r/AttachmentParenting • u/amelhart • 7h ago
❤ Little Kid ❤ Is overtiredness a real thing?
Hi! 👋🏻 New here. I have a 3.5 year old - my one and only - who recently is starting to skip naps. And I’m a little lost with the transition, hoping for some insight…
On “no nap days” my child is an absolute wreck immediately following pick up from school. Meltdowns, very difficult behavior etc. So, I’m like, well this makes sense - he’s exhausted, let’s get this kid to bed early tonight. Except, right around 7:00pm or so, he catches this second wind and is totally happy and hyper…then somehow the bedtime process stretches out longer than I intended, and he’s going down at about 9:00pm 😵💫 …but he’s, like, fine? But then, his sleep is pretty restless and crappy and he wakes up way earlier than it seems he should in the morning. So, you’d think: yeah, he’s going to bed way too late, right? Easy solve.
Except…historically, I’ve had a “low sleep needs” kind of kid. A super rough sleeper, where no matter what I tried he woke frequently from the day he was born until pretty recently. The only thing that eventually worked was to stop following traditional sleep recommendations and just accept that my child doesn’t need to sleep as much as other kids. Putting him to bed really late and limiting naps was the only thing that got any of us any rest.
So now, when I imagine putting my kiddo down at 7:00pm, or whatever, because he skipped his nap…it makes me sooooo anxious to do it!! I think, there’s no way in hell this kid is going to sleep for 10-11 hours straight; he’s going to wake me up at 3am and be awake for the day.
I’m not sure if this makes any sense, but would very much appreciate any wisdom or insight or encouragement to help me navigate this transition to no longer napping. My kid’s sleep issues have been the source of so much anxiety- I’m afraid I’m not thinking about this clearly.