22 Month Old Stopped Napping

I had the same problem with my now 5 1/2 year old son. I told him that if he didn't want to fall asleep he didn't have to, but he did have to have quiet time. For his quiet time, he was allowed to look at books or a quiet toy, but he had to stay on the bed. The first few times he tried to keep getting off the bed and getting up. I was just very consistent about putting him back in bed. The first couple of times he even stayed awake the entire time looking at books and playing with toys, but eventually he started looking at his books for about 10 minutes and then falling asleep. My 27 month old son is starting to go through the same phase. I have already started my same tactic. Good Luck!

My doc's motto- you pick the bed times, they pick when they sleep. Maybe he doesn't need a lot of sleep. You tell him when to be in the bed and give him the opportunity to sleep, but he gets to decide if he sleeps or not. If he isn't acting tired then he's okay.

My daughter had the same issue when she was about two. I tried keeping her up a little later or waking her up earlier. That worked a little bit. However, her doctor told me some children just do not need as much sleep as other children. She is seven now and still does not need as much sleep. It does not matter what time she goes to bed...she is always up by 6AM. I know how exhausting it can be for you, plus how crabby they can be by late afternoon. Good luck!

W.,
The old stand-bys that my pediatrician and fellow moms taught me were just start removing things from his diet near and around nap and bed time. Sugar, red food dye, caffiene from any source.
My son had trouble sleeping at appropriate times and he just had too many carbohydrates in his diet when it was close to sleep time. We made some slight adjustments and it helped a lot. Protein, vegetables, cubes of cheese, etc.
Good luck,
B.

Sorry, but sounds like your son is done with napping! It happens eventually, some kids sooner than others. My oldest daughter loved her afternoon nap until she was over 3 years old, but my middle daughter gave hers up before she was 2. I'm in the "wait and see" mode for my 15 month old . . .

Still, down time is still good for him (and you!) so even having him lay down and rest for 45 minutes to an hour is good, maybe just do it later in the day when he seems tired.

Wow 12 hours straight? I think you either need to start waking him up earlier in the morning. It just depends on how your schedule starts since you don't have to get up to go to work. Since I have to get up at 6am, my little one does too and would take 2 hour naps when she was at the same age as yours. But now, she is almost 4 and naps are a thing of the past no matter what time she wakes up or how many hours she sleeps but since yours is 22 months...I would start cutting back on the 12 hours somewhere...I never got mine in bed at 7:30 at night only 8:30 ish and it would be 9pm by the time she was asleep and would waken in the mornings hearing me get up and get ready early early early. That way I was lucky to get her down for 2 hour naps on the weekends when I was not working :) Hope this helps. They say they need 11 to 12 hours sleep total a day and that to me includes naps...but we never got that. Just cut back on night time sleep in the mornings...and your baby will be ready for a nap :)

My son stopped napping at 12 months. I did and still do (he's almost 3) make him sit down for rest time. He goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps 12 hours. If he is cranky, he goes to bed at 6pm and sleeps 13 hours.

I had that problem with my daughter and I had to end up placing her in a high energy morning class which started one hour after I wake her up for the morning. From there we go out and grocery shop or run errands. If she takes her naps it is at 12:00 coming home. I try to avoid taking long trips in the car after her nap and at 1:30 I am home for good playing games, interacting with her, letting her "help me" cook and clean (even if its just holding the dust pan) and giving her TV time. At 7:00 we start winding down, getting baths together and she's in the bed by eight.

My daughter quit napping before she was 2. She was in the day care I worked in so the entire center was dark and quiet, but she would just lay there and play with her feet. Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you, but your son is not the only one to give up napping so early.

Boy do I remember those days! Both of my kids stopped napping right around 2, but they still needed it. What ended up working for me was to tell them, it's not nap time, it's rest time. I'd put them in their room/bed with books (as long as they didn't wreck the books!) or maybe some small toys. They had to stay in their bed for 1 hour. If I went in and they were still awake after 1 hour, then they could get up, if they were asleep, great. Somedays they slept, some they didn't, but they weren't crying and they got some rest. You'll probably find that they sleep every few days. The other thing was that since they were still tired, I had to move their bedtime up to make up for the lack of sleep during the day. This seemed to work.

Yes, that's about how it happened for my son as well, although I don't think it was quite that early. It was before he was 2 1/2 though. The bad thing for us is that he starts to get sleepy around 5 or 6 p.m. and if we are even thinking about going anywhere in the car after that time, we have to plan in advance things we can do or give to him that will keep him awake. Otherwise it's next to impossible to get him to wake up for dinner or anything else until 8 or 9 p.m. and then he doesn't want to go to sleep again until very late.

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to make your son start napping again. We tried all kinds of things and they never worked. The good thing for us is as long as we can keep him awake until at least 7:30 p.m. or so, he'll go to bed earlier and stay asleep, which is great! Our son, unlike yours, has always had problems sleeping. He either wouldn't want to go to sleep or wouldn't want to stay asleep. Now that he doesn't nap, the nights are much more peaceful around here.

Good luck!

mine stopped napping at 18 months. I would suggest telling him he doesn't have nap time he has rest or quiet time. Let him take one thing with him and tell him he must stay on his bed for at least 30 minutes. Usually they'll fall asleep before that is up. Good luck!

my DD used to take a nap at 10 am and 3 pm. But started removing her second nap all together at 22 months. Which left her cranky by the afternoon but she wouldnt sleep only at 10 am.

So, i extended her nap to 10:30, then 11 and so on until 1:00 where she takes her nap and is fine the rest of the day and goes to bed on time at 9 pm. Although if we skip nap at one o'clock and take it around 3 or 4 she is up until midnight.

She needs at least one nap so when she has days that she doenst want to nap i take her to the park, gymboree, play dates, swimming, play ball...what i can take to tire her out. i would say do thinks with him to help exaust his little body so he is willing to nap. After play time let him relax a few min watching tv with you and then lay him down for bed.

i think at this age they need one or two naps a day. i am sure my little one would like two but she gets only one other wise she is up all night. They do all their growing when they sleep so it is important to their growing bodies. not to minchen we moms need to break/rest as well. i take a nap when she does...lol.

But...some kids grow out of naps early on and their is nothing we can do about it.

Talk to your ped on your next apt and see what they suggest.

W.,

I don't know what time you nap your son, but maybe he needs to nap at a later time. As they get older, their naptimes change from 2 naps a day to one longer nap a day. If you are still napping your son in the early morning, he's not tired yet. Wait until 12:00 or 1:00 to put him down. He definately only needs one nap a day since he is 22 months. Also, make sure he eats something shortly before you put him down so he won't be hungry. Also, make sure the temperature in your house is comfortable. If it's really hot outside and your AC is not on, make sure you put his celing fan on (if there is one), and make sure it's on high. However, in a few weeks or so, you'll probably need to put your AC on as well. Also, where does he nap? The best place for him to nap is in a quiet, dark place, so his bedroom would be perfect. These are my guesses as to what may be the problem. Good luck!

Maybe he's not ready for a nap when you put him down. Bump naptime back an hour and see if that helps. My daughter is the same age and this recently happened to us.

My son too gave up his naps at around 20 months. I would set a timer in his room and tell him when the timer went off he could get up but that he needed rest time until then. It worked for awhile then he would move the timer up and tell me it had gone off. ha ha I told him mommy knew how long the timer was set and if he moved it, it would add more time on. We got through a couple of weeks but then he just gave them all up. He still went to bed around 9 evem without naps. Just didn't need the rest. And was still a good boy all day. Some just go through it. We still would have quiet time with a book or story. He is now 25 yrs old and loves naps and sleeping. hahaha Good luck. They grow up fast.

=) I do not allow my children to stop napping until they go to Kindergarten. =)
Get in bed with him until he falls asleep. And be nice. Don't play with him. But don't be ugly. You'll regret it one day. (Trust me, I get cranky sometimes.)
Get in bed with him until he learns his nap schedule again. That is the best way to ensure that he gets back to the program! I would also suggest that you do not let him watch TV to go to sleep.
Also, I'm home everyday by 1130, so that we can eat lunch, get upstairs and get ready for naptime at 12. Everyday. That way none of them, other than the infant, ever fall asleep in the car.
I also make sure that they are all up by 7 every morning. That's not as hard, as they usually wake up at 630. But they wake at 7, nap at 12, I wake them at 2, they are in bed asleep by 8. That's our schedule and I'll tell you that when cousins are here visiting, they fall into it soooooo easily, so it must be good for kids.
Good luck! Naps rule!!!!!! DO NOT GIVE UP.

Hello W.,

I remember those days. I used to drive my daughter for about 5 minutes then she would fall asleep. tell him that he needs "quiet" time even if he doesn't sleep. put some soft music, rub his feet and back and tell him that he needs to stay in his room for a while. also, is he having juice at lunch time? watch the sugars...good luck! ~C.~

All three of my children stopped napping regularly by 18 months. And like you, they would only fall asleep in the car. I am sorry that I have no real suggestions, except to make sure you get a good night's sleep. I just wanted you to know that you were not alone. My kids are 6, 7 and 9 now. You will survive - I promise! :)

I see you have some great advice in the other posts. I'm a mother of three and NONE of them take naps anymore :(. I would monitor him for a few days, up his energy output mid-morning, (literally make him run after a ball or something,) and see what time he starts to get cranky. That's probably about the time of day he needs that nap. (Hopefully that won't be really late in the day.) You might also wake him up thirty minutes earlier than you are now and put him to bed thirty minutes later. If you reach a time when the grumpiness dissapears, then I suggest you drop the nap altogether. That grumpiness means to me that he does still need a nap, but if the grumps go away then he doesn't. Enjoy your baby now, they sure grow up fast. Many blessings!

When my son moved to a big boy bed from his crib he would resist naps. I completely babyproofed his room and put up a babygate at the door. I told him he was going to stay in there for 2 hours no matter what. I would lay him down for naps and leave. In the beginning he got out of bed and played eventually crashing on the floor in a pile of toys. Later he would decide to stop playing and crawl back into bed. We were consistant about that being his time and I never came back to beg or nag or push. As he got older and out grew naps, it was still a nice rest time and play alone so mommy can nap time(lttle sister was on the way and I needed it). I don't even know when the transistion took place it was so smooth.

Now, this is going to sound crazy...but it was told to me by a dear friend of mine that just happens to be a child psycologist. There is a brand of teething cream at target. Its whinnie the pooh something...you cant miss it. It has chamomile in it, take a dab of it on your forefinger and rub it on the top of his head. Make sure you get it on his scalp in the approximate area that his soft spot used to be. Then give him some warm milk or feed him and by the time he is finished eating, he should be looking for a comfy place to crash. It worked for us. I hope it works for you.

I remember desperately wanting my daughter to continue her naps. One thing that worked for us was that I told her she could read books all she wanted to but that she had to stay on her bed until the timer I set went off. Usually she fell asleep long before the timer went off because she was being still.

Now that the weather is typically nice, try to get him outside sometime before his nap to play a bit. Also, push the nap back a bit to later in the afternoon (my 25 month old sleeps from 2-4 p.m. and goes down for bedtime at 7:30 p.m.). I've noticed that my 2 year old (and in the past with my now 4 year old) always sleeps better if he gets some outdoor play. We try to be outside as much as possible because I think it is the best way to get them to sleep well. Don't give up on the naps, I think he is way too young to give them up. It is probably just a phase and he needs a bit of a schedule adjustment.

My son stopped napping for awhile till we had him go to bed in the evening a bit later. We also had a scheduled time for wake up in the morning. His naps were short, but I could tell the difference in his behavior. My daughter who will be 4 in August still takes a nap (not enforced) about 4 times a week. She goes in her room for about an hour for quiet time and sometimes she falls asleep.

try a routine.Get nap time at the same time everyday.Like at 1;30 every day or after you watch barnery it is nap time.Anyway somekind of routine.Also try playing music during nap time like clasical or lullibies.Just be patient and try evryday if he doesnt nap at least let him lay there for a while.Godd luck

same thing happened with me. my daughter's never been a good sleeper and gave up a nap at 2 years. we just try to have some quiet time.

Kids this age are very curious about what's going on around them, and everything is a lot of fun, except getting into their crib/bed! I used to put my daughter in her Pack and Play right there in the living room with me with some toys and a lovey so she could see she really wasn't missing much at 1 p.m. (other than my few minutes to grab a bite and chat on the phone.) After about 10 minutes, I would notice that all the "playing" sounds had stopped, and she would be curled up, sound asleep. One thing that's important to remember--"sleep begets sleep." No nap during the day makes it very difficult for a child to relax at bedtime because they are overtired. You know yourself how that feels... I would also try to wear her out with outdoor activities in the morning, or take her out shopping...both those usually made her tired enough to nap without any fuss.

Some boys need less sleep than others and I suspect he is just going to drop his naps. They are busy little persons!
Try to give him his most busy times (outside preferably)in the mornings and maybe he will ware out by afternoon. Try to find a playgroup in the mornings or start one yourself. I know what you mean by "I don't know if I can handle this"! It is exhausting to be a parent to that kind of activity all day. Remember Stay at home mom is the HARDEST job there is and the most rewarding. Give yourself a break and you will be a better mommy. It is okay if he just talks to himself in the crib for awhile. It will keep you from going crazy!
Love in Christ,
B.

First of all, whatever you do, don't purposely cut back on his bedtime sleeping- growing kids this age need that much sleep! Now, as far as the nap thing goes, I would highly recommend continuing to have him lay down every day. My 3 year old has tried to stop napping 3 or 4 different times since being around your son's age- and what I mean by stop napping is for several weeks at a time he would refuse to fall asleep. So what I've done is this; when he was obviously not going to sleep I would let him have one or two toys and allow him to play, but he had to be in his room, preferably in his bed, for at least 1 hour, preferably 1 1/2 hours. He resisted at first, but then he did fine, and guess what- every time he's had a couple of weeks where he hasn't slept at all and then he'll get back in the routine and start napping again (and my son has always been a terrible sleeper, still is!). Your son may not start napping again, but your son needs down time and so do you!! I also agree with pushing the naptime back. My son will still take a nap, but not unless I wait until 2 or 3pm to put him down. Pushing his nap later in the afternoon may do the trick- and in case you're worried about bedtime, my son still goes to bed at a reasonable hour (8:30ish). Just keep working on it, and even if it becomes more of a quiet time or rest time, it will do both of you good to have him be quiet in his room for a period of time daily. It may be a battle now to make it happen, but it will be worth it!

My daughter is going through this as well. I found that if I pushed her nap later then it worked out better for her. She would usually go down at 1:00ish now she does not go down until 2:30ish. The only problem with this is that she does not go to sleep until 9:30ish, but if you don't mind him staying up a little later it might work. I think I read somewhere that they only need 12-14 hours of sleep a day at this age so if he sleeping 12 hours then maybe you should try waking him up a little earlier in the mornings or stay up later at night.

I just recently experience this exact thing. You are not alone! I have a 3 yr. old that just one day decided he wasn't going to nap any more, (this happend about 6 months ago). I, like you, put him in his room and tried to make him take a nap and he would end up talking to himself or finding a way to play in bed. After a week of this I decided to stop giving him naps all together. It was really rough at first because there little bodies have to get use to it but after the first week it started to work it's self out. We do have "quiet" time from 2-3 in the afternoon. I put on a movie for him and he lays in bed and sometimes he falls asleep. I never let him sleep more then an hour if he does but most of the time, the "quite" time does the trick. I tell him that it is "quiet" time, not nap time so this way he believes he doesn't have to take a nap, less pressure. He is still crancky come the end of the night but it is getting easier. I find that if he really needs a nap then he will fall asleep durring "quiet" time and if not then he won't. He goes to bed by 8:00 every night and wakes up around 8:00 every morning. It seems to work for my son. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hey W.!
Don't worry! My daughter has twin sons that are 22 months old and they are in this phase right now as well. Kids will go through cycles like this. Don't push it - he's becoming more independent and in his tiny world he doesn't get to control much! So this is probably one way he's trying to be in control. I would suggest that you still keep up your routine and try to just have some quiet time during regular nap time instead of just putting him down by himself. You might put on some quiet music, sit by him on his bed or beside it and read some books to him. Maybe sing some soft songs. Even if he's only still for a few minutes, you are sending the message that this is quiet time. My bet is that this will pass in a short time. But be prepared for the changes in routine to occur from time to time! Blessings to you and your precious son!
Nana