2yr/old won't nap. help! Update

I know there are always a few nap questions out there and I hope this isn't a repeat of one I missed.

DS won't go down for his nap yesterday or today. I know he's not ready to give up his nap because yesterday he crashed at 5:30. He slept for 45 min then was good for the rest of the evening. He went to bed fairly well that night at 9:00. (His usual time)

Today he wouldn't go down so I thought I'd try a later nap (I tried that yesterday, too.) He started to fall asleep on the couch watching a video so I took him to bed, waited for a few minutes to make sure he was falling asleep, and then left. 30 seconds later he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs wide awake. I tried to get him to stay at least for quiet time (I know a lot of you do that with much success) but he wouldn't have any of it.

So has anyone gone through this? Is it a "phase" or is he getting ready to give up the nap? His body didn't last all day yesterday. He's waking early in the mornings, too. (5:30!) So he's really only getting about 8.5 hours of sleep at night (9-5:30). I'm working on making him stay in bed until a nightlight on a timer comes on at 7 am. I've only done it for 2 days though and he hasn't quite learned it yet.

Any other suggestions and insights? How do you do the quiet time successfully? He just won't stay in his room.

 

Mine stay in their rooms only because they are still in their cribs. I don't have any real advice, just Because I know how much I need that time!! Mine still sleep, but sometimes it takes them up to an hour to fall asleep....

 

I'm going to say its a phase and I would try this. #1 get him to bed earlier. And then naptime earlier. My oldest dd has always been wired if she did not get enough sleep. It was a vicious cycle. She'd stay up later and then get up earlier. I finally figured out she was soo overtired she couldn't sleep. Some kids you can keep them up later so they'll sleep later but that does not work for her. Its just the opposite. So I'd try a nice relaxing bath before bed or whatever relaxes him and start moving bedtime earlier. He will hopefull sleep a tad later. Then start naps a little earler and see if he goes to sleep. But as far as him getting out of bed I'd keep a gate up or lock the door. I would also sit outside of the door and as soon as his feet hit the the floor quietly put him back in bed. You may have to do it 100 times but eventually he'll get it. Yours are about 6 months older than mine but there is a big difference in sleep. I know mine are on the longer side but yours are definitely not getting enough. Mine do 12 to 13 hrs at night and 2 to 3 at nap. So at there best they are double the amount of sleep yours are getting. Whatever you do don't give up. Mine have gone thru many phases of trying to give up naps but they are never ready till just before there 4th birthday.

 

I would actually try putting him down for nap earlier rather than later. Maybe he's getting over tired? It helped when we moved ours back from 1:30 to 1. Some days are still hard, but they still nap most days. Might be worth a shot!

 

quote:
Originally posted by ~* dfaut *~:
Mine stay in their rooms only because they are still in their cribs. I don't have any real advice, just Because I know how much I need that time!! Mine still sleep, but sometimes it takes them up to an hour to fall asleep....


Same here. If they weren't in their cribs I'm sure no one would sleep day or night. So I have no advice to offer. I hope he goes back to napping for you.

 

Well last night was... interesting. Connor never did nap yesterday. He almost crashed a couple times in the evening, but never slept. We put him to bed an hour early at 8:00. It took 45 minutes to get him to stay in bed and go to sleep. That's unusual, he's been very good at bed and nap time since we moved them to beds.

At 10:30 he woke up. He was screaming and crying and climbing out of bed, wanting to go downstairs for milk. I think he thought that was his nap and now he was supposed to get up.

He wouldn't calm down so I gave him a cup of water to take to bed with him. DH and I took turns staying with him until he calmed down, but as soon as we would leave the room he would scream and get up again. I finally took some pillows in and laid on the floor next to his bed so he would stay calm and I wouldn't fall over from standing there. After about 30 min (and him checking to see that I was still there several times) he finally fell asleep and I went to bed.

He woke up at 5:20, but fell right back to sleep and didn't get up until 7:30! I was so relieved, but we'll see how today's nap goes. I'm going to try putting him down a bit early for his nap.

 

I just had to tell you we tried the tea last night and it didn't help, although he only drank about half of it and he just sipped on it over a couple hours. We'll keep trying that at night.

I did have an idea for his nap yesterday. I put them both in the car and drove around until he fell asleep. It backfired for Heather, she fell asleep before Connor and then wouldn't sleep well when I took her up to her bed. I left him in the car and he slept for 2.5 hours! I guess I should have just left them both... But at least he got a nap yesterday.