Another Sleeping Disaster

Is there any reason she HAS to have a nap? If she is absolutely refusing to nap, I suggest not trying to force the nap. Let her go without it, and if she is really that tired, she will konk out on her own.

my DS started that two days after turning 2. i tried (after the suggestion of many other moms and his pediatrician) letting him CIO just like you did, an hour a day, but just like you he stuck it out so after a couple of weeks of no naps (and he would often fall asleep at the dinner table so i KNEW he still needed his nap) a friend suggested playing music and laying with him so we switched to a toddler bed and i play music and just lay with him til he falls asleep, which is usually very quick. and just like your DD he still does fine alone at night time so i have no clue why he started this at nap time!! so i suggest the music and laying down with her in a bed and see if that works. good luck!!

some kids give up naps totally before that age. your daughter may just be done with naps. if shes sleeping well at night then you may just have to deal with it. i worked in day care and we had those kids who just would not sleep and they were like that from a very young age. good luck!

My oldest stopped napping right before his second birthday. Every once in a while I could get him to sleep by rocking him in a dark room but the kicker was I had to hold him the entire time because when I stood up, he woke up. Even now at 8 he doesn't seem to need as much sleep. Bedtime is 8:30 but he never goes to sleep until 9 or 9:30 or sometimes later and he's up before the sun. It sounds like she is done napping to me.

Well, I would like to say that i have some miracle cure for this but in my experience, my son stopped taking naps right around this age. He was in daycare and they used to call me every day to get him to go to sleep. And he has never really been a napper since. (He's now 9) The only thing that really worked for us was to give him a book, a movie or "quiet time" activity. But he could only do those things as long as he stayed in his bed. If he got up then he lost the priveledge of what he was doing. Hang in there and I hope this small bit of advice helps at all :)

I have a niece who quit naps at 6 months!!! You daughter is trying to go through a transition and that's never easy. Let her skip the nap one day and see what happens. Maybe try and get her to sit with you while you read instead. She may start going to bed earlier, or sleeping later in the morning. Don't worry, you'll both adjust eventually!

Mine did the same thing at about the same age.
Try letting her sleep somewhere else, like on the bed with you or on a pallet of quilts in the floor. Talk very calm to her and tell her that she has to lay down even if she doesn't go to sleep because it is resting time. You know, about then is when I changed her from the baby bed to a big bed. We went ahead and got a queen size bed and put in her room so we wouldn't have to do this all over again in a few years. We put rails up on the bed and have them stuffed with pillows so she doens't fall out. The bed is big and VERY comfortable and now she sleeps some. Sometimes she will just lay there and play. She does have books, stuffed animals and a few toys at the end of the bed and sometimes we hear her on the monitor reading or singing. That is ok, as long as she rests, but more times than not she will fall asleep.
THat is just my story. For some reason she had grown out of "loving" her baby bed. For a short while before we did that she would lay on the bed with me and go to sleep. It took a while and I had to lay really still for a long time and make her think I was asleep, but it worked. That is when I realized that she just didn't like her bed. Yeah the transistion was a little early but it worked out fine.

She may be done with naps -- different kids stop naps at different ages. Both of my kids (ages 4 & 2) can go without naps but still take naps sometimes. It may be that she gets enough sleep at night and doesn't need a nap -- my youngest nephew is like that -- no naps but sleeps 13 hours a night. It seems like my kids tend to go a day or two without a nap and then "crash" and take a loooong nap every so often. Frustrating that it's not predictable like it used to be, but what can you do? I'd switch from "nap time" to "quiet time" where she has to play in her room quietly by herself (so you still get a break!) and see how that goes. Probably if she doesn't "have to" take a nap any more, she'll fall asleep by herself sometimes anyway.

My daughter will be 3 in March. She stopped naps a LOOOOONG time ago. I'll guess around 2. I thought it was way early too. The pediatrician just said she probably doesn't need as much sleep. Her brother is 5 and still naps if given the chance. Each child is different. I just decided not to force the nap. I was spending too much time trying to get them to nap so I could do things that I wasn't getting anything done. If they were quiet and playing nicely, they could stay awake. The bonus: They would go to sleep quicker at night.

HTH

Some children stop napping early. Mine was one of them. If you cannot get the napping to start again, can you move bedtime earlier to compensate for the needed sleep? Mine would not nap but would require 12 hours of sleep at night.

It is normal for some kids to stop napping at that age. My youngest did, but there are times I knew she really did need that nap. She may be getting all the sleep she needs right now during the night. Good luck.

Welcome to the terrible twos! My son started them at 18 mos and he boycotted naps as well. He stopped napping altogether at 2 unless he was sick. I wish you lots of luck!

I had the same problem with my son. It's possible that she is ready to give up napping, but it's not likely at 21 mos. I almost hate to say this, but maybe start thinking about giving up the pacifier? I used to feel very anxious when I even thought about this, but as soon as we were done with the paci for sleeping, nap time became a breeze. My son would use it as an excuse to get me back in the room and would continue to throw it out repeatedly. He would even giggle at me searching around on the floor for it. That was when I knew it was time for the pacifier to go (and getting him to give it up wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, either). I hope things get better.

Both of my kids quit taking naps around 2 as well. The good thing is that most nights they are in bed asleep between 7 and 8 p.m. and usually sleep 11-12 hours. If I know they are going to be up late, I will still sometimes get my 2.5-year-old daughter to go down for a nap, but I've stopped doing that with my 4.5-year-old son because it's impossible to get him to sleep at a decent time. (The last time I gave him a nap it was after 11 p.m. before he finally went to sleep.) However, both of my kids do have 30 minutes of "quiet time" in their rooms so I can have a short break. When I first started "quiet time" with my son (at around age 2), I would put four or five of his favorite books on his toddler bed with him so he could look at the pictures and leave the lights out (but the window shades open so he could see). About half the time, he would fall asleep before the 30 minutes was up. You might try that with your daughter.

Suggest that it is quiet time and everyone in the house does a quiet activity alone (you can be in the same room - but doing your own thing). She doesn't have to be in the crib, just quietly playing. Or use it as reading time, maybe she will fall asleep on the couch after several books.