Help with Nap for a Toddler

My friend has tried this and it has worked ok. She put a clock on her nightstand and told her daughter that she's not allowed to get up from her bed until the hand is at a certain place. Her daughter ended up falling asleep from watching the clock. It's worth a try... Good luck!

I am having the same difficulty with my 3 year old but he is staying up with me until 11 or 12 at night! But he still wont nap for the sitters. Part of the problem is I have breast fed him and he is still doing this at night and is waiting for me before he will sleep. I have read in Europe they breast feed until the age of 5 but in the US it is usually done by about 2 years. My sister and I both have 3 year olds and are having the same exact issues. I have bought and am awaiting Elizabeth Pantleys book for naps and toddlers and preschoolers. You might want to check that out too.

I have a 2 year old and naps are not a problem because 1) I do not allow her to drink anything with caffeine in it, ie teas and cola drinks. 2) She has a routine, meaning, when she gets fussy and I KNOW she needs a nap, I'll pick her up & take her to her room. I PLACE her in her crib and I will leave the room AND CLOSE THE DOOR. Because this is Mommy's routine, she usually winds down, closes her eyes & goes to sleep. However, I have let her cry it out & if she still crying after 15 minutes, I take some milk & I'll go back in her room and pick her up, give her some milk and rock her for about 5 minutes & put her back down. My point, SHE KNOWS SHE IS NOT GETTING OUT OF THE ROOM. This A-L-W-A-Y-S works for us. Take your son to his room- Close the door- Sit down & Rock him- then put him down- and leave the room, closing the door behind u. Let your son cry it out, if needed- but u are establishing a routine!

My kids all went through a spell where they didn't take a nap, but I made sure they still had their "quiet time" so when they got out of this phase they were still used to being in there. It was a rough bit, but we made it. Also, just try to make sure he is getting enough sleep at night. 12 hours is what they suggest and it always seems to be the simplest answer to most things. If he's getting up at 5:30, either make him stay in bed until later (the clock works for this) or start putting him to bed earlier. I know this sounds much simpler than the situation is.. but if you can work on this then it should help. Another thing I always did with mine when they were getting out of the nap stage is to have them take books with them into bed. They could look at books all they wanted, but were not allowed to get out of bed until time was up. You could set a timer if you want (outside of the room so it doesn't wake them up if they do happen to fall asleep of course!). Good luck!

He's 3 so he's getting to the point where he won't nap. My daughter who is very active 7 yr old dropped all naps before she was 2. My son is 4 and will take one about once every 2 weeks. But we still have manditory quiet time. I put him in his room is allowed to play quietly in his bed or read books until I come get him. Your son will get used to not having a nap and he will be less cranky and better with just "down time"

Hi S.,

My son is 22 months and has been a great with naps and bedtime for the last 7 or 8 months (knock on wood ~ LOL!) We have a VERY consistant routine. We have naptime at the same time everyday regardless of what time he wakes up in the morning. He will have lunch at about 12:30 or 1pm and his nap is a 1:45. I tell him it's naptime so we need to clean up. We clean up all the toys that are out and put his cup in the refrigerator. Then we walk upstairs and I change his diaper. We pick out a book to read then he carries it to the shelf to put it away. He walks straight over to his crib because he knows what comes next. We give hugs and kisses and I put him in bed and cover him up. I put on some soft classical music or a soothing sounds cd then leave the room. He usually lays there and talks to himself but is off to la la land in about 5 minutes or so. His nap lasts for 2-3.5 hours everyday. Then he'll go to bed at 8:30pm and wake up between 7:30 and 8am. It sounds crazy, but the more sleep they get, the more they sleep!!
Try finding ways to have him help you get ready for naptime. I would suggest no tv in the room. He needs to know that the bed is for sleeping. Right now, it sounds like he is controlling the situation. He needs to understand that you are the parent and you dictate what will happen next. Be firm and consistant, and you'll begin to see a change.

Good Luck & God Bless!!
~J.

My son did the same thing turns out he is ADHD. not saying your child is but it is worth looking into. They are able to diagnoss these things earlier now.

I make my 2 year old lay down. She usually has a fit and finally goes to sleep. Sometimes she'll be sneaky and play in her room quietly. I just keep making her go to bed.

I also have a 3 year old that needs a nap and does not like to take them. I have found that consistency is the key. I tried all of the things that you have tried and I found that it only made the situation worse. I put him down for a nap in his bed at the same time everyday. I don't say anything to him after I put him down except "I love you". If he gets out of bed I simply go in and lay him back down. I don't give him any eye contact and I definitely do not talk to him. Eventually he will go to sleep. I hope this helps.

I went through the exact same thing with my son, who is now 4 years old. I did skip the nap, because he wasn't going to bed at night. He would lie there and lie there and try to sleep. I hated to skip the nap because it was my break in the middle of the day, and I thought he needed the sleep. He was grumpy in the evenings for about a month or so. It ended up working out better, because he fell right asleep at night without having to "try". It was also nice to have a normal schedule where we weren't having to break up the day with a nap, that he didn't want. So, I felt like that there were signs that he couldn't nap because he wasn't tired and it was "forced" sleep instead of natural. But it took a while to get over the grumpy evenings. Now it's great. Listen to your instincts.
Love and Good Luck.

You might try simply having an earlier bedtime to make up for the nap he is missing. If not, I will share with you what a child psychologist told me once which worked. He promised me that if I would not give in, eventually my child would "get it" and at three, they are beginning their battle of the will with you. I think your whole future with him will be affected by how you handle this first battle. If he comes to know that no matter what he does or how long he does it, you are not budging, then he will give up and comply. It could take awhile, this is true, but this is not about sleeping -- this is about who is getting their way -- you or him. At least, it is what this is all about in his mind. Forget the different attempts -- get one plan for it and stick to it through thick and thin. Screaming and crying (by him, not you) will not harm him or you, though you may think it is harming everyone while it is going on. You should stay calm and you should stick with it, and eventually he will give in and comply.

I want to respond to the earlier post about the rule of not giving kids caffeine. I never give my kids any caffeine and definitely no treats/"sugar" before dinner time and I still have days when my almost-4-year-old won't take a nap. I want to say that because I have found now that I have a second child that no one method works for all. Even though our older child fights naptime, our younger one will go right to sleep every time. We treat both kids the same way and feed them the same stuff.
What the other posters are absolutely correct about is the need for a routine and consistency. Don't give in to him because he fights you so hard. Find a routine that would work best for you...no nap?, let him cry it out?, cuddle with him while he drinks milk (works most times for me), etc.
When our oldest won't go to sleep we leave her with books in her bed and tell her she has to be quiet and lay there. When she starts to whisper loudly, or we hear her get up, we go right to her and quiet her down. Then at 5 or 6 o'clock, when she starts melting down from the lack of sleep we remind her that she should have taken a nap and now she will either go to her room to calm down or stop being mean now. It usually works. But, as I say, every kid is different.

I did try a number of health related things mentioned below, but one behavioral related thing that works for my daughter is to just take the 20 minutes to lay down and settle her like bedtime (1 book plus laying down with her) until she falls asleep. It is a 15-20 minute investment with a 2-4 hour return (nap plus no grumpiness!).

Napping can be health related - if behavioral techniques don't work,consider reading on many of the health related around the need for proibotics (yeast overgrowth), dietary sensitivities (GFCF diet is miracle for many kids). One mom suggested ADHD and the reason she did is because ADHD has at its roots many reactions to both diet and the deficiency of many minerals, etc which cause kids not to be able to sleep or rest properly as well as not being able to gear up and down appropriately when tired. The best thing you can do is take him off milk for two weeks and then began taking off Gluten. There is a doc on the net called 10 weeks to GFCF that will help you. It takes 1 month to get the gluten out, but usually you will see some improvement in behavior after 2-3 weeks.

Best of luck, J.

I work with pre-k children. We play soft, slow music during rest time. This music helps the children to take a nap.
P. S