how long will they take naps?

For the most part, mine kids are still taking good 2-3 hr naps in the afternoon. Lately, though, it's all messed up. I think partly b/c we had a busy couple of weeks with family in town; we got all out of schedule & it always takes time to get back into it. Mostly, though, I put them down for naps & they keep each other up. We've never had this before! They've shared a room since they were born & they've always managed to sleep pretty well through each other's noise. The last few days I've had to separate them at naps in order for them to get any sleep.

It would be a lot of work to get them their own rooms. My "spare" bedroom now is more like the junk room with all this furniture I can't use & dh refuses to sell. I just don't know, at what age do they need to be separated? Part of me wants to keep them together a little while longer to encourage bonding. But this nap thing is taking its toll. So then I'm curious, how old are they when they don't really need a nap anymore?

 

Mine gave up naps right before age 3, that may be what's up. Bedtime is far, far less painful once we did that.

 

My twins gave up naps at around 2 1/2. Nolan and Meghan still share a room and I had to clean out my junk room/office when Liam came along. Eventually the boys will share a room, but L is still in a crib so it will be a while.

Your kids could be ready to give up the nap. I still try to do quiet time for the twins from time to time. I will put a movie on and give them a snack and they just relax while L is napping.

 

how do you tell if it's the end of nap times? Some days they don't get one & it does make bedtime easier, but dinner time is a whine fest! I was in town yesterday & they didn't get naps; on the way home around 4pm they fell asleep.

 

Mine still take naps during the week at preschool but sometimes skip on the weekends. We still try our best to put them down for quiet time (or leave Mommy alone time). They share a room and will do so until someone complains. We have started thinking about it but I don't see the need just yet (plus, I would have to move my clothes out of the other closet and I don't want to).

 

My girls took naps until they started kindergarten last Sept and they were almost 6 then. They will still take one occasionally if I make them lay down but mostly we do reading time. I did have to seperate my girls for them to keep taking naps around 2 1/2-3 (one slept in my bed the other slept in their own bed and they took turns). They share a room and will always share a room since we don't have any spare rooms to split them up. When they were between 4 & 5 I did sometimes let them take a nap in the same room together if they asked to but if they fooled around they got seperated. I know bed time would've been easier without naps but I just couldn't handle the whine fests that they had before and after dinner so naps were more important to me. Bedtime wasn't bad I just knew they weren't going to fall asleep right away and I was fine with that.

 

Mine have always napped in separate rooms, so I can't help there. (ETA: They share a bedroom, but Amy always napped in a PNP in our office.)

But FWIW, they started giving up naps a few months after they turned 3. When they turned 3, they were still taking solid 2-3 hour naps every weekend day (slightly shorter at daycare). I couldn't imagine them not napping. But within 3 months, Amy was really fighting naps. I fought her on it for a few months and then gave up. Sarah didn't fight as much, but once Amy stopped napping, so did she, because there was no way she was going to miss out on whatever Amy was doing.

So, now at 3y7m, they basically don't nap anymore on weekends, unless they fall asleep in the car. It's been a painful transition, but the silver lining is that we don't have to stress as much about always being home for naptime.

They still nap at school almost everyday, which is probably why we're getting away with no naps on weekends and they aren't getting too horribly cranky. I can still see the effects by Sunday evening, though.

 

Well, I separated them today b/c they were once again giggling & not falling asleep. Only this time, I left dd in her bed and put ds in the other room. They both fell asleep within 5 min of being separated! I'm about to wake them up; they're still sleeping and it's been 3 hrs!!

 

Maybe you just need to separate them at naps, then. They could take turns sleeping in the other room if necessary.

Mine still NEED naps and take them every day. We also share a room and have no plans to split them up until they want to. We have one extra bedroom that is now the playroom, but it is tiny and would barely fit a bed. Then, where would their toys go? We are hoping to move eventually, so they will probably stay together until then.

 

The twins took naps till they started K. We only separated then a few times around age 3 when we switched to beds. They went back to normal shortly after that. Justin always fell asleep but Jason only once in a while.