End of Naps?

Emerald27

DS has been fighting his nap now for about a week. He used to get tired, ask to go "night night", and walk into the bedroom on his own around 11:15am.

Now I'm giving him a bath, singing quiet songs, doing anything I can think of to help him calm down and unwind for a nap, but he's so awake and energetic, and he begs to get off the bed and play.

Today he fell asleep around 2pm. Much later than usual...and it was a very long process. Despite the difficulty getting him to sleep, he does take about a 3 hour nap still.

So here are my questions:

How old was your LO when they have up naps?

Does it sound to you like DS is done with naps?

What did you do for your busy toddler to help them settle down for a nap? I cannot spend 2 hours getting him to go to sleep. It's exhausting.

ETA: DS still nurses to sleep or to nearly asleep, then rolls over and goes to sleep. He's in our bed.

TiffanyBerry

DD moved her nap later for a number of months before she dropped it.  It was at 1pm for around a year, then moved to 2:30-4pm (didn't change bedtime) for four to six months.

Angela814

How old is he?

DD2 stopped napping right around 2.5 years. Her nap time had been around 2pm for a while. We'd read a few books, and then I'd lay with her until she fell asleep. After a while, she just wouldn't fall asleep no matter what I'd do. So we switched to quiet time watching a movie or show. For a few weeks, she'd fall asleep on the couch watching TV. Then nothing. She's 3 yo now, and she will occasionally fall asleep in the car, or she'll be so exhausted she'll pass out at 5pm and then be a nightmare at bedtime. Mostly she just doesn't nap. We just do quite time with a couple TV shows instead.

monalua

From about age 2 on, my son would only nap if I rocked him to sleep or laid down with him. I was pregnant so I happily obliged. From about 2.5 on, naps were spotty, and he was done with naps by age 3. He just refused. Now that he's done with naps I try to have him asleep by 7 pm. When he naps, is it hard for him to go to sleep at night? Toward the end of his napping days my son would nap for 2 to 3 hrs and then be up until 10 at night. That's when I decided to stop forcing naps. Good luck!

thefuturemrschase

I would highly recommend the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers."  Most children take a nap until they are 4 or 5 and many many children stop naps far too soon which starts a vicious cycle of being overtired and therefore having more trouble falling asleep.  Look into how many hours of sleep children your sons age need in a 24 hours period.  

Some suggestions right off- Change nap time to a later time (maybe 12:30 or 1pm), make the mornings as stimulating as you can so your son is worn out, make sure bedtime is at a consistent time and he is getting enough sleep at night so he is not overtired, develop a brief nap time routine that allows for a period of quiet time in a dark room leading up to sleep, keep trying it may be just a faze!   

Emerald27

Thanks for the advice and sharing your experiences, ladies. DS is just 21 months and waaaay too young to give up his nap, in my opinion. Upon more reflection, I wonder if it might be related to his development: whereas last week he only said about 50 words consistently, he now says many more words and has been parroting us. That's totally new, and he's thrilled with his new superpower!

I'll definitely work to make the mornings stimulating, and I'll just go ahead and move naptime to the afternoon to see if that helps us! 

erbear

How old is he?

My 4.5 year old still takes a nap (2-3 hours) most days. both mine go down for naps closer to 2. 

Emerald27

erbear:

How old is he?My 4.5 year old still takes a nap 23 hours most days. both mine go down for naps closer to 2.nbsp;

He's almost 21 months...pretty young to be abandoning naps

nosoup4u

What time does he get up in the morning? DS2 has been taking a nap around 12-1 pm since he was 12 months or so (DS1 had afternoon preschool, so it was just the way the schedule worked out). 11:15 is way early for a 21-mo-old's nap, IMO. 

Do you have a set nap routine? For DS2, it's lunch, pee break, a few books and then nap. He doesn't nurse to sleep anymore (weaned), but I lay by him or the sitter sits near him and sings.

Also, DS2's room is pitch black - we had to get another set of black-out curtains when we moved, bc having a little bit of light made him want to get up and not sleep. I think having it so dark helps remind him he really is tired.

DS1 dropped naps around 3.5 - he started afternoon preschool, but also he wouldn't fall asleep until after 9 pm if he took any sort of nap.  

Emerald27

DS is up between 6:30am and 7am every morning.

I think making it darker is a great idea. It's super bright in here...one wall is entirely windows and the blinds don't keep the light out.

sucredee

DD is 3 and a few months ago she was skipping a lot of naps. She would do OK for the mot part but if we were in the car around 3 or 4 she would fall asleep. If it was much past 1-130 I would not let her go to sleep anymore. Then all of a sudden she started napping again every day at home at least and occasionally she would skip at daycare. Now she is back to skipping her naps again for a couple of days in a row and then she will nap. She still nurses and unless she is out when I put her in bed she won't go to sleep (for night time she nurses but goes down awake unless she missed her nap). Amazingly she is agreeing to do quiet time in her crib (she does at school) so I'm fine with that too. I suspect she will go back to napping again (I hope). Since about last summer I moved her nap to 1 pm instead of 12 (and that maybe part of the reason for her skipping her nap at school a lot. She goes 3 mornings a week and they go down at noon. She is always up between 630-645 because if she sleep later than that she will definitely not go down for a nap.