Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with naps

Sleep, that knits up the ravelled sleave of care...for a three-year-old?

leahwrenn — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:34:07 -0800

How can I get my three-year-old to take naps again? My three-year-old daughter stopped taking naps about a year ago. Recently (say, the last three months, off and on), she's been a whiny, cranky pill to varying degrees most of the time, especially in the afternoons and evenings. (Compounding things is that about 3 months ago, her sister was born...) We've been to the doctor (when the crankyness was really bad about a month ago, it turned out to be an ear infection), and everything checks out ok (as much as they check in a 2 minute visit!). So our guess is that she's just really tired a lot of the time and needs naps. She goes to bed at 7:30-ish and usually sleeps until 7-ish, but typically will wake up in the middle of the night with some crying and upsetness.

So: any suggestions for actually getting her to take a nap in the afternoon? She's in daycare three mornings a week (8 - 1) and home the other two days with me. (The all-day daycare kids do nap, from 1-3, for what it's worth.) She doesn't want to stay in her room for the naptime, and I'm less thrilled with gating her in (although that's an option), in part because of the potty issue (namely, that she needs to be able to get to the potty in time!). I'm not averse to some option that involves bribing with a half-hour of Diego (we've got TiVo, so there's always an episode), but I'm not sure how to make that work. I'd be happy to buy a timer, if that would help.

Advice would be appreciated---she (and we) will be a lot happier if she gets some more sleep!

Sleep is for the weak . . . and for me.

liketitanic — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:45:55 -0800

Why are my naps always so much better than my sleep? I never sleep well at night. Haven't for years. Vivid restless dreams, waking 2 and 3 times, the whole deal. Here's the thing, though. If I take a nap--no matter the time of day, no matter if I am more or less tired than usual, no matter if I have had caffeine--I sleep deeply and soundly. (I nap only rarely, though I could probably nap every day if I had the time.)

I don't understand! It can't be that I'm "just really exhausted" and finally tired enough to sleep soundly when I nap---If that were the case, wouldn't I occasionally sleep well at night just from pure exhaustion?

So why are my naps so much better? Can I trick myself into thinking it's a nap at night? (I am not necessarily asking how I can sleep better at night or whether I should nap more. I am wondering why there's consistently a difference.)

Desperatly wanting to pay down my sleep debt

jbickers — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:17:23 -0800

I'm totally sleep-deprived, but still have a hard time falling asleep. Any tips? I work two jobs, one of which is on the extremely early shift, and have two small children. As a result, I've gone four years on about five hours sleep a night. It's way too little, I know ... and yet I still have a hard time falling asleep.

Sometimes I manage to pull aside the time for a lunch nap - but end up tossing and turning the whole 30 minutes, unable to get my mind to shut up. It's like I'm too tired to fall asleep. Nights are pretty much the same way.

Anybody have any tips for falling asleep quicker/easier? I do get exercise, and eat a reasonably healthy, balanced diet. (Part of me thinks I'm just resistant to sleep, and have to have everything just so - I've never been able to fall asleep on an airplane, for instance, even on an overnight/international flight. Just can't do it.)

i can't nap!

timory — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:32:30 -0800

I don't know how to nap. I dream (har har) of being able to take a power nap. I know that a 15-20 minute nap is supposed to be quite refreshing, but any longer is a bad idea. But I have a problem. Unless I am doped up on NyQuil or haven't slept in several days, it takes me at least half an hour to fall asleep. As such, I have no idea how people manage to take a nap for only 15 minutes - mine last 2-4 hours and I always wake up feeling absolutely horrible.

Is there a trick to this, barring any kind of weird medication? Do people actually just rest their eyes when they "nap," or is everybody else capable of falling asleep quickly? I feel like I am missing out big time, and since I just started grad school, being able to take a nap seems like it would be really helpful.

My anti-yeast infection diet makes me sleepy

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:42:22 -0800

I am on a no-sugar/very low-sugar diet to help combat a yeast infection. My diet consists of fish, a little bit of yogurt, good fats, and leafy greens and other non-starchy, non-sweet vegetables. Since I started it I crash every afternoon at exactly 2:00--right at the beginning of a class. How can I avoid this without resorting to coffee or high-glycemic foods? I figure there are two possible reasons for the crash: either my body isn't used to such a paucity of sugar, or I'm not eating enough meals. Usually I try to do 5 or 6 meals a day, one of them being a snack after lunch (like a energy bar or a piece of fruit). I've switched to 3 or 4 bigger meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) since there's no convenient way to do snacks with the foods I CAN eat, as the quantities of spinach or broccoli it would take to make enough carbs for a snack aren't easily transportable around a college campus. I'm lost.

you are feeling very sleepy

luriete — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:34:58 -0800

Can you bank sleep? And if not - how much sleep is too much?

Napping techniques?

picea — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:13:02 -0800

Napmasters assemble! When I take a nap, more often than not I wake up feeling like absolute crap: my head hurts and I feel even more tired than I did before laying down. I try to avoid naps because of this, though I do enjoy the odd siesta. Does anyone have any techniques for executing a pleasant, refreshing nap?