Advice on Reluctant Napper

Andrea,
Similar thing here. My son is 25 months and also fights his naps. His problem is he does eventually crash and will nap but by that time its late in the afternoon. He wakes up cranky usually and has trouble setting down for the night till late, 9:30 or 10:00. Yesterday he had a two hour nap that ended around 4:00 and he didn't fall asleep till after 11:00 and woke up once at 5:00 (like your son he usually sleeps great through the night). On a few occassions when he missed his nap he was cranky at around 5 or 6 (like your son). Last time that happened he would have gone to sleep at 5:00 on my lap (I was reading to him) but I put him in his chair with a video, fed him then did our usually routine of bathing and he was asleep by 7:15. My advice would be to skip the nap and try to give him rest time and put him down for the night a little earlier. I hope this helps. I'm still struggling and think we may wind up dropping the nap as well.

Hi,
My now 26 month old was so bad at napping, from day 1!! So i know how you feel. For us , she gave up her naps at 18 months. I would have to work for an hour to get her to nap for 20 mins. So it just wasnt working. So i read and read and realised that i would just get her to bed earlier. So now she gets up around 7 and in bed by 7:30.If he doesnt want to nap dont force it, you will both be miserable. ! And most kids give up their nap at 2 years old. So just take it day by day, see how it goes if you try that. Trial and error.
Good luck.

Hi Andrea,

it looks like your son is too tired to take a nap. I experienced the same with my son. 6pm is too late for a nap.... Try around 1-2pm instead.If you do everyday the same routine he should get use to it. NOw you know that he falls asleep in a stroller easily, you can go everyday around nap time (2pm)for the walk with the stroller and let him sleep as long he needs, after few days you do the same but you put him in his bed instead. His body should be already get used to the new nap time.
Anyway 11 hours of sleep in the night, that is fantastic !!! Every child has a different sleep needs, might be that your boy does not want to nap anymore... but then he should go to bed earlier, try around 7pm ? Hopefully some of my tips could help you solve it.
A.

Hi Andrea,

I was just like you when my kids were little I have to have routine and consistency. Unfortunately sometimes our little ones do not cooperate. I am not sure if you object to TV. When my kids were beginning to fight naps I would have quiet time. They would get their pillow and blanket jump up on the couch and I would put in a video for them. Either a Disney movie or something educational. After a few minutes I would look over and they would be fast asleep. I only did this for nap time because like your son they were great sleepers at night (I also did Ferber) Some children start breaking from their naps early. My son was a great napper my daughter was a cat napper. There is no rule that they have to nap in their crib and to me as long as I slept at night I wasn't so bothered by them having a rest time. I know how long and tough the day can be without a break. One other suggestion is have you tried making the room really dark? That could be why he knows the difference between night time and nap time if it is to light in the room. Good luck!!

Andrea~ My son was the same way, so at nap-time, I grabbed a book, a magazine, my cell phone, mail, etc. and drove to a shady location in a park. I made sure my son was asleep before I stopped. I read my book, made my phone calls for the day, read my mail, and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was good for me, as well as good for my son. If he stirred or woke-up, I'd drive around the park until he went back to sleep. I really enjoyed that and he got his rest. Now he is much older and takes naps when I don't want him to !!
C.

Could he be getting his 2-year molars? Only ask because my son was that way and that was the problem.