In the past 3 days my son, almost 2, has just decided to stop taking naps. I don't know what happened because nothing new has been going on. He used to LOVE taking his naps. He would close his shade and tell me nite nite for both naps and bedtime. Now he refuses to nap and struggles with going to bed at night although he is obviously tired. My mom says it is a phase and he will go back to naps. Any ideas?
I guess it was a week long phase because now he is back to taking naps and going to bed as usual. Very cooperative and sometimes asking to go nite nite. Phew...can't wait to see the next phase!!!
T.,
He may be ready for just one mid-day nap instead of two.
I would try this transition before giving up on naps. Children still need naps at this age. It helps with their growth, and development. It helps them to manage their emotions better. Give this a try. B.
My daughter will be 2 on the 25th. There are days she doesn't want to nap. She is down to 1 nap which has gotten shorter in recent weeks. My oldest daughter was 2 1/2 when she stopped napping.
I don't really have any advice, but I know your struggle. My son was once a fabulous napper--three to four hour naps. After he turned two the nap/no nap see-saw began. He is now three and naps are still unpredictable. I was hoping the lack of naps wouldn't start so early, but they did. So, my husband and I agreed long ago to the "quiet time" rule. You don't have to nap, but we all need some "quiet time". He goes to his room (possibly with a small toy, definitely with books)and has his own time away from me. Some times he actually falls asleep; those are good days.
Good luck!
my son did the same thing at 23 months. he will be 2 on the 23rd. the only time he naps is if we are out walking and he is in the stroller. he use to go to bed at about 8- 8:30, now he doesn't g to bed until 9:30- 10:00. then there are days when he goes at 6:30. i can't figure it out. his schedule hasn't changed in the past couple of month.
My daughter, 2 1/2, started to refuse her naps a little over a month ago. But I still would put her in her room for an hour. I told her she didn't have to sleep, but she had to stay in there and be relatively quiet. So now she naps about half the time when she's in there. It's at least nice to give them a little downtime during the day, and definitely to give yourself a much needed break. I would highly suggest keeping "rest time" even if he stops napping altogether.
T., my last 2 children were out of naps by 18 months old. They are high energy and before they were 2, they just didn't need a recharge. By night time they still didn't think they needed a recharge, but I, of course, knew they needed sleep. I needed it more than they did.
We remained constant with a bedtime routine, and it didn't take long for them to settle down. Once they were asleep,they were really asleep. But, as long as your son isn't showing signs of being irritable during the day due to lack of rest, forget about the nap. My son, occasionally would put himself down for a nap if he needed one.
C. M
I have a 4 year old and a 5 month old. My son still lays down for rest time. He started school this past year and they still make them lay down. My advice is be the parent and don't let your child tell you that they are not going to do something... bc that is just a start of a long line of things if you let me do it now. Even if they don't sleep, still make them lay down. They will probably cry and yell and say no but you need to show them that they listen to you and not the other way around.
Some kids need the nap more and some don't as much. But I agree with your Mom.
All of my (5) children have done the same thing. I am just persistant and patient( well most of the time ;)) I continued to put them to bed at the regular nap time if we were at home and not out running around. Eventually they all started to take naps again with out the fighting and repeated putting them back in bed. ( mine would be real monsters on the "no nap" evenings)
You have to decide how important that nap time is to you. For me it was vital. For some the fight wasn't worth it.
Good luck,
