Terrible Two's and Naptime

It sounds to me like your son isn't quite ready for his nap at the time you put him down. Try putting him down for his nap an hour later. I had the same problem with my son. Within a week of changing his nap time, he was going right to sleep. Good luck!

First of all - give yourself a break. You're not doing anything wrong. It's just the age. They are afraid they're going to miss out on something. Our son is doing the same thing. The biggest thing to do is establish a nap routine just like bedtime and be consistent. He'll probably pitch a fit, but after a few times he'll settle into it. What we do is make Caleb sit down on the couch with one of us to watch a favorite show (usually Doodlebops). If you haven't something relatively low key that's best. This lets him settle down a little. Then once he's mellowed out, we tell him it's naptime and take him in the other room to lay down. Sometimes he crys and tries to get up. We just keep putting him back in bed. The first few days were rough. It took 2 hours to get him to go to sleep - but then he slept for 3 hours. The next day only took about 30 minutes, and so on.

Good luck!

I have a son who is 2-1/2, but I am no expert. I know that they test their boundaries with the ones whom they are around them most. My son does things to me that he would NEVER do to his Daddy. Once I finally broke down and got consistant on time outs, spankings (just a pop here and there)and different things, we started seeing eye to eye. In fact, when I talk to him about something, I get down to his level. I praise him when he is doing well and I tell him that he is being ugly when he is being bad. And that right there seems to hurt his feelings more than anything. Anyhow, if I had to suggest anything before naptime, I would take him outside (weather permitting)and let him run and play for about an hour and wear himself out. Bring him in, fill his belly with some lunch and vuala, naptime! I dunno, this is what we do. It is also what my son't daycare does with them.

well i just had to go through the same thing with my 2 year old son. we had to get back on some sort of schedule. but anyway what i do is take him to my room, turn off the light and tv and lay down with him until he falls asleep. it is the only way i can get him to sleep. maybe try that at naptime and see how it works out. it may take a while, but another thing i do is rock him whenever he lets me anyway. well let us know how it goes

Don't be so hard on yourself. I wouldn't say you're doing necessarily anything wrong; some kids you can do the same thing with as your other kids, and they're just gonna respond differenly. I've had this issue with a few of my kids though in the past also. I just got past my 3 yr. old doing that. The one thing i would say is consistency. Make sure you put him down the same time every day. When he gets up and/or pitches a fit, keep taking him straight back to bed. Don't talk to him or show him any attention. Just keep saying it's time to lay down and direct him right back to bed. He will continue to try getting up at first, but if you stick to it for a week or two, it will get less and less and eventually he should get the message and stay in bed. When you reprimand him or pop him or whatever, you give him negative attention; and it's still some kind of attention for him. Just keep your voice low and calm, and try to remember that you're in charge, not him. I know it's really hard. Sometimes, giving them a couple books to look at in bed works too.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hope this helped. I'm sure you're a great mom. Every great mom has difficulties sometimes. Best of wishes! :)

My 2 year old son is a great sleeper, but he goes through phases where he will fight us at naptime and bedtime. You just have to be consistent, keep telling him it's time to go to sleep, keep returning him to his bed. I also will tell him something fun we'll do when he wakes up, but only if he takes a nap. I find that sometimes I just have to leave the room for a few minutes, especially if I start getting frustrated. I just tell him, "mommy's going now, good night," and I leave. Usually I wait a few minutes, (and he will sit there and cry or yell) then I go back and tuck him in, give him a kiss and tell him again that it's time to sleep. The few minutes apart seems to do it. Just try to stay calm, you know he'll sleep eventually! And don't give up on naps, they still need them at this age, and we need the quiet time!

My daughter is the same way. She will take a nap for everyone but me. I gave up on her taking a nap a long time ago. She goes to daycare and will take a nap there, but on the weekends she won't. She makes up for it by sleeping later on the weekends. During the week, she will sleep for 8 hours and on the weekends she will sleep for 10.
He might be not want to go to sleep because then he will miss out on spending time with Mom. I know that is hard to believe because you spend every minute of everyday with hime. Do realize you are the center of his world right now and you are the most exciting person or thing he has ever seen. One suggestion, lay down with him the whole time he is supposed to be napping. You won't have to do this long. When he realizes that there is nothing happening during that set naptime, he will calm down and start sleeping. If he doesn't sleep, then still make him lye down and rest. This will help him and you. Believe me, a tired toddler is the last thing you want when you're trying to cook dinner, give a bath and get ready for the next day. I hope this helps.

This too will pass my dear. He has figured out how to stress you out and proably get his way actually some days I miss the 2 year old tantrums. Just stay strong and stick to your routine day after day he will figure out he can't win this battle. I always had my girls take a nap after lunch and didn't let them nap more than an hour so night time wouldn't be hard. Good luck!