2 yr old destroys rooms during nap...empty room still NOT sleeping

jmp003

My 26 month old used to sleep 11 hours at night and take a 3 hour nap. All of a sudden, she just stopped napping completely. Not only that, she was DESTROYING her room, throwing clothes and books on the floor, etc. Within a week's time we had to lock her closet, take all the furniture out other than her bed, and remove all the books and stuffed animals. She still won't nap! Any suggestions???

2 WEEK UPDATE: Thank you for all your replies! I am happy to announce that my daughter IS napping again 5-6 days a week for 1.5-2 hours! Her room is still empty except for her lovie (forgot to mention that in my original post), and she gets to pick 5 books for nap time. She usually reads the books, then gets bored and lies down to nap within 25 minutes. 2 days after my original post, she decided that potty-training "clicked" finally so I think maybe that was why she wasn't napping? I heard some kids gets so focused on something in their mind that they cannot nap for 1-2 weeks. Thank you all!

 

magentawarped

It sounds like she's done with naps. Some kids just decide they don't need them. Since it's become such an issue for you, I wouldn't try to force it.

TiffanyBerry

My daughter went through a phase of refusing her nap around that age .
I stuck with it and she went back to napping for nearly another year. I just insisted on staying in bed - she didn't have to sleep (that isn't an enforceable rule, since you cannot make someone sleep), but she had to stay in bed. If she had cared, I would have allowed a stuffed animal and a book (provided she didn't destroy them).

driveshorses

My DD will do that, and you can tell she just needs to sleep, so I let her take her Ipad in her bedroom with her and she has to rest. She's 3 now, so she will play with it for awhile and then put it down and take a nap. She does not nap every day. There's a lot of days she doesn't nap, but she does need to rest and decompress by herself.

JenniCollins

For a while now my daughter has been fighting naps. She doesn't destroy her room, but sometimes I would go in and she would have ten shirts on or something like that. On days I can tell she isn't going to nap I either turn on a movie for her to watch in my room or I have her go in her room and read for at least an hour. She needs a little quiet "her" time each day.

authorofdreamz

DD has done that only once. I told her if she didn't stay in her "big girl bed" she would have to have her baby crib back and she hasn't gotten out of bed since, she loves her bed.

dairygirl19

Mine only nap somedays too. My rule is I don't care what you do in there, but you have to stay on your bed or the floor and play with the toys you have.

I left some toys in her room so she doesn't go crazy destroying other stuff. She has books, puzzles stuffed animals and I allow her to bring one other thing in she wants.

If she's destroying stuff I'd do a time out and give her some appropriate alternatives/have a discussion. She's old enough to not to do that.

ChristineBaker23

My daughter is done with naps at just 2 years old. Luckily she's been sick this week so she's been napping. Instead of nap time we have quiet time. Because mommy needs a break. I send her to her room with the gate up and the light off and a toy of her choice (this toy comes from her permission only toys that have lots of pieces so I put them where she can't reach them so she has to ask first - this makes them very special). She stays in there for an hour while I watch a show or something then comes out (usually in a better mood). If she takes a nap I sing hallelujah and take a nap too. I find it very helpful for us to take a break from each other during the day. I can chill out and she can trash her room in peace.

ababymaybe

What time does she wake and when are you trying for nap? When is bed, after nap? Sleep needs drop as they age and 14 hours is definitely more than average - she may just not need as much sleep anymore.

I would try for a later nap (try for 30 minutes later and see if that helps, if not maybe push it by even an hour) and I would limit it to 2 hours. It doesn't seem to me like she could go from needing a 3 hour nap to dropping it altogether, DS would be a disaster without his nap but I DO have to wake him after 2 hours or he would sleep all afternoon, then party all night.

jmp003

Thank you for all your replies! I am happy to announce that my daughter IS napping again 5-6 days a week for 1.5-2 hours! Her room is still empty except for her lovie (forgot to mention that in my original post), and she gets to pick 5 books for nap time. She usually reads the books, then gets bored and lies down to nap within 25 minutes. 2 days after my original post, she decided that potty-training "clicked" finally so I think maybe that was why she wasn't napping? I heard some kids gets so focused on something in their mind that they cannot nap for 1-2 weeks. Thank you all!