Parenting: No Nap = No Sanity!

July 18, 2011

My little guy turns 4 this fall and much to my horror, he's transitioning out of his nap. My kids always napped until they went to first grade! I know that seems late too many, but I found that my kids were better behaved, and happier in general, when they took a nap in the afternoon.

I'm really in a dilemma now. My son still desperately needs a nap or he'll be irritable the rest of the afternoon. But, he wants to be a big kid and doesn't like the idea of naps. In addition, I find it's just plain difficult to schedule a nap when we're busy in the summer.

I was surprised to read on parenting.com that children between the ages of 3 and 4 do grow out of naps. I thought that seemed a bit young. I found plenty of moms online complaining about the same issue I'm facing. While there doesn't seem to be one particular answer, I did like one of the blogs on ohbabyblogger that suggested even if your toddler won't nap, you put your child in his room for a little quiet play time. I think that might be just enough "time out" for both of us!

http://www.parenting.com/article/ask-dr-sears-no-longer-needs-a-nap
http://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/momonpurposecrazybyaccident/when-toddler-nap-is-too-much-yet-not-enough
http://www.ohbabyblogger.com/toddler-naps/

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