I have a 13 month old who some days doesn't take a nap, is this normal? I lay him down and fight fight fight and other days he just lays down for nap and goes to sleep. Is this what is like for other people?
Nap! They will have days, or stages, that they don't want to. Kids need naps. You may need to try new ways to get him to nap, but he needs at least some down-time in the middle of the day, and so do you.
And yes, it is like this for other parents. It took some effort some days, but the result was worth it.
Thats pretty young to give up naps. At 13 months my son was just moving from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day. He is almost 4 and still naps 3-4 times a week. Do whatever you can to protect nap time! He needs it. Sometimes when kids are overtired, they fight sleep even harder. Are the harder days happening when he did not sleep well the night before or had an extra active kind of day? If yes, he probably needs more sleep overall. I would try moving bedtime 30 minutes earlier than normal so he can get some extra sleep and see if that helps. Good sleep at night makes good sleep during the day which makes good sleep at night. Weird but true!
At this age he needs that nap like he needs to eat. He may fight it but they should be at least 3 before giving up their naps. I didn't allow any of my grand kids to just stop. We always had rest time the same time every day. If they didn't fall asleep it was still time to sit down together and do something quiet like reading books or telling stories.
Kids often still take naps the first half of kindergarten. So encourage the nap for a long long time.
does he go to bed at night at the same time every day? does he get up at the same time each day?
If you keep hsi night time sleep consistent he should consistently nap. he is way way too young to give up naps.
you may have to adjust the timing of the nap.. at that age my son was up at 630 am and down for a nap at 11 am- he slept 3 hours.. up at 2 an then in bed by 7 pm.. so he was sleeping 14.5 hours a day.. a normal amount of sleep for that age..
A walk in the stroller should settle him right down.
Some fresh air helps to tire them out.
My daughter gave them up at about that age. It was awful lol........but on a good note she went to bed without a problem. :)
He is too young for no nap but one after lunch instead of 2 is ok now. Keep trying. He will learn.
At 13 months old, he's just beginning to walk and be able to explore the world in a totally different way. He's excited, and full of energy, and way too busy to sleep! Seriously though, I don't think it's worth the fight and the stress trying to make him take a nap when he's resisting. Some moms need to stick to a schedule, but I am not one of them. Let him play quietly, or sit with him and read books. I think if he needs the nap he'll fall asleep, or otherwise he'll take an extra long nap the next day to catch up :)
We make it to 24 months, and then usually it's a screaming battle, so it's done. Usually about 14 months I can start having them nap in the crib. At 13 months they would have screamed, so all naps were in the swing.
