# Do you wake your toddler from naps?



## stardust599

Just curious really.

I never wake my LO from naps. She starts her nap from 12-1pm whenever she seems most tired and then wakes herself after anything from 1.5-4hours (generally only longer than 2.5hours if she's a bit poorly or had a rough night). Even if she has a marathon nap it never affects her night time sleep of anything from 11-13hours. Infact if she doesn't get a full nap because we are out and about she sleeps worse at night and usually cries at bedtime too :-S I tried waking her from naps when she was waking at 5am every morning but it put her in a terrible mood for the rest of the afternoon and she didn't sleep any longer at night and she outgrew the 5am phase on her own.

Sometimes if she has been napping really long I might open her door a little and potter around to see if she'll wake up (she usually does) but if she doesn't I just leave her.

I'm just asking because I'm a member on another forum and there's a lady with LO the same age as me who's LO hasn't been sleeping well at night so she has started to cap his naps to a maximum of 1.5hours a day. It still isn't working so she is now going to 1hours15mins max. She says that when she wakes him he cries and can be pretty inconsolable for an hour or so. He only sleeps 10-10.5hours at night. She has also mentioned that his behaviour is really poor just now with clinginess and tantrums etc. and he is usually rubbing his eyes by 5pm and has bags under his eyes in the morning. Now I know it might be a phase but that to me is a really tired toddler who needs a few days of unrestricted sleep to catch up???

What do others think of waking LOs from naps to encourage night time sleep?


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## aimee-lou

Depends really. Days like today, no. He's at home all day so will be pottering around so it's a 'rest day'. If we need to be somewhere then obviously yes, like when he had to go to the childminder's I would wake him 30 mins before leaving. He usually goes down to bed for a nap after his lunch around 12noon, but if he's still awake at 1.30 (we've been out or have eaten late for example) then we usually don't bother with a nap at all nowadays. 

However, as a rule we don't let him sleep past 3.30pm, as if we do, he wont go to bed before 8 lol.


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## eddjanuary10

no because he never naps longer than 1.5hours. i probably wouldn't ever wake him from a nap! i find that it doesn't really matter what time he naps during the day he will still be tired at the usual bedtime its the amount of time he is awake during the whole day that counts which is usually about 13 hours. He needs at least 11 hours sleep including night & nap or if he has no nap (some days he doesn't) then 11-12hours at night. 

It sounds as though he isn't getting enough sleep and if it was me I'd let my son rest as they do go through little phases of disrupted sleep when they are going through changes & growing etc and usually it all falls back into place. This has been the case for us anyway x


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## lepaskilf

NO!!!! My LO is really grumpy if he's woken up early!!!! But like yours he can sleep from half an hour to 2 hours. Either way, when he wakes up on his own he's a lot happier!

I do try to make sure that his nap never goes past 4:30 though as it does effect his night time routine. It happens sometimes so we just go to bed a bit later x


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## charlotte-xo

No he would mad at me if I ever tried to wake him from a nap lol he can have anywhere between 1-3 hours usually starting at 12 so never goes past 3. As a rule I don't let him nap past 3 as it affects his night time sleep and he'd get up at 4-5 in the morning. I find it doesn't affect him how long he naps for he always goes to bed between 6:30-7 until 7-8 as of recent. Xx


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## starangel27

i wake my lo up if hes still asleep at 4pm as his nap is usually 2.30 so if he sleeps much longer he wont go back to bed till 9ish.


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## 3011busyyear

i hate waking my LO-she's only 14 months so a little younger but she only gets 30 mins sleep a day max at nursery for 4 days a week so on the other 3 days i let her sleep as long as she needs usually 2-3 hours, this is usually in the morning but i never plan anything that takes more than half a day as a rule so there is half a day spare if she needs a catch up sleep.

sleep is soooooo important for children, i'd just ride out the early wakenings and short night sleeps for as long a si could and let them have longer day naps, you'd only be making it harder on yourself having a tired toddler to contend with.


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## Alias

Going against the grain here, but yes. With my DD, if I let her sleep too long then we end up with about 2 hours of crying at bedtime. She doesn't get very upset though if I wake her (usually I go into her room and open the blinds and then wake her gradually). 2 hours is her max nap, otherwise bedtime is a disaster. She generally sleeps about 12 hours at night, regardless.

If I was the person mentioned in the OP though, I'd be going back to longer naps, not shorter. Each child is different!


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## Mrsmitch80

As above, yes! My daughter loves her daytime sleep more than night time so if I left her she'd sleep all day and be awake all night! I just wake her gently then give her time to wake herself up in her own time

X


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## muddles

I only wake him if he is still sleeping after 3:30pm as if he sleeps past this time then he will take a LONG time to go to sleep at bedtime (as he will want to talk and talk and talk :lol:). He sleeps anything from 1.5-2.5 hours depending on how well he has slept the night before/what we have been doing in the morning. I expect he will have a long nap today as we were at the huge soft play place this morning for 2 hours!


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## _Vicky_

I do now because they won't be tired by bedtime if they have more than 1.5 hours and bedtime is a bit of a struggle at the best of times since they went into beds. It's a real juggling act ATM try can't go all day without a sleep but don't need that much sleep gggrrrrr


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## Bexivillian

Yes, i never let her sleep past 4, otherwise bedtimes a nightmare!


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## Ziggy2

yes I wake her after 2 hours or if it's past 3:30 she loves to sleep in the day but I prefer it if she sleeps longer at night


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## fringe88

Now that my son is 2, I do cut down on his naps to an hour max otherwise he will not be tired for bed and he'll wake up during the night and want to play. Sometimes he doesn't go for a nap or if he has a late nap I'll have to wake him up after 30mins. So I have to make sure he's tired by bed time which means restricting his nap time. He's never grouchy if I wake him up and he always has 11 hours+ sleep at night.


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## Mum2b_Claire

Nearly every day! She'd sleep all afternoon if I didn't, which means we'd a) do nothing, and b) se'd be up all night.


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## Pixxie

This child ONLY sleeps 10hrs a night!? Am I the only one who thinks thats a really good amount of sleep!?

I only wake my LO if we really need to go out, but I'd put her in the sling and she will usually carry on her nap on the walk :) My LO still has 2 naps a day and sleeps 11hrs at night.


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## polaris

I do wake Thomas pretty much every day as he would sleep all afternoon if I let him. I like him to be in bed by 7.30 so I don't really let him sleep for more than two hours or later than 3.30 as otherwise it takes him ages to get to sleep at bedtime. He sleeps a good 11 or 12 hours at night though and then a 2 hour nap during the day so I feel that he is getting enough sleep. Usually I just go upstairs and open his blinds and he will wake up from his nap without too much trouble. Occasionally he doesn't want to wake up and then I let him have an extra 15 minutes or so.

The example that was described in the original post, my view would be that the child sounds over-tired and needs longer naps rather than shorter naps.


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## Nibblenic

Not unless I absolutly have to, ie a drs appointment or something. She doesnt go for a nap now till about 1ish and can still be there at 5pm, but she'll go to bed at 7 again. 

She can be a nightmare if you wake her up or if she doesnt get enough sleep, as can i :haha:


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## fluffpuffin

yes, Isla would sleep 3 -4 hours if I let her, so most days I wake her after 2 hours. She tends to be a bit grumpy when I wake her but it does help her go to sleep better in the evening. Hubby lets her sleep as long as she wants when I'm at work and like today it took til 9.30 for her to actually go to sleep :dohh: Normally she's in bed by 7.30pm


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## DaisyBee

If Megan naps too long or too late in the day she sleep horrible at night and either she takes ages to fall asleep ( like in bed for 3-4 hrs before finally dropping off ) or waking in the middle of the night and staying awake for hours. If she would wake after 3 pm she wouldnt sleep again til at least 10pm.

When she was younger she could nap more and it would affect her less. These days I can't let her have even 2 hrs most days. If so we all regret it.


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## Farie

God no. Not unless i really have to.
Good day naps = good nights in our house.


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## x__amour

It depends. She generally naps well at daycare but sometimes if she's had a long day she'll fall asleep at home. If that happens and it's past 4pm, I wake her up so she doesn't have trouble going to sleep.


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## clarsair

I wake her if she's still asleep at 4pm - that only usually happens if she hasn't had her nap at the normal time because we've been out somewhere. She sleeps up to 3 hours during the day. I actually find, as some others do, that she sleeps better a night if she's had a long nap during the day.


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## Mee_Mummy

No I never wake DS unless we have to go somewhere. He usually only sleeps for 1.5 hours sometimes it can be up to 2.5 hours but its rare. If I wake him then he's a grumpy, clingy little so and so. Xx


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## angelae36

Yep I have to do, for all of our sakes, after, well it used to be no more than an hour but it now seems she has to have a shorter nap otherwise she's up until some silly hour (9pm) then usually wakes for hours during the night too.


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## karlilay

Yes, i dont let Zach sleep past 2.30. Else he wont go to bed.


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## BabyJayne

OP - Madeline is exactly like your LO. She goes down any time between 1-2pm and will sleep until 3-5pm. She never has any trouble going to sleep in the evening, even if she has put in a mammoth session in the afternoon. She loves her kip. I never wake her up - unless it is goes past 5pm and so is getting near tea time and she is still asleep.

That being said, she does have a different sleep pattern on the days I work (Wed, Thurs, Fri), where she will have a couple of hours sleep in MILs on a Wed, and just an hour in nursery on a Thurs/Fri. She's always much more grouchy on those days, so I think she makes up for it in the afternoons on a Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue.


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## LPF

Evan goes to bed about 12.30 and I will only wake him if he goes past 3.30 (unless he is ill - then I leave him) or he won't go to bed at night.

Sometimes I have to wake him for his swimming lesson or I need to goto the shops etc but only at 2.30 so he's had 2 hrs!


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## RileysMummy

Oh bless the poor boy, he's probably over tired!

Millicent usually has her afternoon nap between 12 and half past, and will sleep between 1.5 and 3 hours..I only wake her up if she goes past 3.30, as that's only 4 hours before bedtime.

xxx


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## CaptainMummy

On the days where Paige has only 1 nap, no I dont wake her. She usually sleeps 12.30/1pm for 90 minutes... although the whole 1 nap thing is very recent and only happens maybe 3 days a week.
When she has 2 naps, I usually let her sleep the first one, and then if she is asleep past 4pm for her second nap, I wake her. She takes a little bit to wake up, and just wants to cuddle me for ages and I feel terrible! But she just perks up all of a sudden and is fine!

I cant imagine her sleeping for a 3 hour stretch during the day! That would be weird


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## hardworknmama

I put my youngest down for his nap at 1pm, if he is still sleeping at 4pm I will go in and open the curtains on his windows. This allows him to wake more naturally than me going in and shaking him, he's less grumpy this was also. It usually only takes him about 5 minutes to wake up after I open the curtains, it works for him.


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## chubbin

Yes, Im currently working on JJ having a shorter nap during the day, as it seems to help him sleep much better at night. He has an absolute limit of 2 hours, but I try and keep it to 1.5 hours most days. Ofter he wakes up naturally after an hour, and sometimes he wont sleep at all! If I thought waking him up wasnt working (ie: not helping him sleep better at night), then I'd stop as I wouldnt want him to get too tired. Fortunately though, it's having a great effect :)


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## moondrops

I have to or she will sleep for hours and won't go to sleep at bed time, the only time i wont wake her is if she goes to bed before 12 or if she is really poorly x


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## KittyVentura

As a general rule - No. The only time I ever do is if we have to be somewhere. I often book my MW/Obs appointments for around 3 in the afternoon as this is the easiest time of day for us - Fin usually names 11-1 and has had lunch and is happy at 3. If he was to oversleep and we HAD to be somewhere like that then I'd wake him... but otherwise no. I'd cancel casual plans etc if he was still asleep. After all, if he naps longer than normal he clearly needs it xx


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## scotsgirl

Yes, my dd only gets 1 hour in the afternoon. If I leave her any longer she would be up all night and I try not to let her nap after a certain time


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## ellaandcallum

I always put Macy to sleep after lunch, she can sleep like today for 3 hours, I just leave her, she obviously needs it. If she was hungary or thirsty she would wake. She also sleeps a 12 hour stretch at night too so I am very lucky, all my children have been like this. A friend of mine wakes her baby for naps, she is only 12 weeks to feed her. I dont agree with waking babies for feeds, if they are hungary they cry, she also tries to keep her baby up despite bubba wanting to sleep at 8pm rather than the 9pm she aims for, I dont agree with that either, if the bubba wants to sleep, then let them and quite frankly enjoy the peace ) xxx


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## RachA

It depends really. With Esther I never wake her up as she will always wake on her own anyway. 
With Daniel it depended on the time. 
Both of mine go/went for a nap at 3pm. The only time I would wake Danel is if he was still asleep between 6-6.30pm. 
Bedtime is 8pm and I've never had problems getting either of them to bed even if they've slept til 6 or 6.30 some times Daniel would play in his room for 30-60min buti would rather of had that than him being grumpy downstairs for 2 hours. 
If I wake Esther from her nap she is really grumpy and clingy right up until I put her back to bed so to me it's just not worth it. Both of mine always sleep better at night if they have a long nap during the dat


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