here for night terrors, sleep walking, and nightmares. They got much better after dropping the last nap, although still pop up occasionally if he is too tired. I can't imagine putting him in a bunk bed.

Not rid of the naps yet at almost 2.5, but DS has always been nocturnal and needed a daytime rest. He dropped his morning nap around 18 months.

The first 6 months were an aggressive effort to invert his circadian rhythm. We literally went for walks with DS at 2:00am and slept until afternoon for a month after he was born (longer for me, DH returned to work after a month), and he would scream nonstop for 6 hours from 8:00pm onward if he wasn't nursing or being read to. I remember walking on the treadmill slowly with DS in the Bjorn at 1:00am on cold nights, reciting books from memory. My mother sympathized because, apparently, I was the exact same.

People doubt whether you can tell early if your child is gifted. I say measure the dark circles under the parents' eyes and you have a good indicator. That or check cortisol.

As for growing out of it, I hesitate to say. In part because I don't want to terrify anyone who is currently in the trenches, but also because it didn't really stop so much as slowly improve over time.

Fortunately our families did understand, because DH and I were just the same. On the other hand, they weren't hugely sympathetic... because DH and I were just the same.

We honestly tried everything. Every technique we could find. Even things that we were committed to never doing and feel somewhat guilty about even trying (letting her cry in out in a dark room alone made our hearts break... and still didn't have the desired effect). If we had it to do over, we'd probably spend way less energy on bedtimes and naps (just give up and roll with it basically) and focus more on the colic and night terrors and getting out of bed all night.

My daughter (3 years, 4 months) has been skipping a lot of naps for the past couple of months. But, when 5 or 6 rolls around she's a real terror if she doesn't nap. She still naps some days, but she will sometimes just stay in her room for 2 hours until I let her come out and never sleep. I'm not ready to give up yet, because I feel like she needs the rest. Both of my children have been nightmare sleepers.. But I was too, apparently.

DD(4) stopped the day she turned 2. She was very determined she didn't need one. It was miserable for everyone. She would scream and scream then even scream after I went to get her and tried to play. Once we stopped we had to move bedtime a little earlier but no more screaming mid-day. I pushed the nap because I thought she was "supposed" to get one. This I think influenced the way I handled our second DD's naps.

DD(almost 2) stopped at about 18months or earlier but started skipping them when she wanted around 10months. I only gave her a nap when she really needed it or wanted it. She stopped needing even that around 18months. Occasionally she will still nap if we are in a longish car ride around noon-2. But doesn't need one.

We have a very early bedtime (6:30) and DD(almost 2) wakes up at 7. DD(4) doesn't sleep much. Not sure when she goes to bed or wakes up but we have a "sun" that tells her she can't come out of her room until 6:30am. She comes out of her room dressed in her uniform as hyper as can be the second that sun turns yellow. She plays in her room for quite a while every night before going to bed.

My son napped until he was two months shy of 5 but he's one of those gifted kids who seems to need MORE sleep than normal. My other kids (ages 4.5 and 2.5) are still napping so I hope they follow suit ;-)