How long did your child sleep in reception, compared to when they were preschool age?

[RedKites]

My eldest is starting school in September, but will be one of the youngest in the year, and currently he still naps probably 5/6 days a week. We're going to try and drop the nap over the summer (while he has coped when he's done a 9-3 day at preschool by napping afterwards, when he naps late in the day it's interfering with when he goes to bed). However, having read another thread on here, I've got a bit worried about how much sleep he might need, at least for the first term or two.

About how many hours a day did your child sleep the first term or so of reception, and how did that compare with how much they were sleeping in the months beforehand please? Thanks.

[choceyes]

A bit more sleep once they started reception I think. DS dropped his nap around 3.5yrs though so hadn't been napping for a good while. He is nearly at the end of reception now and he sleeps for nearly 12 hrs at night.

[catkind]

No naps here but yes, bedtime moved forwards an hour. Before starting school DS would sleep 9-7, when he started it moved to 8-7, now (end of reception) 8 is becoming a battle again unless he's had a particularly exciting day.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

DD1 slept probably 30 mins more to start with but by October she was back to her rubbish sleep (she was older in the year though) and DD2 (April birthday) probably upped her sleep by about an hour initially but by this stage in the year has reduced it even further than it was before. So at the end of R and Yr1 they now sleep 10hrs out of 24? roughly. the younger one a bit more than the older one so maybe 10.5hrs

Some of their classmates were asleep by 5:30 and getting up at 7/7:30 though so mine are definitely not the norm.

[MrsCosmopilite]

My DD is 3.6 and dropped her naps 6 months ago. She doesn't fall asleep until late (after 9pm) anyway, and is usually up by 7.30.
She is in pre-school two days a week and is no more tired after running around there all day than when she and I mooch about at home/in the park.

I'm hoping that by the time we get to primary school, the days will be more tiring for her and we can shift bedtime back a bit.

[Heathcliff27]

My 5 yr old hasn't had naps since she was 2.5. She starts primary 1 in August, I'm wondering if I find that she will need one after school when she starts. She currently sleeps from 7pm till 7.30am.

[TheEnchantedForest]

August birthday here. Ds hasn't napped in the day since 2.5 yrs and was a 7-7 sleeper. Just finishing reception now. The autumn and Spring terms were fine but this summer term he seems exhausted and his bed time has moved to 6pm until 7:30am.

[Happydutchmummy]

My 4.5 year old still naps, we've tried to drop them before she starts school in September but it's bloody impossible to keep her awake till evening time. She goes to nursery till 3 and dozes off when we get home ( no matter how much I try to keep her awake).

I am hoping that when she goes to school she will have plenty of play dates, activities etc immediately after school to force her to stay awake till dinner time and will then happily go off to bed...

[hooplahoop]

Our reception teacher said it wasn't at all unusual to find children sleeping in the book corner in the first term and they'd let them have a quick power nap!

I think your idea of trying to stop the nap over the summer is a good one. my 2 needed early bedtimes at the beginning of reception - stories at 6 30 asleep by 7.

[redskybynight]

DS slept less than usual immediately after starting Reception. (so don't assume your child will be shattered!). (though he's never been a child that slept as much as he was supposed to!)

I would say that DD slept about the same - probably 7.30-7. (and sometimes included weekend "catchup" naps).

Both DC were shattered in the lead up to Christmas (and indeed were shattered in the lead up to Christmas several years afterwards).

[pyrrah]

Sadly DD is never tired - stopped napping before she was a year old and never goes to bed before 10 (up at 7).

She was at full-time daycare and then doing 9-3.30 at a primary school nursery plus after-school till 6pm from when she was 3.5, so there was no real difference in Reception.

Occasionally she would fall asleep for 10 minutes or so on the bus-ride home (about 30 minutes) but that was more due to the soporific effects of the bus - even I doze off - rather than being particularly tired.

I was rather hoping she would be knackered rather than demanding an hour in the park following after-school club! Perhaps Y1 will knacker her out.

Lots of the children in her class do take the odd snooze on the cushions in the book-corner and the staff just carry on round them. DD is occasionally known to lay there pretending when she doesn't care for the activity on offer and they humour her!

[HeyBabyBaby71]

Mine were very used to long days at nursery (8-5) but found reception very tiring. I'd forget any weekday play dates myself and aim for early tea (4 or 4.30) then bed for 6...
Things have changed now but that pattern was what we would roughly do during reception, if you can fit it in with the rest of the family...

[TeenAndTween]

DD2 had dropped her naps a couple of years before starting school.
Bedtime had to come forward 30-60minutes when she started school.
No energy for playing in park or anything for a couple of terms.

[PlaydoughGirl]

My DD was still napping when she started Reception (at 4yo) last year, and still naps daily now on non-school days.
TBH she finds the lack of nap really really difficult. For the first few months of Reception, we had constant tantrums from pick-up until bedtime, interspersed with napping on the couch after school. She is able to control her emotions better now, even when she is tired, but still falls asleep on the couch at least once a week after school. It's difficult, because it's really too late in the day for a nap, and it seems unkind to jolly her along to keep her awake when her eyes are drowsy and heavy.

[littlejohnnydory]

My oldest child was quite a sleepy boy and during his Reeception year he used to go to bed at quarter to six - we still had to wake him at 7.30am and he was still tired. In Year 1 he has suddenly started needing less sleep and can go to bed at 7.30, reading in bed til 8.

[RedKites]

Thanks everyone, that's really useful to hear about the range of experiences, and I am feeling a bit reassured. I'll have to see how the nap dropping goes...

[hiccupgirl]

My DS starts in Sept at 4.8 and I'm really hoping it increases his sleep for a bit. He hasn't napped since 3 and despite 3 days at nursery of 8-5.30pm he sleeps 10.5 hours a day consistently. He doesn't go to sleep till 8.30pm most nights so I'd like an earlier bedtime please!

[Madcats]

DD is a late June birthday. She is (and always has been) a bit like one of those pink Duracell bunnies. She is either "super energetic" or exhausted.

She went to nursery 3 days/week. It was not uncommon for her to nap 2-3 hours in the afternoon if she had been busy. We reckon she used to have 14 hours' sleep a night most days. Weaning her off that nap over that summer wasn't much fun.

I think we tried delaying naps, but it simply meant that she slept through afternoon tea at nursery. Sometimes she was still at sleep at 5:30/6pm when nursery closed (which made walking home great fun! After a couple of weeks we concluded we had to ditch the nap completely.

We tried to get playdates done in the mornings and certainly had plenty of snacks (nuts/bananas) at the ready if we were out mid-afternoon. Meltdowns were pretty regular in the afternoons. Through gritted teeth I politely observed that she was being grouchy because she was feeling tired so she ought to go to be early.

Those first few weeks at Reception were fine when she was at school but I DEFINITELY needed to come armed with snacks and water for after school. There were a couple of days when I remember putting her to bed at 4:30am but I would normally try to have her ready for bed by 6:30 so she was getting the opportunity for at least 12 hours' sleep. The GP even referred her for a sleep study because she is/was a bit of a snorer and we were worried about sleep apnea. She just loved her sleep!

"In bed by 7pm" was absolutely not negotiable. Jump forward 2 years and I think she probably has 10-11 hours sleep a night. It isn't a disaster if she stays up until 9pm once in a while and I secretly worry that she might be ill if she hasn't started stirring by 6:30am.

Good luck, and just remember that they will grow out of it fast!

[BomChickaMeowMeow]

10 - 11 hours usually. Asleep by 8.30pm, up at 7.30am.