Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school When did your DS, DD skip nap?

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.
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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 ;-)