My 21 Month Old Has Decided He No Longer Wants to Nap

Naps are individual things. My kids didn't nap until kindergarten. My son stopped around 2 1/2-3 & my daughter around 1 1/2. They just went to bed earlier. With my daughter, if I could tell that she needed one on a particular day, it was more about the fact that she did nap, not where. There were many occasions that she fell asleep in the toy box watching some cartoon.
On a side note, I learn toward attachment parenting, so I don't understand the problem with rocking a child to sleep once in while. So what if they want to cuddle.

Depending on the breathing treatment, it may be a stimulant. Could you change your schedule around so he gets them another time? It could be like giving him a cup of coffee then trying to put him down. If he was sick before, then it maybe didn't affect him if he was more tired than usual. Now that he's well, it could have changed the game.

Some kids do nap until kindergarten. Some kids only lay there awake until they are allowed to get up. Your son may be one of these. He could also just be going through a phase and in a few weeks he'll be back to sleeping at naptime again. Keep having him lay down at his usual naptime, but start calling it quiet time and let him know that he doesn't have to go to sleep but he does have to take a break and lay quietly. Let him have a stuffed animal and turn on a radio for him to listen to. Tell him that if he stays in his bed until quiet time is over he gets a treat when he gets up. If he really is tired and still needs a nap then most likely he'll fall asleep after a few minutes. If he doesn't, let him get up after an hour and give him a treat for at least trying. Once he starts preschool this is all they would expect of him, and in kindergarten very few of the kids actually sleep, they just lay down and relax for about 20 minutes.

my son turned 2 in sept and we moved him to a toddler bed just before that. we had great success with it and sometimes he would end up sleeping by the door..but he still slept. then we went through a 3-4 week period of NO naps. started off just here and there...then that turned into 2 weeks! i finally had to go in to "supernanny" mode! it really took 2 more weeks of getting him to nap. our problem was we KNEW he needed the nap because he would be super grumpy all evening and almost fall asleep at dinner! so i was determind to get him to nap. he kept getting out of his bed and playing or messing with things like his closet, curtains, etc. my husband and i ( when was home on weekends) would go in each time he got out of bed and not say anything and place him back in his bed. it took really 2 full weeks and he is just now back to napping and much happier about it! :) man, hope i don't jinx myself writing this :) haha

I would say that the combination of new bed/treatments has prompted your son to establish this power struggle with you.
Keep to your routine.
My routine was always lunch, story time, nap, until they were around 5.
You could sit on the floor of his room by the door, head down until he falls asleep.
You will probably be physically putting him back in the bed a lot of times until he gets the idea that you mean business.
Do so without talking or looking at him directly.
He is testing you big time and you will be glad that you stuck to your guns once he gets the idea.

C.,

My 2 1/2 yr old doesn't take naps like he use to... and it's been that way for about 7 months or so now. He does sleep a long time at night - he goes to bed around 8 pm and doesn't get up till about 9:30 - 10:30 am. So, he is still getting about 13 - 14 hours of sleep. If he wakes up earlier, he will get tired in the afternoon and take a short nap. But this only happens about once a week.

I think as long as he is getting enough hours of sleep think it is 10 - 14 hours for 1 & 2 yr olds - naps aren't really needed. But I might be out numbered on this beliefe.

You should know his signs of tiredness - watch for them & put him down for a nap if he shows them. If not, maybe he is ready to skip naps. But it has to be your choose not his so to speak.

Good luck!!!

My son starting breathing treatments when he was six months old (now 3) and our doctor told us that the medicine would make him hyper for a while. Which it did. I never gave him a treatment close to nap or bed time. Maybe it's the medicine that he is taking with his treatments?

Hope that helps. Good luck.

First of all, my son only took naps until shortly after his 2nd birthday. He just didn't need them anymore. I figured this out because he went to bed at 8, and normally fell right asleep. For a couple of weeks though, I was laying him down and he was still awake as late as 10 some nights! I decided to cut out his nap and it was just what he needed. He began sleeping all night from 8 until 8-8:30 the next morning. So, the kindergarten thing you mentioned isn't what's right for all kids. My daughter took a nap until she was about 3 1/2, and I quit laying her down for one for the same reason.

As far as what to do if you really think he still needs his nap, you're going to have to not give into him. So what if he's saying he wants down? If he said he wanted to eat a whole gallon of ice cream would you let him do that? It's not up to the child what happens, and I think that many mothers today think that if a child doesn't want to do something, it means they can't be made to. My son went through a period where he didn't want to sleep during his naps, he just wanted to play. So, I laid him down, closed his door, and laid on the floor outside his bedroom so I could peed in the crack under his door. Everytime I saw a foot come down from his bed I would open his door, lay him back down, and leave without looking at him or speaking to him. He'd cry for awhile, call for me, and eventually try to get back out, but I would see his foot come down and repeat going in and laying him back down. I kept doing it until he fell asleep, the first day it took about an hour and a half. The second day I only had to go in 4 or 5 times, and the third day only once. You have to teach your child his limitations and your expectations. Without doing so, they are not going to do what is expected of them, and instead only do what gets them what they want. Be consistent and you will never run into issues with your child that can't be controlled.

Oh, and the reason I didn't talk about the breathing treatments is because I don't think the two are related. My son is asthmatic and takes not only albuterol, but sometimes prednizone (a steroid) and even more, sometimes he takes an oral liquid steroid. The breathing treatments I always do right before bedtime so they help throughout his sleep and they've never made any kind of difference in his sleeping pattern. Also, my sister gives her two children breathing treatments everyday, even when they're not showing symptoms, as a means of recommended treatment from their pediatrician, and she gives the treatments before bedtime also.

We've had similar issues with our now 3 year old. She's decided that napping's not cool. And while I can't force her to sleep I do have rules about rest. I believe that while not all kids need naps during they day and they certainly do cut them out on their own, this still need rest.

That's why in our house if she decides not to nap (which makes bedtime easier because she's exhausted) she had to have a quiet time. I put her on her bed, give her some books, turn on her sound machine and tell her to have "Quiet Time" I don't use the N word which helps. Sometimes she'll drift off to sleep and others she'll lay and read or play quietly in her room until I get her. The key is to get her to rest.

If your little on doesn't do the book thing give him a few favorite toys. I always leave her bedroom door open so I can hear her and she can feel like it's a good thing. Their bedrooms are they safe space and being in there should be a positive thing. It took some repetition to get her to stay in there are first but it eventually worked out.

Whatever you decide just be consistant in your decision, discipline and method. Start as you mean to go...otherwise your kid learns how to manipulate long before they know their doing it.

My four year old granddaughter has been taking breathing treatments since Thanksgiving (winter has been really hard on her this year). She only takes the one treatment - which started out being right before bed so the coughing didn't keep her up all night. They found out that the treatment makes her hyper for about 30-45 minutes afterwards, so now they give it an hour before bedtime. By skipping his daytime nap, your son is probably so exhausted by bedtime that he can't stay awake, but the treatment at nap time may be keeping him awake. Try moving it up a little before the actual nap.

My oldest did the same thing your not depriving him of sleep let him stay awake and wear himself out then when he starts to get sleepy keep him up until bed time I know it's going to hard and difficult but with in a few days or week at the most he will get on the schedule. At night he is probably being scared because someone h as always been there it's just a faze they go threw days to wear all the want to do is sleep and then days to wear they just want to stay awake. It will be easier on both of you if he still needs his treatments after you do let him go c what he does if he does get to tired let him lay down for maybe 30 to 45 minutes if that by time he needs to go to bed he should be out if not then next day keep him up all day if you can. It worked for me with both my boys my youngest is 4 and he quit taking nap's at 14 months old I got tired of fighting with him but you know there boys and there full of energy.
Thanks L., Dallas Texas