A little over a month ago, our then 19 month old climbed out of the crib. He had been attempting it for over 2 months or more and succeeded. Immediately we took the side off of the crib and made it into a daybed. We stacked cushions and blankets on the floor, to make for a safe place if he fell out. He has no problems staying in his bed at night time and goes to sleep with ease. It is extremely rare that he will leave the room at all. Our big problem is nap times. An average day takes between 1 and 2 hours to get him to fall asleep. He does n't come out of his room, but he gets out of the crib/daybed and plays HARD. About 3 weeks ago we got rid of the blankets and fitted a bed rail to the side of the crib, for safety purposes, not to keep him in, that's impossible! We've tried to use the pack and play for nap times, as he does go to a family daycare up to four times a week, and naps without problem in one there. However here he just climbs out and proceeds to play. It seems like he still needs to nap, as on my work days, our care person says that he is a good sleeper and on those rare days when he misses altogether, he is unbareable by 5.30-6.00 o'clock. Also, when he finally naps in our home, he can sleep for up to 3 hours and still sleep great at night. Today, it has taken me 2 hours of continually going into his room and placing him back in his bed. I only talk to him once and then I don't make eye contact with him and just put him back in his daybed repeatedly. After about 10 times of repetition and 2 hours, I am frazzled and stressed and he has finally dropped to sleep. I feel really angry with him and have to talk to myself to remain calm. I have researched the web and read books to no avail, so now I am reaching out to other Moms in our community. Please help, any advise greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.
This may be a step back for you but I think re-establishing a nap routine is required here. I would use a door lock so he must stay in his room for nap time. Sometimes he may just play quietly and others he may climb into bed and nap. This downtime is good for everyone. If you can get the nap routine going again, then unlock the door.
When we moved our son from crib to bed, he had the same problem for naps and bedtime. He would play for hours! So I started putting him in his room an hour earlier so it would be ok that he played. I would just tell him it's quiet time and he has to play in his room. Then we started with a timer. We'd set the timer for however long and hook it on his door. Then tell him when the timer beeped, it's nap/bed time. One thing that we noticed immediately was that having "something" and not "someone" tell him it was bedtime seemed to make a big difference. Also we noticed that if we tried to get him in bed and there were toys all over the floor, he would spend two seconds in bed looking at all the toys then jump out of bed and start playing. So we started leaving a basket of toys in his room and when the timer beeped we would pick them all up and remove the basket. Then he had nothing to do and nothing to play with.
Best of luck to you!
Jen
I have come to the conclusion that every 2 year old (or nearly 2 year old) does this! My daughter does this too and we have just taught/trained her that the only place she is allowed to throw a fit/ temper tantrum is in her bed (or under her bed as that is where she prefers to sleep!). By the time she has calmed down she has fallen asleep and that has become nap time. I do insist that she spend "down time" in her room when her nap time used to be though I don't insist that she sleep. I do have a bunch more mess in her room to clean up though and am working on teaching her to clean up the mess (got her trained for putting the the dished away and putting her toys in her room, just not away in her room...)
S.,
Ahh this sounds so familiar. Like I wrote it! My son is now 3 and we still fight at nap time. Since he is my only one and I am a SAHM sometimes I lay down with him in my room with Noggin on and no sound. I ask him to sing mommy to sleep, telling him I need a nap. Being that your son is not yet 2 it is a little harder because their understanding level is a little less. Just a little warning, when my son turned to all hell broke loose. Sorry just how it is!! Naptimes were such a blessing, god I miss those easy days when he would lay down and go to sleep.
The only thing I can recommend is on days when he wont take a nap and starts getting mean around 5:30 is what I used to do. My son had the same trouble so around 5 we would have relax time. When he was still taking a bottle I would mix up something he really liked, strawberry milk was a favorite, then I would turn on a good movie or favorite cartoon and let him curl up with a blanket and pillow on the floor of the living room. He wouldn 't go to sleep but we could then make it to bed time without me having a nervous breakdown.
Wish I could help more, just know that you are not alone. Lots of kids have done this and their mommy's know how you feel!!
Good luck and take care of yourself
T.
Maybe he is so busy at daycare that he is more tired. Try to postpone his nap till later in the day, and try to be very active with him in the mornings. Are you giving him snacks or juices that maybe have sugar in them that he doesnt get at daycare? Good luck!
I have the same problem with my twins. I know when they are at daycare, they are fine about taking naps. But at home, they want to get up and play, and they giggle and make faces at each other even if they do stay in their beds. I sometimes just grab a book or magazine and flop down on their floor, I read until they fall asleep. If I don't, it would be hours before they took a nap, if they even did, and then it would ruin the rest of their day because they'd be horribly grouchy. Might not be the best option, but it's what I have to do!
This is around the time when naps went from 2 a day to only 1 a day. Routine is key. He doesn't have a problem with daycare because they do the exact same things every day. He knows what to expect next. My first suggestion is to ask the daycare workers what that routine is so that you can maybe duplicate that at home. If he sees that every day you give him lunch, he goes outside to play or busy play inside for an hour, then comes inside to read a book or other quiet play for half an hour then lay down for nap, he'll eventually catch on and he'll know when he sees the books that naptime is next. Also... keep his room dark and cool. You may want to add some white noise in the background. We have a homedics sound machine that stays on. The sound of the rain is his clue that it's time for sleep. If you put a routine in place where the same things happen around the same time every day, it'll only take about a week and he'll catch on and get with the program. And some children are more about the vocal aspect. Even though most can't tell time, if you tell them "10 more minutes of reading, then it's naptime" or something similar. Give them regular reminders they don't fight about it because they know it's coming. The ones that they object to are the parents or caregivers that ask... are you ready for your nap? UGH! Don't ask. You're the parent. You set the guidelines. Once you put him in there, close the door behind you and don't go back in if you can help it. Sleep issues are such a pain in the behind, but you will get through it!
S.,
I transitioned my son to a toddler bed at a little over 24 months. He didn't show signs of wanting to climb out.
I guess my question would be what time are you putting your child to nap in the afternoon? Does he still take naps in the morning? My son is 2 years 4 months. He stopped morning nap a long time ago and just takes an afternoon nap. He never shows any signs of being tired either when I take him to his room. But what works for me is going to his room at 2:30 PM to 2:50 PM. Read a few books and leave. Sometimes it does take him over a half hour to fall asleep. Today it was about 45 minutes. I never go back in the room after I leave. He has learned that if he gets out of bed to play, he gets back in to sleep. At first when I set up the toddler bed he'd get out and fall asleep on the floor. That was okay with me. As long as he got his nap. Soon he figured it out to get into bed to sleep. Hope some of this helps. And my son usually naps 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Sometimes I have to go into his room by 5:45 PM if he hasn't stirred due to dinner time approaching. Good luck.
