My LO is 2 years 3 months and until this week he takes 2-3 hour naps daily. All of a sudden this week he hasn't napped for 4 days straight. He goes into his crib like normal and talks, sings, etc. . But then he starts with "Mama! Open the door!" And he needs some water. Or fix his pillow. Or his sock. This goes on for an hour. If I ignore him he screams louder and then starts to cry. And then he's done and wants out of the crib. He doesn't understand "quiet time" so I can't really tell him to do that instead of napping. But I'm going a little nutty - and am terrified that this is the end of naps!? It seems odd that he would suddenly go from 3 hour naps to none. Could this be a phase? Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!
OH NO...it sounds like the naps are over 8-( I remember that. My son is 3 1/2 now and I was so sad when the naps ended. That meant the end of my free time 8-)
My son would do the same thing....sing..talk...then just as it got quiet and I thought I was in the clear, I owuld hear "MOM, can I come down now" ...ha ha..
Sorry, try for a few more days, but I think he's out of his nap stage.
A bit young to be done with naps, so keep trying. Maybe give him a book in his crib. Maybe it'll distract him. If ends up not napping anymore, perhaps he'll take one every third day or so. It does seem quite abrupt. Would he fall asleep in the car at nap time? Sometimes when my kids fell asleep in the car, rather than try to transfer them to their cribs, I would leave them in their car seats in the car inside the garage. I'd even set up the baby monitor so I could hear them while I was inside the house. It surely was better than the alternative.
I know one thing for sure...as soon as you get this figured out, you'll be trying to figure out the next toddler challenge. Good luck!!
J.,
My son will be 2.5 in 2 weeks, and we are going through this ourselves. You might want to take a look at some of the replies to my question a couple of days ago. One suggestion I have heard is to make sure they are still given "quiet time", and set an alarm for a hour, or hour and a half, and let them know they cannot get out until the alarm goes off (maybe keep it in the next room, so that if they DO fall asleep, you can turn it off.
I know, we're struggling too. I think I'm going to have my son nap every other day for a bit and see how that goes. I'm pregnant with #2, so I really need the nap myself! ;) Hope things start to even out a bit.
We just switched him to a twin mattress on the floor, and that seems to be helping a bit- a little change of pace.
Good luck,
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com
Hi J.! Yep, it's a phase that we all have been through. Nap strikes happen at exactly this age (and sometimes one more time during the 2nd year -- so don't be surprised.)
Please do not allow this to be the end of his naps. I'll bet he is a complete mess by the end of the day. This is the sign that he is not ready to drop his nap. Continue putting him down for his nap and leaving him -- let him do what he wants to do for at least an hour. It's true that you can't *make* him sleep (and when he doesn't, you may have a tough evening), but after some time he will resume his nap. My daughter's nap strike lasted about 1 1/2 weeks. My son, much more stubborn, lasted 3 1/2 weeks. But they both resumed their naps beautifully.
i'm not so sure you should give up on naps. he should be getting about 12 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period (which varies depending on which "expert" or dr. you listen to, and also from child to child) but maybe start putting him down to bed at night a little later. he may have hit a growth spurt and truly need a bit less sleep. but i can't proclaim the praises of naps enough - we are a napping familiy! i would insist he have some quiet time - it will make for a much happier afternoon/evening. my son is 3 and still takes naps. sometimes he doesn't need one, but he knows the rule (and your son should be able to understand, you will just have to enforce it). quiet time means quiet time. he stays on his bed, or at the sitters they do pallets on the floor, and if i have a hunch he's not in the mood to sleep, i'll turn a movie on quietly, let him lay on the livingroom floor with me on the couch, or in my bedroom in my bed, and i can usually get some time with my feet up, maybe even a catnap. another note, when he starts the stalling, don't ignore it, but take care of all excuses before naptime, then just reinforce, "shhh...quiet time." and encourage him to do what he's supposed to. he'll get it.
my son dropped his naps around this age also and did it cold turkey (mind you we also had a new baby in the house so I wasn't able to give him my 100% like i used to.) However, even now that he is 3 1/2 yrs he still every so often will fall asleep in the car or need to ust sit down and watch a movie as his quiet time. Try Toy Story.
my son gave up naps around 2.5 yrs... but he understood quiet time. for a few months anyway. there was a time prior to that we thought he gave them up but instead went to every other day. try that : )
It is a phase and you can do two things, one is throw them out the window but you will never get them back or keep the nap/quiet time. My daughter is 3 1/2 years old now and I stuck with naps even though for about 3-4 months she would sorta nap and try to talk her way out of them. If she took no nap then at 6pm she was down right cranky because she was so tired. So I stuck to my guns when she was 2 1/2 years old and told her she does not need to sleep but it is quiet time for her AND mommy.
As someone else mention physically setting a timer, for an hour - hour and a half, with the child and placing it outside their door or in the next room and saying you have to stay in your room for this amount of time but when it goes off you can get up. It really help because to them they feel in control and in the know of what is going on, that is what this whole struggle is about anyway. For the first few days she stayed awaken the whole hour and a half but it gave me that alone time to nap, read, clean whatever to refresh. About a two weeks later since she knew I stuck to my word the previous weeks that she could get up when the timer went off she would be asleep in 30 mins and I got the 2-3 hr naps back.
It also depends on how long your child sleeps at night, and ever child needs a different amount of sleep to recharge. For my daughter she sleeps about 10 hours at night and needs a 2-3 hour nap during the day to be balanced out. On average children from age 2-5 years old need about 12 hours of sleep.
None of mine napped after 2yo. The 2 that slept all night after that were a blessing. The other 2 slept 2 & 4 hours in 24.
I guess I say if he is sleeping all night and has a bit of a quiet time be thankful. I read to mine to on the couch so that they rested, but that is all. Back when ... 2 was a transitional time to no naps.
Hope you consider yourself fortunate after reading other messages.
SAHM married 39 years--- adult children 38,33, and twins 19
This is normal and when a kid hits 2 years old.
They are changing developmentally.. and their mind too.
Both my kids did that too.
It does NOT mean that they necessarily don't need naps anymore period & absolutely. They WILL still get tired and often times still do need a nap.
So... keep to your routine EVERYDAY... and gauge it. But you need to be flexible about it. Like, Perhaps make nap time a bit later... by 1/2 hour increments.
AND, have a "wind-down" period BEFORE nap. Let the child unwind. A kid needs that. For me, it takes about 1/2 hour to get my kids wound down. THEN, nap routine. I just make everything quiet....nothing noisy, I make the room(s) dark etc. My son likes to watch "Little Bear"... its a cute show that relaxes him.
Yes its a phase. The one thing to watch out for is... absolutely throwing naps out the window and completely stopping. Because at this age through 5+ years old, they still benefit by naps. My son is 3 and still naps... my daughter up until 1st grade was still napping... and she is 7 now and will still occasionally nap. I don't force them... but I have a "routine" everyday and I KNOW when my kids are tired... or they tell me they are tired and my son will sometimes even tell me "Mommy I'm going to sleep..." and he crawls into bed himself. But every afternoon is "quiet" time. My son will not last the entire day without a nap... or he gets MEGA fussy and TOO hyper. Typical signs of an OVER-tired child.
Just keep doing what you are doing... the routine is important... and one day, AFTER the PHASE is gone... he will nap. Like the aberration never happened. BUT... keep in mind that if you get lax or irregular about it... it will be very difficult to get him BACK into his usual nap routine... so, as me and the others suggest... keep to your nap & pre-nap routine...if he is in the crib talking to himself fine... my son did that too and would play with his toys. He even sang "opera" in there. But he was happy. He'd call me sometimes, just to see me. Then he'd tell me "okay Mommy bye-bye, me sleep now.." and then he'd hunker down and doze off.
So... keep consistent. Don't "give up" naps per say nor entirely... but just try and flow with it... but keeping to the routine, everyday. You don't have to b e a forceful brute about it... but just keep a routine... and if after awhile he does not fall asleep... then take him out. BUT keep quiet, no horse-playing...and tell him "we will go back to nap in a few minutes..." then do so.
At least with my kids, the both did that.
At 2 years old, is typically when all kind of sleep/nap tweaks and aberrations occur.
All the best,
Susan
My daughter has done this at various times and always goes back to napping. I have had to deal with everything from an hour of crying to her finally doing quiet rest time where she plays or sings in bed. I just kept to the same routine and never changed my expectations and she got through it. It is hard to deal with but don't give up trying for at least a couple weeks.
