I have a 2 year old daughter that used to take 2 hour naps everyday. She would go to bed around 8pm or 9pm and get up around 8am in the morning then go down for a nap at 1pm and sleep for 1 to 2 hours. Her routine is the same but now she won't sleep she will just play in her crib for 2 hours and when I get her out she is so cranky. She is great with not getting into things and if she does all you have to say is no, but when she doesn't nap she won't listen at all. I don't know what to do. Please if anyone has ideas that would be great.
Sometimes children of this age start to shorten or phase out a long nap time.
You may want to get her up a little earlier or do an outdoor activity in the a.m. and see if that makes her stick to the nap or makes her more tired for the nap.
If not, she may be trying to phase it out.
Good Luck.
Hi J.,
I have a 2 yr old boy who has been doing the same thing at times. He has always been great at sleeping. Lately he just sits in his bed and plays and never falls asleep during the nap. When that happens I just put him to bed sooner. He normally goes to bed around 8:30 so if he doesn't nap I put him to bed around 7:30. It usually helps. I also try to keep him very busy in the a.m so he gets worn down.
Hope this helps a little.
K.
According to the baby books most two year old should be sleeping a total of 12 to 14 hours per day. It sounds like she is getting her 12 at night. You might consider shaving a hour of her night sleep to help with the naps. (Put her to bed a 10 or wake her up at 7 am) Also, the more active my son is the better he sleeps. I often take him to the park for a hour after lunch and just before nap to run around. We come home, put him in the bath, and then down for naps.
My daughter will be 3 years old next month. She sleeps from 9pm-7am and naps from 2-4pm everyday.
You might try waking her up earlier in the morning or pushing her nap time to 2:00 instead of 1:00. Also, she may not need as long of a nap now. She may only need 1 ot 1.5 hours. Kids usually do start phasing out naps around this age. Sometimes if we are very busy my dgt. will skip her nap but I try to put her to bed an hour early. I also try not to let her skip her nap 2 days in a row.
My son went through this too at 2 yrs. old. I used to take it so seriously if he deviated slightly from the routine we established with regards to nap-time and sleep time. Now that he's 3.5 yrs old, I realize that children go through so many developmental changes on a daily basis that I could not possible hold him to being a "creature of habit" forever. I relaize now that children, esp. toddlers, go through "phases" where they won't want to nap at all and then they fall back into it. I say I used to take it so seriously as his nap time used to be the time when I could catch up on housework, pay bills, take a mini-nap myself and so I would get a bit panicked if I felt I couldn't have that time to do what I needed to do. Now, having come full-circle onthe issue, if it doesn't happen after trying to my best to get him to take a nap, I just realize that he's not tired for whatever reason and ask him to play quietly in his room with some toys or books. Once my husband gets home from work, I let him know our son didn't sleep and ask if he'd take over and play with him for an hour or so so I can de-stress and catch up on what I originally wanted to do...Then, the upside to this is that my son gets 1-on-1 time with his dad and it usually means an early-to-bed night for him too...In the end, I now know that children go through phases and we have to be willing to be somewhat flexible while trying to maintain routines and create positive rituals for our children without stressing out over it or punishing the child for not being tired or for having a bit more energy than yesterday...Be flexible and "creative" at these times. You could also try incentives like "we'll do arts-and-crafts" or some sort of fun project if you take your nap. Hope this helps!
shes 2 she may be ready to drop the nap alot of kids drop their nap at 2. my daughter dropped hers at 18months. My son is almost 2 and starting to get skechy on the naps. gets one every few days.
Hylands, the brand / name-maker of the product, has an all natural / herbal tablet you can purchase from Walgreen's. It's not on the baby isle, it's in the pain meds isle. It can be used for children with night terrors, children / babies that have trouble getting to sleep that are dealing with other issues too. Check it out on-line.
Some pediatrician's are against using herbal meds, etc., so speak with your childs doctor.
I just started using it on occasion, but only at night, for our 2 year old son that had his Bday in August. It really seems to work.
Our little man isn't getting his 1-2 hour nap every day either, but that's ok with me. He just sleeps better throughout the night.
Good luck.
P.
I went through the same thing with my now 3 1/2 year old son. I noticed that if you change up were he sleeps, he does not resist. Examples are a nap mat that he gets to put on his bedroom floor where ever he wants when that gets old he might nap in my bed (no toys in my room) I have even made a "cubby" in his room and given him a sleeping bag to nap in. Some days he just will not nap but he has to stay in his room for an hour or so for quiet time. Even if your son passes on the nap, a little quiet time alone will ease crankiness compared to no nap at all.
PURE AND SIMPLY. Lay down with her. Mommy's pregnant, she's gonna need a nap too!!!!!
My son (4-1/2 now) did the same thing around 3 years old. He was always so great with naps and sleeping throughout the night that it was a shock when he just refused to continue with his naps. Plus, when he didn't nap he would usually get cranky and intractible in the afternoon because he was a zombie. Around this age they get so much more observant and more stimulated that they fight the need for sleep because they don't want to miss anything. We did a couple of things to try to get him to nap. 1) wear him out - do some things with him outside as much as you can as it seems like the fresh air, sunlight and activity helps to ease him off to sleep 2) take him for a short ride in the car - Justin was always great to fall asleep while we were in the car 3) lay down with him, talking softly or playing quietly for a short while and usually he would relax enough to fall asleep 4) change the routine some by waking him up an hour earlier and trying for a nap an hour later or feed him lunch a little earlier, play for 30 minutes and then explain it was time for a rest. At the very least we were usually able to get him to relax and rest for a short while whether he fell asleep or not. That does help although nothing helps better than a 2 hour nap! Good luck....
congrats on the news....
i have a 3 year old and he is the same way when he does not get a nap. what we did and still do, is put him in his bed or and tell him it is nap time, yes sometimes he goes right down, but most of the time it will take about 2-3 times going in there and getting more and more stern with him. most of the time he will play with a car in bed until he goes to sleep. we put a baby gate up in his door way so he is confined and most of the time when he is that sleepy he gets board and goes to sleep.
Congratulations on your news! I know how desperately you'd like to have your own daily nap! My first child is 6 and still needs naps. My second child is 4 and is phasing out naps. I have friends whose children phased out naps earlier. I agree with the advice to have outdoor time to "wear her out". Maybe insist on a nap every other day and just "quiet time" on the off days. I don't know that I would add any dietary supplements, since this is a part of growing up. Can you lay down with her? I had to get black-out drapes to encourage napping. Good luck.
When my 2 year old (almost 3 now) started doing that, I submitted to the fact that she may be not "need" her nap any more. However, she was cranky at night when she didn't nap. So I just moved bedtime up an hour.
