hi mamas - im hoping some of you may have some advice for me, yet again.
my two year old has decided she doesnt like to nap anymore. she sleeps around 11-12 hours at night, and (used to) also have a 2 hour nap during the day.
today she screamed for 10 minutes after we took her up. i went and laid on the floor by her bed and sang to her and she calmed down, but then got out of bed and wanted to come downstairs. i was up there for a half hour reading, singing, and laying with her. as soon as i got up to come downstairs again she started screaming. its been another 10 minutes and shes still screaming and stomping.
part of me wants to just let her stay up (i hate hearing her so worked up!) but if i do, then around 6 or 7 she'll say "naptime" and want to sleep, when bedtime is at 830. then its a fight all night with more screaming and stomping. i have no idea what to do.
thank you all so much for the advice - today we're going to try "quiet time" instead of nap and see how that goes.
im actually quite happy with her 8:30 bedtime, as my husband doesnt get home from work until 7pm and leaves before they girls get up. they need their daddy/daughter time.
My son stopped taking naps long before his second birthday, but we did have a mandatory "quiet time." He never slept but he had to sit quietly on the couch, in a chair, or on his bed and could play with a toy, look at a book, or sometime watch a video. This was just enough to let him recharge his batteries and make it through to bedtime.
M.,
This is what we do in our house. We either set an egg timer, and alarm, or start a CD. Any one of the three usually lasts about an hour. We don't force a nap, but we do say that they have to lay down and be quiet until the alarm goes off/music stops. If they're still awake at that time thy can get up, but until then they HAVE to be quiet. Most of the time they're out in about 10-20 minutes.
Hope this helps,
Melissa
She might be a little young for this but you could try.... tell her she doesn't have to sleep but she does need to lie down and rest. This can include quietly looking at books, or some other quiet activity. But she needs to stay in her room and quiet for the entire nap period (which you will probably need to make a bit shorter than 2 hours). See how that goes... She might just "read" herself to sleep.
My daughter stoped taking naps before she was two.With my boys they stoped before they turned 3. I do make sure that they have about 20 minutes of quiet time after lunch or so where we either read or can play board games. If they are getting tired and have had a long day there are times I carry my boys to the room and say time to calm down and shut the door. They may scream for a few minutes but if they are tired they fall asleep; if not they can come out when they stop screaming.
Try putting her in a stroller and take her for a walk until she falls asleep. Make sure the stroller is the comfy kind that lays back. Let her nap in that. My son took many naps in his. I just pushed it back into the house and put him in a safe, quiet place until he woke up.
On the other hand, if she is ready for bed at 7, that is reasonable. My son went to bed at 7 until he was 7 or 8 years old.
All 3 of my boys stopped napping at 2 - it's pretty common. It will get easier as you put her to bed - just increase the time by 15 minutes each day, gradually, until you get to the time you want.
my 4 year old just recently stopped taking naps, we went through a rough patch when he was about two. We had to let him cry it out (5 min at a time and go back in there) within the week he was back to his normal nap schedule.
If he did not have a nap oh boy, he was not a happy boy!
Every kid is different, i would try it for a dy or two of sticking with her naptime routine and if it doesnt work then go to quiet time, we watch a 30-60 min video. Half the time he still falls asleep for about 20-30 min. We are very active though and he runs and runs before lunch and quiet time.
So maybe also up her activity level?
She may not need naps anymore. You could make her bedtime a bit earlier and see how that works for you. She may get up too early but it's worth a try.
My grandchildren's bedtime at that age was 6:30 or 7. My 5 yo grandson's bed time is still 7 and my granddaughter's is 8 but she frequently goes to bed around 7 too. My grandson still takes naps but he does have a difficult time getting to sleep. My granddaughter stopped with the naps around 3. She still has quiet time on the weekends.
Both children usually wake up around 7.
I think that 8:30 is possibly too late for lights out at this age. Would she sleep thru if you did put her down when she said nap time? It might take awhile for her to get used to the new routine, another challenge.
I wouldn't try to force her to nap. If she seems really sleepy during the day and doesn't want to nap, you might just lie down with her and read books, have a quiet time without the pressure of having to sleep, and then she will either get enough rest that way, or she will actually sleep. She could actually take her nap around 6 or 7, and then go to bed later. I know it's hard, but I think it's really important to let our children sleep when they're sleepy and be awake when they're alert!
