My 2 1/2 year old twins have started missing naps. My son will go from very quiet and almost asleep to chattering non stop . Sometimes he seems to keep his sister awake and other times she can fall asleep. The sleep fine at night with the exception of my son sometimes waking in the middle of the night to start chattering yet again for 10 - 40 minutes then back to sleep. They have the usual routine of bath, milk/snack , read books,hugs and love etc. I know my son needs to nap because he is crabby later but I can't seem to get him to nap.Has anyone gone through this and is it a start of no more consistent naps? Please help!
Thank you all for your help . I moved an hour later and laid down on the floor in their room. My son actually napped the last two days ! My daughter didn't nap today but did yesterday. I am going to continue this and try to preserve the nap as best I can . I know they need it , especially my son . As one mom said go with the flow . I will :)Thank you all again !
I remember those days. I am a Mom of 11 year old boy/girl twins. This is about the age where they start to go through phases and sometimes don't want to be on a schedule. My recommendation is to go with the flow and do what you think is best. I use to read books, sing songs, and rock them until I was blue in the face. I finally gave in. They will eventually get back to a routine, or not. Good luck!!!!!
Hi L.
I'm a mom and licensed home daycare provider. Try warming the milk, I have a 16 month old in my daycare who will sing, kick the wall, chatter or whatever he needs to do to keep from sleeping, and I turn down the lights, put on soft music to wind him down, it works! Are the snacks your little ones eating sweet? It may be the sugar.
Also, I've seen how kids act without a nap....OH MY GOSH!
Talk about "seed of chucky!" (lol)
Hope this helps...
Take Care
B.
I have 26 month old boy/girl twins and we are starting to experience this with my daughter. Our thought... she has just always been "chatty" and just needs more time to chill (my neice is like that too). But the problem is we wake them both up at the same time so then she missed out on sleep. And it's not always consistent. Today she chatted for 30, two days ago it was over an hour, but three days ago she went right down! Maybe I have to wear her out more? Our other thought is that we might need to split them in two different rooms soon. I wish I could offer more advice. I am curious to see what other posts you receive. Good luck.
Hi L.,
I had the same problem with my twins when they were that age (they are now 3 1/2 and I'm lucky when they nap at all) and I had great success in separating them. My daughter would go right to sleep without the instigator in the room and sometimes I would have to lie down with my son to get him to wind down but usually after about 10-20 minutes he would be asleep (sometimes me too). Protect the nap, as long as you can, do whatever you need to do, they need it and you need it too!!
Boy, do I feel your pain! I also have 2 1/2 year old twins (boys), one of whom has lately started to skip naps but later gets crabby and emotional. One thing I've noticed that helps: making him stay in his crib for at least an hour, maybe more if he seems like he will go to sleep. It sounds kind of mean to do this, but I think he was trying not to sleep so that he could get up for extra play time/Mommy time. I would have accepted it if he seemed like he was ready to give up his nap, but if your child is acting cranky at the end of the day, you know that they still need it. He went almost a week without a nap, but after a couple of days of making him stay in his crib for at least an hour, he started napping again. If this doesn't work, you might want to try moving naptime earlier or later (if your other child is a good sleeper, she should acclimate pretty well to it). Good luck!
L.-my twin girls (now 4) stopped napping at 3 years old. I would continue with the same routine. You can't make your child sleep; however, you can put them down for a nap and if he isn't sleeping at least he's getting much needed down time. My kids went through that where they were very crabby around dinner time. I moved up their bed time by about 1/2 hour. Even now, about every 3 days we go for a nice car ride in the afternoon so they can get a nap in. I know that car naps aren't as restful as napping in their own beds, but it does help once they give up napping and done early enough in the afternoon it doesn't mess up bedtime. I read somewhere that by 3 most kids have given up naps, best to start mentally preparing for when the naps disapear! Then again, at 3 they go off to preschool so you still get your time to do all the million things us Moms have to get done. Good luck!
My son stopped taking naps at about that age. I just moved his bedtime up an hour or so to make sure he got enough sleep. I also kept the nap time as "quiet time" that he had to spend in his room. I would set the timer for an hour to an hour and a half and give him a pile of books and other "quiet" toys to play with. Some days he would end up falling asleep, but either way I got a break and if he really needed the sleep he would get it. By about 3 he was completely done with naps. Good luck!
My son stopped napping by the time he was 2. If he was tired during the day he would just lay down on the couch, floor or where ever he felt like and would take a nap.
S.
My daughter started at about that age taking naps on and off. She's now 3 and pretty much done with naps. She does get tired around 4 but I just moved her bedtime earlier. I also sometimes do the quiet time like one reader suggested. This may be your sons way of transitioning out of a nap.
