Monkey is so tired

Monkey is so tired

I have a little problem, well a little boy sized problem. My son Monkey is so tired after Nursery, I can’t convince him to have a nap in the afternoon during the week.  He will sit down and let me read to him, but that doesn’t seem to be fixing my problem.  I’ve started to avoid outdoor activities in the afternoon as Monkey is so tired, that the best intentions turn my son into a devil come dinner time.

By Saturday he is a total grumpy bum. Last Saturday he wasn’t too bad when we spent the day with a family friend.  He fell asleep in the car on the way home, within minutes of leaving our friend.  I needed to drop a birthday present off for one of his cousins and he was still asleep in the car.  He slept the whole time that A and I were chatting on her doorstep.  When we drove back round to our house he finally woke up, but only enough to get from the car to our sofa – he promptly fell asleep again.  He woke up an hour and a half later (6.30 pm) screaming and shouting, kicking and biting.  I tried to offer him some dinner, NO I WANT TO GO TO BED!!!! Ok, so off to bed he went, he slept for 12 hours!

This week, we have stayed at home every afternoon (which I know isn’t good for either of us, but Monkey is so tired), by dinner time he has been an absolute nightmare.  I know he is just so tired, but really don’t know what to do.

Today, we’d decided that we’d have a quiet morning, not rush to have breakfast and get dressed.  I needed to deal with the washing and ironing as we’re out all day tomorrow in Birmingham.  So we agreed that after lunch we’d go for a walk to the park and do a nature treasure hunt, or drive to meet up with some friends at a different park.

Well, Monkey is so tired he didn’t even make lunch!

Monkey is so tired

Two hours later and he is still asleep. Part of me says to wake him up, part of me says he must be really worn out – leave him.  I just wish I knew what we could do during the week so that he wasn’t so tired by Saturday.

As regular readers know we are normally always out and about, and I hate the idea of him being stuck inside whenever he is not at Nursery School.  Any ideas?

25 thoughts on “Monkey is so tired

  1. awwww.. poor monkey. I think just give him couple of weeks and see if he may start adapting to his new nursery a bit more. It’s all new so its a lot for him to take in, so once he gets used to it – less tiring hopefully. Not much you can do for now, if he keeps falling asleep can hardly drag him out!

  2. He might be fighting some bug, as they can have days and even weeks like this, just let him sleep it out and hopefully he will catch up. I know we have just started junior school and come Friday the boy looks like a zombie, just in time for his long fencing lesson! Oh well it means lazy Saturdays and Sundays (we are still in bedclothes now!)

  3. It’ll just take him a few weeks to adjust, my youngest was the same. We just stuck to having a quiet time ( either with a story or listening to music) after lunch then going out and doing our usual activities regardless. It was hard to see him so shattered but I think just sticking to a routine helped & after a couple of weeks he started napping during quiet time.
    Good luck with finding what works for you two
    Kirsten

  4. Like others have said, I think he’ll adjust over time. You just need to be patient. There will probably be days when he’s less tired as the year progresses but you may still find him especially tired by the ed of each term. I found it got easier after Christmas. It will improve, in the meantime you may have to adjust your expectations about activites-maybe more at home and in the garden? What are you up to in Birmingham?

    1. Thanks, I’m just surprised that one extra morning has made that much difference, and guess I’m not used to us just being at home.
      Yes, I’ll think of some different things we can do in the garden I think.

      We’ve been to SEA LIFE to meet Poppy Cat, although we never actuallt got to meet her – but that’s a different post!

  5. I remember POD being super exhausted when she started too, just give it time. He’ll get into a routine I’m sure. A daytime nap usually helps as well however short it is 🙂

  6. Is he maybe coming down with something?? Lots of bugs have been going about up where we are, maybe he’s feeling a bit under the weather? I hope he has a bit more energy soon.

  7. Its a shame he wont have an afternoon nap x Hopefully he will soon get used to the routine and cope more with the day…its very hard but your right..even if you have a quiet time afternoon (no activities) hopefully in time he will cope. xxx

  8. We have just gone through something similar Mary, my eldest started nursery at the beginning of Sep and has gone through the whole exhaustion, tantrums by dinner time and no nap thing. Eventually this week I have managed to get her to have a half hour nap. I made a big nest on the sitting room floor with just about every cushion I could find and added blankets. I kind of made it a game, I stuck on a Disney movie and we all lay in the nest watching, about 15 mins in and both she and baby sister were asleep.

    I did this every day, she only slept for about 30 mins, but it has made a huge difference. Once she wakes we get ready and go outside, so by bedtime she’s still ready for bed, but not at that grumpy exhausted stage.

    I hope that by half term she’ll have adjusted and not feel just so dog tired, until then I’m going to carry on building nests ha. Good luck, hopefully Monkey will come out the other side soon too x

  9. My 4yo is always exhausted in the afternoons, so much so that we actually took him to the doctors – lots of tests later, and he’s absolutely fine – so, he just gets tired… I think he is so super active in the mornings that he runs out of steam by 3pm! I just go with it, and if he needs to chill out until dinner time, I let him. He does sometimes nap, and there are days when he falls asleep at 5pm and sleeps through until 6.30am 🙂 Hopefully Monkey will get used to the different pace at nursery and be back to his usual self soon.

  10. We had the same problem with E. They do get used to it but it is hard, particularly when they turn into grumpy little so and so’s. They just get used to nursery hours and then have to start school which takes it out of them again! It was only towards the summer term that E got used to the long hours and became less tired. I don’t think there is an answer for it really, just encourage some quiet time when he gets home in an afternoon then try and get out with him before tea time?

    1. Yes, I need to re-think our afternoon’s. I hadn’t realised that one extra session would make so much difference. Doesn’t help that he won’t tell me what he does. Fingers crossed we get a little routine sorted out soon 🙂

  11. I remember when my daughter gave up her afternoon nap after pre-school. I was absolutely gutted as she too would become a grumpy bum… luckily she is at school now and sleeps through the night so she is more used to a routine now 🙂 x

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