Nap Strike? pleasehelpme.

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

This is the 4th day my lo has refused a nap. she was previously napping from 2-4 and we were having late bedtime issues as a result so i have been trying to move it up to 12:30 (thats where it was a couple months ago)

now, she is not napping AT ALL. she doesnt even seem tired until almost 3 pm, at which point i think its ridiculous to let her sleep or she will be up half the night.

so now by 630 she is exhausted. she normally would go to bed at 830 pm and wake at 8 am, with a couple night wakings as well.

has anyones lo skipped a nap, or doesnt take naps at all anymore? i feel she is much too little to stop naptime all together.

please help me im desperate!

Karen1998 · February 2013

What happens when you put her to bed at 6:30pm?

quietlyexpecting · February 2013

what time does she wake? I say try an earlier nap? My Lo is almost 16 months and is in bed by 7:30 up around 7. She naps about 12:30 but we do have a few days here and there where she takes a snooze about 10:30 am for about 30 minutes and then a later nap around 2:30 for about an hour or so. GL!

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

Karen1998:
What happens when you put her to bed at 6:30pm?

she goes to sleep in 2 minutes... but that means no nap during the day

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

quietlyexpecting:
what time does she wake? I say try an earlier nap? My Lo is almost 16 months and is in bed by 7:30 up around 7. She naps about 12:30 but we do have a few days here and there where she takes a snooze about 10:30 am for about 30 minutes and then a later nap around 2:30 for about an hour or so. GL!

i am trying to get her to nap earlier. she wont. she is wired all day until 3 pm, its crazy. she used to nap 2-4 but then she was staying up until almost 10 pm, sometimes later, which doesnt work for me.

PrimRoseMama · February 2013

DD dropped a nap at 12 months.

Now she is at one nap per day around noon.

Sometimes she doesn't take one at all. She just refuses.

She doesn't go to bed until around 9pm, but the days she refuses to nap she will go around 8pm. I just let her lead honestly. I got tired of trying to force naps or bedtime. I find she will sleep if she is tired, but I don't know if my kid is an odd one out or not.

There are times she will fall asleep playing or listening to music. I'll be cleaning the kitchen and look over to see her passed out on the floor where she was playing. I usually just let it be. I usually find the better rested she is (sleeping when she is tired, eating when she is hungry etc.) the happier she is.

Maybe do something relaxing like music or a stroll around the block?

Karen1998 · February 2013

BeachMama7693:
Karen1998:
What happens when you put her to bed at 6:30pm?
she goes to sleep in 2 minutes... but that means no nap during the day

I wonder if she's so overtired she's wired during the day. If she's falling asleep at 6:30 and sleeping all night long, she's definitely overtired. Have you tried easing her into a nap during the day? Turn off all stimulation (no TV, no radio, no noisy toys, etc...) and work on having a calming and soothing environment for about an hour before naptime. You can read books and let her play quietly, then move into a bedtime routine. It can be a lot of work to get her calmed enough, but if you can get her to sleep and catch up on the sleep she's missed, it'll improve her overall sleep. Once she's used to napping at that time, you can gradually move back to your normal pre-nap schedule and keep her nap at the new time.

patchen30 · February 2013

What time is she waking up in the AM if she's going to bed at 6:30pm? If she's sleeping until 8am still, she is probably getting all of her required sleep overnight.

If you can go back to your old schedule, I would do that, and then gradually move the nap back by 15 minutes per day until it's at the hour you want. I'd aim for about 5-6 hours of wake time prior to the nap and after the nap, and about 10-11 hours of overnight sleep. Much more than that and I'd think she wouldn't have much drive to sleep during the day.

If you're not able to get her back to her old schedule, I'd put her down for the 12:30 nap, and leave her for up to an hour even if she doesn't sleep. I'd keep doing this consistently every day until she starts sleeping again.

Karen1998 · February 2013

patchen30:
What time is she waking up in the AM if she's going to bed at 6:30pm? If she's sleeping until 8am still, she is probably getting all of her required sleep overnight.

If you can go back to your old schedule, I would do that, and then gradually move the nap back by 15 minutes per day until it's at the hour you want. I'd aim for about 5-6 hours of wake time prior to the nap and after the nap, and about 10-11 hours of overnight sleep. Much more than that and I'd think she wouldn't have much drive to sleep during the day.

If you're not able to get her back to her old schedule, I'd put her down for the 12:30 nap, and leave her for up to an hour even if she doesn't sleep. I'd keep doing this consistently every day until she starts sleeping again.

I agree with this.

Rosebud2587 · February 2013

My LO is going on week 2 of no naps. It's horrible and she's just a mess. I've been laying her down in her crib at her normal nap time and just letting her play/fuss/cry for an hr while I shower and try to get a few things done around the house. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll go back to napping again soon.

TiffanyBerry · February 2013

You can't force her to sleep. So, either skip the nap, and she goes to bed at 6:30pm or have the late nap and she goes to bed later. (FWIW, my daughter gets up at 7am and will not nap until 2:30pm, getting up at 4pm. We do bedtime at 7:45 (in bed), though she often isn't asleep until 9pm or 9:30pm. I'd love her to get more sleep, but I can't force it.)

I'd say drop the nap entirely or let her nap when she will (at the later time) since I highly doubt you'll be able to get her to sleep exactly when you want if it's also not when she wants. (You, as an adult, wouldn't do the same.)

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

patchen30:
What time is she waking up in the AM if she's going to bed at 6:30pm? If she's sleeping until 8am still, she is probably getting all of her required sleep overnight.

If you can go back to your old schedule, I would do that, and then gradually move the nap back by 15 minutes per day until it's at the hour you want. I'd aim for about 5-6 hours of wake time prior to the nap and after the nap, and about 10-11 hours of overnight sleep. Much more than that and I'd think she wouldn't have much drive to sleep during the day.

If you're not able to get her back to her old schedule, I'd put her down for the 12:30 nap, and leave her for up to an hour even if she doesn't sleep. I'd keep doing this consistently every day until she starts sleeping again.

she is waking up at about 8 for the day, but she wakes up a couple times a night and usually ends up in our bed (which is the only place she will actually sttn)

the problem with leaving her for an hour to nap is she is in a toddler bed, and she wont stay in it if shes not tired. maybe i should put her back in the crib, but i really dont want to move backwards.

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

TiffanyBerry:
You can't force her to sleep. So, either skip the nap, and she goes to bed at 6:30pm or have the late nap and she goes to bed later. (FWIW, my daughter gets up at 7am and will not nap until 2:30pm, getting up at 4pm. We do bedtime at 7:45 (in bed), though she often isn't asleep until 9pm or 9:30pm. I'd love her to get more sleep, but I can't force it.)
I'd say drop the nap entirely or let her nap when she will (at the later time) since I highly doubt you'll be able to get her to sleep exactly when you want if it's also not when she wants. (You, as an adult, wouldn't do the same.)

this is good advice (you always give good advice, btw)

the problem with cutting the nap out completely is she is a complete whine bucket from 3 pm until 630. its so awful all she does is rub her eyes and fuss about everything, obviously because she is tired. if i let her nap at 2, i swear shes not ready for bed until 11 pm and will sleep until 1030 am. i really hate that.

BeachMama7693 · February 2013

Rosebud2587:
My LO is going on week 2 of no naps. It's horrible and she's just a mess. I've been laying her down in her crib at her normal nap time and just letting her play/fuss/cry for an hr while I shower and try to get a few things done around the house. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll go back to napping again soon.

im so glad im not the only one!

TiffanyBerry · February 2013

I didn't mean to suggest it would be fun. It sounds like she's in the middle of dropping her nap, and I expect it will also be a sucky process for us. I do not look foward to it.

I might have missed it, but what does your bedtime look like? Do you have TV (or other screens) or bright lights on after dinner or within an hour or two of bedtime? A bath right before getting into bed? Is it loud or otherwise super stimulating? If so, you might try doing the nap, and then making sure she has a long time (I'm talking well over an hour, maybe two) to slowly unwind. Put her in bed at her normal bedtime, and then make sure she stays there. (I'm a fan of the super-nanny method of just returning them to their bed repeatedly. Even if it's more than a 100x a night for a few weeks.) She can sleep or not, maybe you stay in there with her if she is at least laying down and being not loud, but she has to stay in there?

Good luck! Maybe it's just a phase? We can hope, anyway?

I do know that if my daughter skips her nap, which doesn't happen often, we have to move bedtime up by about an hour. (Which sucks, from a schedule perspective, but if we let her go longer, she gets overtired and it's even harder for her to go to sleep.)

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