2 y.o Won't Nap, and Has Night Terrors!

The best thing you can do is work on making sure that the routine is conducive to naps. First of all, are you getting her and the kids outside or providing enough stimulus in the house to let them get tired? I know it's been windy and cold for going out much. I picked up on of those little trampolines in the house with a stabilizing bar for the kids to hold onto. They love jumping on that. But if the weather is nice they need to be outside and run around.

Also, try and make sure their diet is varied with plenty of fruits and vegetables and warm milk before naps is helpful too. Darken the windows, play soft music etc.

There have been so many viruses going around lately. Your 2 year old might not feel that good either. I am up at 3am right now myself because my nose is running too bad to sleep. Your 2 year old can't really put into words what she is feeling.

Suzi

Hi S.,

I have a 4 year old that has had night terrors since an infant. There were nights she'd wake up screaming her head off and you could tell it wasn't pain...it wasn't her just waking up or hungry. If someone was here when it happened like my mom or dad, people she saw all the time and they spoke to her, she'd look at them like they were strangers and scream. It was like she couldn't handle seeing anyone. I was the only one able to calm her. I'd have to take her to the bedroom and lay her frontwards on my lap and just talk softly and calm and sway back and forth and she'd go right back to sleep. NO ONE could come in the room or she'd scream again. It was like she couldn't get out of the dream. It was really weird. Always made my parents feel bad, because they could calm her in any other fashion. My husband too and she wanted nothing to do with anyone. They could see this terror in her eyes. It was SO sad. My husband said he had night terrors as a child. I had really bad dreams and still have very realistic dreams. It's sad to see them have to deal with this, because I know how I feel when I wake up.

My point. I recently read an article in a book about children's dreams and how they start with animals then they get older and it switches to real life things that can happen. This mom took a journal of her child's dreams. When the child would have a bad dream, she would tell "mommy" and mommy would grab and pen and paper and write it down. Somehow that calmed the child and/or took her mind off the dream and turned it more like a story she was telling. I think this mom wrote her daughters dreams for YEARS!!!

My daughter, now 4, still has dreams and for me to just listen and talk and discuss them as if they're real, but tell her silly things like daddy's going to beat up the octopus. Her most recent dream...and octopus was getting her. She came to my room and said, I couldn't find you in my dream, where were you. Made me feel like...gosh...did I do something wrong in real life to make her feel like I couldn't be there. (I do work more now that's she's older even though it's still mostly from home) Dreams are so real for some people and others it's not a big deal.

Anyway if you want, message me your email address and I'll scan in the article about the dreams and maybe it'll help you learn more and help your little one.

Good luck!
J.

My son is two years old and has been going through the same thing. We found that with him, we need to put him in his room every day, and if he naps or not, that's on him. But we always close the door and leave him alone... he usually falls right asleep. And if he doesn't, we try and go outside and/or do something really exciting with him (like banging on "drums" for a while, or having a dance party), and he will conk out early.

He needs alone time to sleep. If he doesn't sleep during the day, he needs to run around a LOT during the evening to get him completely exhausted so he sleeps through the night.

I hope this helps!

If none of the nap sleep suggestions work, maybe try to get her to bed earlier at night. I know nighttimes are typically difficult anyway - so much crammed into a small amount of time, but just move your whole routine up an hour and see if it is enough time to avoid the night terrors. Or maybe try moving the nap time an hour later in the afternoon.

Sleep Requirements that I received from Nancy @ St. Lukes Sleep Center are as follows:
0-6 mo. 14-16 1/2 hrs.
6-12 mo. 14-15 hrs.
1 13.75-14
2 12.75-13
3 12-12.5
4 11.5-12
5-7 11
8-9 10.5
10-11 10
12-14 9.5
15-24 9
25+ 7.5-8.5

Have you tried reading a story before she takes her nap, or while she is in her bed? That often quiets them and they can fall asleep at bedtime or naptime. Be sure it's a calm story. I read to my kids every night too and we talked and that seems to prepare them more for sleep.

I can't help you with naps, but my son did start having night terrors when he changed antihistamines. Any chance you have changed any medications with her? That could be part of the problem.

some kids just don't require that much sleep at 2 years old. My oldest quit taking naps at 18 months but slept well at night. He slept 10-12 hours at night and didn't require a nap during the day. My daughter took naps until she was 4 and slept well at night too. My youngest quit taking naps at age 2 so all kids are different. I did put the gate up in their room for quiet time so I could get stuff done during the day. They would play quietly in their room during their old naptime and they seemed fine with it. This gives them independent time and helps them learn to play alone without always having to be at your feet or follow you around. Sometimes I had a movie playing and they would play along with the movie with toys that went along with the movie. It was fun to check on them and see them playing with their toys and how creative they can be especially when they didn't realize you were watching them.

My daughter did the same thing when she was two. Our doctor suggested giving her "Melatonin" to help her sleep thru the night. It's what your body produces to make you sleep. We started off with 2.5 mg (half of a tablet) about 30 minutes before bedtime. I would crush it and mix it with water in a medicine syringe. It work great!!! We gave it to her for about 2 weeks. Slowly she started taking naps again & sleeping through the night. You can get it anywhere OTC.

Hope this helps and you get a good nights rest soon!!!

This might back fire, but it worked for my sister (I think her son was also 3 when she tried this). She put a wind-up timer near him so he could see it and told him to read/quiet time until it beeped. She said he would get so wrapped up in watching the timer that he'd fall asleep in no time. I don't know about a 2 year old, but she said this worked every time. Good luck!