Losing my £¥*^ here

Cbidt's girl

2.5 year old hasn't napped consistently for weeks and none at all the past 5 days. I cannot deal with having no break from him. He's adorable but a constant motor and so hyper especially since he's overtired. How can I make him nap? Oh how I wish there was really an answer for that

AZ_Erica

Will he fall asleep if you take him for a car ride?  When DD had the chicken pox and neither kid would nap I did that.  I just needed a break.  I would drive around for 10-15 minutes and they would both be out.

lsufan

My youngest turned 2 in May, and he stopped napping voluntarily sometime last Spring.  I've given up, because if for some reason he DOES get a nap, he's up all night.  I'd rather push through and have an easier time getting him to bed.  It'd be nice to get a break from him during the day as well, but it looks like that's just no longer possible for us.  It's a bummer, since my other two napped much longer.

lona.hunn@gmail.com

Will he play quietly in his room or just lay on his bed looking at books?

Cbidt's girl

Thanks for the responses - unfortunately the car no longer puts him to sleep and I have DS1 here too. Yesterday we had an hour ride during which he chatted the entire time. I'm leaving him in his crib but he's up there singing loudly, bouncing around and chucking all of his books and animals out of the crib. I just have to take a deep breath, decide when I'm giving up and move on. I'm just frustrated because I need naptime to be sane.

littlemermaid

Put him in his crib and leave him in it with some books, toys and then go have your break.  If he chooses to use his time by singing and throwing his books then that's ok.   You need downtime as much as he does.  My son stopped napping at 12 months and I used to just have him go in his room and have alone time.

mulrooney

When DD1 was about 2.5 she stopped napping as well. Her pedi told us to continue with "quiet time" in her crib/room for as long as she would tolerate it. I got almost a year of her being content to hang out in her room for 1 - 2 hours. She would read books, play with her stuffed animals, etc. We don't keep a lot of toys in their rooms. Sometimes she fell asleep, but not usually.

The dr. explained it as she needed a break as much as I did and it was important for her to have some down time. I would tell her it was ok if she didn't fall asleep but she needed to have quiet time. I hope to do the same with DD2 when she hits that point.

jlw2505

We have quiet time in my house - the girls have to stay in their rooms and do something quiet like read books or play with their dolls.  Time frame is 1 hour min but if they come out of their rooms or call me for anything another than to go potty or an emergency type thing the time is increased.  If they are tired, they sleep and if not, we all get some down time.  They do this at school (preschool and PreK) as well so my girls are very used to it.

ashleyaugust7

DD stopped napping at 2.5... it sucked.

She did start sleeping from 7-7 though! (Most of the time)