14 Month Old Doesn't Need Nap??

My son, 22 mo, went through the same thing. He could get through the day but was not a happy guy around dinner. Obviously tired, but too late to nap. He would just play through his nap time and show no sleepy signs. This started just after he turned a year. So I just decided somewhere between 4-6 hours after waking he would take a nap. I got black out curtains, found a nice CD, used a fan for white noise, and just took him to his room. Changed his diaper prior, in the living room (first sign of naptime) and took him into his darkened, lullaby room. At first he wasn't crazy about the idea but quickly took to it and he is still napping, sometimes 3 hours a day. There may be times when he doesn't need so much rest or would rather power through it, but there have definitely been other times when he truly needs a nap and I didn't want to get rid of it, knowing these phase they go through make him need a nap (and so do I... to clean/rest/watch a movie). I always seem, even now, to bring him to his room with no sleepy signs, but he takes a nap none-the-less. Score one for "mother knows best"!

I am in the SAME sitation at you! We just started summer vacation (I'm a teacher) and both of my kids have decided to not nap anymore. My daughter (2 1/2) usually sleeps 2-4 hours and she just stopped! So, yesterday, I took her on errands and didn't put her in the stroller once. Then we went to a playground for 30 minutes or so. It worked! She napped as she usually does. Now for my son on the other hand (14 months), he usually only slept 1-2 hours. Now he may sleep for 5-10 minutes in the car and he thinks he took his nap for the day. He makes it throughout the day great without a nap, but is defintely tired around dinner time. So, that shows me that he probably COULD still take a nap. PLUS, I NEED the down time. So, I'm still going to try to put him in (until the crying starts bothering my daughter, as they share a room). At least I can get 30 minutes or so of time to straighten out the house. Who knows...maybe one of these days he may just decide to nap again....at least I hope b/c the daycare he goes to during the school year still has a naptime! So, the plan for today is to run him around as well and make sure he's not in the car at or around naptime for him to take that cat nap. Good-luck and let me know if anyone else gives you good suggestions.....I'm going to keep experimenting until something works or I'm in for a LONG summer!

I wouldn't give up yet. My younger son (now 18 months) used to nap for only an hour in the afternoon, even though his older brother (3) slept for 3-4 hours! They both have the same bedtime and get up at the same time in the morning. It drove me nuts. But I kept up with the nap schedule and eventually my younger son began sleeping almost as long as his brother. That isn't to say that your son will change his sleeping habits but just that it probably isn't time to throw in the towel.

You could try making bedtime a little later (maybe 7:30) to see whether that helps, and also try doing something really exhausting after he wakes up from his nap. I encourage my kids to run around in the yard and do active things in the afternoon because it seems to help them go to sleep at bedtime.

But some kids do just need more sleep than others. My older son has always been a good sleeper and will probably always need more sleep than his little brother.

What time is he getting up in the morning when he has no nap? My oldest stopped napping by the time she was 2 and my 2nd shortly after she was 2. I honestly preferred for them to sleep through the night. So I didn't mind the no nap during the day. But what you could do is make sort of a mandatory quiet time. He doesn't have to sleep when your older daughter naps, but he has to be quiet. This could be the time you put him in his playpen with a few special "quiet" toys. Toys that he only gets during this "nap" time. But at this age I believe the recommended amount of sleep is about 12-14 hours a day. So if he's getting that at night, then he might not need a nap.

I personally think that's too young to cut a nap. Even if they 'seem' like they don't need it, the fact is they really do at that age. Not to mention, I don't recall the precise statistic, but a child who goes past 8 hrs with no nap is something like 3x as likely (or more, again, don't recall exactly) to have an accident. It's just too much for them at that point.

I agree with Monica. My daughter stopped napping early also, and I used a large portable playpen that doubled as a crib for traveling. She got just a few of her bed toys and I'd get the time I needed. Occasionally she would sleep, but mostly she would just occupy herself until I was done with "my time".

every child is different my oldest took naps forever and infact some days he still could take one but my youngest hasn't napped in over a year for that very reason he won't sleep if he gets a nap so I just don't give him one. I'd rather have a grumpy kid in the evening then one that won't sleep. They only need 10-12 hrs of sleep including a nap so if he's sleeping that at night I wouldn't worry about the nap.

Edited: My children don't nap but I even require my 7 year old to go to his room after lunch for some down time. They can read books or color but they must be quiet. You could try this with your little one although you will probably have to stay in the room with him for right now a simple "its quiet time" bring him to his room and read or color w/ him or some other quiet activity who know this quiet time might get him relaxed enough to nap my boys sometimes fall asleep even my 7 year old!