My son will be 2 in two weeks. He hasn't been napping like normal for 4 weekends now. He is home Friday-Monday and usually only naps one of the four days. We put him in his crib and he cries, calls for us, whines, etc. for 45 minutes and won't fall asleep (he would go on forever if we let him). Once we do get him, he is usually fine. But we know he is tired, b/c halfway through these four days he usually naps b/c he's so tired from not napping. We don't know what to do. He definitely needs the sleep even though he does pretty well for the rest of the day. He gets cranky after dinner (close to bedtime) so we put him to bed a little early if he doesn't nap so he can hopefully make it up. He sleeps very well at night.
He is in daycare 3 days a week and naps fine there, just an hour or a little more. When he did nap before this change (whatever the change is), he would sleep for just 1 hour and 10 minutes at the most.
Any advice would be appreciated.
My dd is 29 mo and started the no napping thing about that time as well. She hated to go down. We put a few quiet toys in her room and leave her there in her bed to nap if she wants or to at least play quietly. Half of the time she will fall asleep for a short time.
I am sure LOTS of people will disagree with me on this, but hey,. whatever works. My son is almost 3, so naps will be phased out soon and sometimes on the weekends he will skip his nap and it works out okay. But there are days when it's more than obvious he needs a re-charge mid-day. If he's fighting it, I lay with him. We cuddle and/or I sort of rub his back, or stroke his head, etc. Usually it take no more than 10 mins and he's out. We work full time, so he is in daycare/pre-school 5 days a week, so his weekend naps are sort of a treat since we get to have a little quiet time for us. Before I had my 2nd child (5 mos ago) I would often choose to nap with him - it was great!
When my oldest went through this phase I allowed him to do quiet time in his room during his normal nap time. He would play up there by himself for up to 2 hours! After a couple of months he miracously started napping again. He never fussed about his quiet time and he still loves his "Spencer" time away from all the hubhub of the day and his mom and brothers.
Good luck!
H. (SAHM 5, almost 4, and 14 1/2 month old boys)
My older child just turned two on August 8th and is having the same issue. We've sort of been forcing him to nap (mostly out of our own desire for a nap...), but we also have an 11 month old that needs the second nap and it's just easier if they go down at the same time. I agree with the mom that said play it by ear - and sometimes just a little quiet time will do if we won't nap. I highly recommend the baby sleep book by dr. sears. It's very informative.
All the best to you and your little one.
:)
It sounds like maybe he isn't tired out yet, which causes him to nap later in the day (after being rescued from the crib). My daughter's nap times have changed a bit as she has grown. I know now I have to do some activity during the day to get her to go down for a good nap. Day care is very stimulating and busy, so he is probably napping there because he is tired. Maybe try pushing naptime until later in the day, if possible? Good luck!
My son did the same when he started dropping his naps. Wasn't ready to stay awake all day but would not sleep either. Try setting a quiet time for an hour a day (give or take). Give him a book to read, put him to bed and let him know it's quiet time. Maybe he will sleep, maybe not. He will probably cry at first but if you stick to it, he will know quiet time is quiet time. I found if I could get my son to do that, it would recharge his batteries a little and get him through to bed. My peditrician suggested putting him to bed earlier which also seems to be working for you. Good luck.
Hi L.,
My kids are older now, but I know that most kids who go to Daycare often willnot nap at home because they realize you are home and they want to spend the time with you. I would suggest a few options depending on your situation:1) You could not have him 'nap' but just spend quiet time in his room but in order for it to work you would most likely have to stay in the room with him. Bring a book or such but let him know you will stay near but will not speak to him. This could allow him the comfort of knowing you are close by. If he still doesn't nap then at least he will be rested. I would expect this to take at least two consistent weekends until he caught on.
2) Two of my kids were thumbsuckers and blanket holders and so whenever they put their thumbs in their mouths and/or walked around holding the blanket I said.."Well you must be tired because you are sucking your thumb/holding your blanket, it is time for a nap." Amazingly either the thumb came out or they went down for the nap. If he has a tired signal... either tantrums etc... Even at two he can understand that communication is not all words!
I hope those ideas help!
C. W.
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Have you tried pushing the nap until later in the day? My son doesn't go down until about 2pm give or take and wake up 4-5. He goes to bed fine between 8-8:30pm. On the days that he doesn't nap he still goes into his room for an hour for quiet time (or not so quiet but usually happy). Good luck!
R.
Every kid is different! It may take trying several different things before you find the right thing. Try earlier bedtimes, make sure he is up the same time every morning even on weekends & try putting him in for at least one nap a day but try different times. Like if he wakes at 7 am try a nap at 10 am that is what works for my son anyway. It took time & sometimes he will take an afternoon nap sometimes he won't. We find also the later the afternoon nap he won't go to sleep early enough or even wakes up too early! So try different bed times & nap times until you find one that works.
Better yet buy the book called Happy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth, MD that is how I successfully got my son to nap & sleep well at night.
