If your preschooler is still napping but he’s staying up until all hours of the night, you might want to consider stopping the nap. It’s a painful thing, since we parents love that middle of the day quiet time. If you have two or more children, any time when they are all napping together is total bliss.
However, when bed time starts to creep towards the middle of the night and your temper begins to get very, very short, it’s time to drop the nap. But what can you do? How can you avoid meltdowns in the afternoon and manage to get to six or seven-o-clock without losing it?
When my daughter was finishing her nap, we found that distraction was king. From two to five-o-clock she would get very grumpy. What did we do? Fresh air is the best thing for a tired child. We’d go to a nearby park or play in the yard, and I’d bring out an interesting toy or find an exciting animal like a snail to keep her engaged. We’d eat a snack, since that makes her happier at all times and keeps her physically active.
If she needed some quieter time, we would sit down to read some books, but I would try to keep things not so comfortable so she would not fall asleep in my arms. We were still wearing her in a backpack too, so sometimes I would put her on my back when I made dinner. We’d avoid going for stroller walks or car rides, because those would lead to the dreaded late nap, late bedtime, frustrated parent syndrome.
After a few months, the new routine became the norm and she truly grew out of her nap for good. About six months after that, car rides near the end of the day no longer made her fall asleep. Hurray! We’d successfully transitioned to all night time sleep, which made our days a lot easier, albeit a tad cranky at 5 pm.
