Son Doesnt like Naps or Bedtime Anymore

Oh my goodness, I would definately think that making him go back to his room, which is obviously very scary to him right now, would make him feel even more scared and insecure. One and a half years old is not an age to teach independence or to learn not to be scared on their own. He is essentially still a baby, and needs you, and likely will for many more things for years to come. So much research is available now as to how stressful and mentally and emotionally disturbing it is for kids to cry themselves to sleep....compound that with him being scared on top of wanting you near....UGH. Please give that little boy what he needs/wants which is to be cuddled and close to you as he grows emotionally and developmentally and you will find that you will have a grown man some day that is secure, independent and trusts others to be there for him, especially his parents that he loves the most in the world. He doesn't need a teddy bear in place of a warm body to hug when he's scared or needs love....he needs you :-) Being there for him will never be a 'bad habit'.

Best wishes and remember that these stages only last such a short time, just like their childhood....stay close and you will never regret it.

And if you "honestly feel as if something is scaring him" as you stated, how do you think HE feels??? I would COMPLETELY change his room around as much as humanly possible if you refuse to have him with you in bed. Rearrange the furniture, buy new bedding, change where the night lite is, add new wall decorations, play a calm music cd at night or nap....basically make it a whole new room that will hopefully take his mind away from whatever has scared the living daylights out of him...and don't leave him alone anymore when he's scared, especially in the 'new' room and he will gradually get better...it may take time or you staying in there with him on an airmattress or something for a while till he gets his security back. He has to trust that people will be there to protect him, not to leave him alone and scared.

When my niece was about 2, all of a sudden, she didn't like to sleep in her room either. She use to tell her parents that "They" would not let her sleep and she was scared of them. Needless to say my brother thought that was really wierd. On my grandma's suggestion, he had the house blessed and my niece stopped. Not saying that is whats going on with your little guy but since you mentioned "supernatural" I thought I would share my story. Good luck!
PS. It could be passed grandparents or relatives and he just doesn't know who they are. "They" might be innocent.

I don't know your religious beliefs, but my son has nightmares as well, and here is what I do: I taught him 2 Timothy 1:7 from the bible, and he says it before he goes to bed, and I also play praise music on my computer/CD player that plays all night and he sleeps very peacefully. I started this at the age of 2 and he is 8 and I still play music and he still sleeps peacefully. Of course the verse meant more the older he got. I also pray with him and have him pray to ask for protection from fear from God. I hope this helps.

We got tiki masks for our boys' rooms to "keep the scary stuff out" of their rooms. We let them have some sleepytime tea with dinner to help them relax. I read a great suggestion to buy a lavendar room fragrance & put a new label on it with something like "monster-away" & spray in the room at bedtime. Read a fun bedtime story & stay with him until he falls asleep (it eats up your evening, but after a few nights he should feel better). Good luck -

My daughter (almost 18 mos) is similar now... She's always been a regular sleeper but the past month or so she only wants 1 nap, occassionally 2. I find that if I watch her closely I can judge if she's tired and needing a nap... kinda like goldilocks though if she waits too long and is over tired before I put her in for her nap I think that's when she cries herself to sleep.... use your mommy intuition! :)
~ K.

People who are into the supernatural strongly believe that young children see and hear many things that we do not. I'm sure it is all innocent enough, but he could be getting very scared by something and I would hate to have him CIO if that is the case. I too would sit in the room with him until he falls asleep and see if that helps. Would he be able to answer you if you asked if he was scared? Not sure, every child is different. You could get a spray bottle of water and say that it keeps all scary things away and spray his room every night. he might be too young to understand that though. Any way, I do believe in spirits and that he could be frightened by something innocent. Going without sleep is the hardest thing, but just try to be understanding and maybe sleep on his floor for awhile. Good luck!

Can I ask how old he is? Age might have something to do with it. When my children were toddlers, about the age of 2, they all had night terrors. They were very scarey for my husband and me because we could not get them to settle down after one. I finally googled them and found out that you aren't really suposed to wake a child from a night terror. That even though they may be sitting up and crying like they just woke from a dream, they are in fact still asleep. Once I learned that of course my older 2 weren't having them any more but my youngest, who is 4 now, was. So when he had one all I would do was lay him back down and rub his back until he settled.

Your son might be more aware of how freaked out you get when he has these than you realize. Kids feed off our feelings, and if he sees that you are worried he might think there is something to worry about. Even though he is young, I would sit him down, not in his room, maybe on a dinning room chair before his nap and talk to him. Get down on his level, and tell him you know something is bothering him. He may or may not be able to tell you exactly what's going on but you can get a sense of his mindset and feelings. Let him know that there is nothing to be afraid of or worried about. Just react to the whole situation very calmly. Eventually he will get the picture.

Also if he is 2 or older, he might be trying to give up naps all together. In my experience kids usually try that around that age, so it might be a coencidence that naps and the nightmares are connected. Until you figure it out, at nap time and bed time I would give him books to look at while he trys to fall asleep. Instead of a nightlight, try a small bedside lamp. He can 'read' by it, and then you can turn it out when he falls asleep.

Hope some of this helps. Hang in there. You are not alone!

The night light or outdoor light could be causing shadows on the walls. Have you checked this out yet? Also lay in there and listen to see if there are any strange sounds. I had an old house when I lived in Michigan and you could hear all kinds of creaking at night when it was quiet. Also the furnace would make noise every time it started up. You don't say how old your little man is. Maybe it is something he is watching on tv that is scaring him. Even a six month old child can see things to upset him. Could be alot of things. Buy a music box or turn a radio on to drown out any odd noises. Give him a teddy bear or stuffed toy of his choice to sleep with. And be sure to check out the lighting in the room. I purchased a Micky Mouse night light for my nephew and it scared him to death. It's shadow on the other wall looked like a monster on the wall. What we think is cute might not be cute to a small child. Good Luck!

Well, weather it's a ghost or nightmare he needs to be assured that he is safe. Is it the room he fears or being alone in any room when it comes to sleep time? I've dealt with a ghost and I've dealt with horriable nightmares. In my experiance the nightmares are worse. Anyway, I would give him something, like a special stuffed animal and tell him that this will protect him and keep him safe while he sleeps. Let him know that you will always be there if he needs you. Maybe at first stay in his room with him and pretend to go to sleep so he can see that you feel safe.

Something may had scared him and now he's associated that to his bedroom. Whatever it may be hope this helps and good luck!

I would love to know how old he is. It sounds maybe like 2 or 3. I probably would just sit first in the room with him right by the bed then every night move the chair further and further out of the room until you are no longer needed for sleeping. This just helps reassure him I think. If he cries you just say "mommy is here honey." At least your guilt is lessened because then you know that you are there and nothing is wrong so he is just fighting sleep!!

Take Fabreeze and tell him it is a special spray that protects them.

Give them special PJs and tell them it makes them invisible.

Let them go to bed with a CD (on repeat) so that they can concentrate on the music instead of anything else around them. If your child is in daycare, find out what CD they use and use the same one. Routine helps them feel comfortable and safe.