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Naps and other questions

  1. When did your kids give up their naps?
  2. Did you alter the bedtime to make up for the sleep?
  3. How many of you have preschoolers who go to school in the afternoon??

I found out today that Braska has been assigned to an afternoon class for the upcoming school year. She is to go from 1 to 4pm Monday through Thursday.  I’m not sure what to think about this.  She still naps, and needs it—no doubt—so this would be quite a challenge.

The good news is that she has the same teacher she had last year, and we do really like her.  I was hoping it would work out that she’d get Miss N again.  So that’s worth something.

Not sure what to do. Not sure what the options are. But I have the distinct feeling that just shrugging and saying, “Yeah, ok. Whatever,” is not the right response this time.  Not right for Braska.  So more pondering to do…

Comments

  1. It might work out okay to cut out naps and let the school dictate my kids' schedule. It may not harm my kid a bit in the long run. But it just feels WRONG to go against my mommy instincts, every one of which is going "nope, not yet". So I guess a call is in order, or maybe a visit to Miss D.

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  2. It may sound crazy, but this very issue was one of the reasons we started home schooling. Isaiah was still needing a nap by the time kindergarten rolled around and there was no way that he could make it in school 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week and neglect his needed rest. (kindergarten is all day around here) He would get very emotional and irrational when overly tired and I didn't want to send him to school and have the few hours I had him during the day end up become a battle of attitudes. I wanted my sweet boy to stay with me and his siblings.

    Lillie is getting rid of her nap right now... the earliest of all my kids - and I can tell they are trying to shed it when they just don't fall asleep very easily when laid down. Lillie used to go out like a light when put down for a nap, now she goofs off forever and will only cat nap. That being said, I will tell you that after two days of no napping and active days she fell asleep at 5pm yesterday and slept through to this morning! So she still needs that rest, but I earlier bedtimes with occasional afternoon naps are gonna have to do for now.

    That's my lengthy answer - basically I would say to go with your gut feeling on this... (and really understand your are hearing the words of a "biased against school" type a person right now) but I say that she's getting a marvelous education from her mommy! and maybe you could just set up specific times to see the specialists??

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  3. Hi RK,

    I think it is well worth discussing with the school staff. I am sure you are not the first parent to have this very valid consideration.

    I would ask if it could be on a trial basis. I think 2 weeks would be appropriate. One week is normal for everything to be askew for the new school year, no matter the child or the classroom.

    You may also ask Braska's pediatrician. If he has a strong opinion and could write a letter backing up a schedule change, then I am sure they would honor it.

    Like you said, you can't know for sure until it happens, but these are two proactive steps.

    Have a great day!

    Naomi

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  4. My niece who just turn 5 quit her afternoon naps on her own a while ago. I think it depends on the kid. My son will go to preschool next year and I am not sure how it will be with the nap time. He has aqua therapy once a week in the afternoon and we put him down for a nap that day in the morning and he gets at least 1 hour and half nap.

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  5. Maddy napped until a month or so before her 4th birthday and she would probably still go for a nap if I told her to take one, but what happened with her is that she go to where she would not go to sleep at night. After 3 or so days of her staying up until 11pm, I decided she needed to be done napping and it has worked out just fine. I quit giving Grace a nap almost a year earlier and the reason was that she started pre-k last year and I knew that if I was going to get her to bed early enough to get up in time for school we would need to drop the nap. It has been okay, she does get a little crabby in the evenings and if we are in the car after 3pm on any given day she is sure to fall asleep. I would think that with school in the afternoon you could shift her whole schedule so she could nap after school and go to bed later and get up later in the morning. Of course that only works if the rest of you can shift some what too. Otherwise I would just call and see if switching to the morning class is an option. It's hard to say what will work...good luck.

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  6. Kayla was still napping at 3, and I think until right after she turned 4. At 3 she was in morning preschool from 8-11, at 4 it was afternoon preschool from 12-3. I think she adjusted ok without the naps by the time she was in afternoon preschool. But then in K (in NM anyway) they started out with 'rest time' and phased that out by the 2nd month. Then we moved to MD and there in K they had 'rest time' all throughout K. Kayla had a hard time adjusting to having to lay down for 20-30 min because she just wasn't sleeping any more during the day.

    Lucas... well now, he stopped napping, unfortunately, about 2 months ago, shortly after turning 2. Although he desperately still needs a nap because he is tired and grumpy by early evening. He just won't lay down and nap during the day anymore - he'll only fall asleep in the car if I'm running errands. Although he did fall asleep at 430 sitting up on the couch the other day! I only let him nap about 20 min though cause he would have been awful at bedtime.

    I know with him not napping anymore I need to move his bedtime up earlier, because he really needs it. He was getting to bed about 8 and I started shooting for 730, but haven't always made that. Once school starts for Kayla they'll be going to bed at an earlier bedtime on a schedule. On a side note school in MD started at 920, here in SC it starts at 730 - yikes!

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  7. G naps about once a week. On those days when she naps she goes to bed at 7:30. On the other days she is exhausted and in bed at 6:30. She's been in AM pre-k, but same story as B for next year. I am just going to go with it since G doesn't nap often in the day. I am sure she will be home, dinner, bath and bed by 6:30 though. What time do the girls go to bed at night?

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  8. 1. You took naps until you were in first grade. Jody used to fall asleep during rest time in all-day kindergarten. His teacher would have to wake him up. The other kids just took naps until they didn't get tired during the day anymore.
    2. Sometimes you went to bed earlier if we had a busy day, but usually you kept the same bed schedule. If you slept later than usual in the morning, I knew you hadn't had enough sleep the day before.
    3. Thursday school was only during the mornings.
    4. I agree with Jessie :o)

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