Cass was around three and a half when the sleep troubles started. What had previously been a 30-minute bedtime routine was now stretching out over two or more hours every night. ?It really stressed me out,? says Abi Dennis, Cass?s mom. ?I resented that I was being robbed of my precious hours of adult time.?
When another mom posted on social media that she was going through the same thing with her preschooler, Dennis was relieved to find out she wasn?t alone. Many parents of three- and four-year-olds experience bedtime battles that seem to come out of nowhere. Often, there?s a seemingly simple solution to getting those few hours of post-bedtime relaxation back: Drop the afternoon nap. But what if your kid is in a daycare where after-lunch quiet time is enforced" ?Kids typically lose their naps at around age three or four,? says Alanna McGinn, founder of the Good Night Sleep Site. ?But they still need 10 to 12 hours of sleep over a 24-hour period.? A two-hour nap at daycare can mean a child might only require eight hours overnight?which ex-plains why they may not fall asleep until 11 p.m. if they normally wake at 7 a.m. ?It became a bad cycle,? says Dennis. ?Cass would nap at daycare and then he?d be up late that night. Then he?d be tired the next day, so he?d nap at daycare?and so on.?
But aside from you losing out on a chance to unwind or connect meaningfully with your partner (even if it?s over Netflix), it?s also unhealthy for kids to go to bed so late. At this age, ...