No more napping!

So, the day has come. My girls will not nap anymore, maybe once/week and then they end up going to bed at 9:30pm-10pm so it's no even really worth it. They no longer sleep in cribs so they can roam free in their room and I tried giving them quiet time in their room alone but they just end up getting into trouble/fighting and I have to constantly go in and intervene.

I had to remove everything from their room and even put a lock on their closet door. They even pulled the fan out of the wall and were using the cord as a toy, so that had to go. I can't separate them as we have a very small house and they freak out anyway when they are apart.

So my question, what do you do to get a break during the day when they no longer nap. Should I keep with the quiet time but give them more toys?? I kept the toys out thinking they would get bored and nap but no go. Will they go back to napping at some point?? Wahh.....I was hoping this day would not come for at least another six months.

 

I would at least keep the quiet time. Do they like books? I have given the girls books to look at. It keeps them fairly quiet. I don't say no to reading books together in one of their beds. Depending on their mood that can lead to a fight too. You might want to put a few toys in their room for them to play with, otherwise they might focus on fighting with eachother instead. Good luck. I only let them sleep until 3, even if they fall asleep at 2:30, otherwise they would be up until 9:00. Good luck

 

I'm right there with you. My boys gave up naps right around when they turned 3. No matter what time I put them down, it would take a good 1-2 hours for the to fall asleep. Then they would be wide awake until 9:30-10:00.

We swtiched to toddler beds on their 3rd birthday and one day last week I was exhusted and tried to put them down for a nap. They played the entire hour. Their bedroom is just that - two beds and a night stand....nothing else. No toys, books...anything. At bedtime I do give them a glowmate that shuts off after 15 minutes. I do this because I want them to know that it's time for bed and not just more playtime.

For breaks, mine are pretty good with watching tv. Right now they are watching Toy Story 3 in the basement and I'm upstairs. What has also helped is taking down the baby gate in the basement which gives them the freedom of coming up at anytime. Prior to that, they would scream at the gate waiting for me.

What is also hard is it's winter. During the week they go to preschool 4 days a week but the weekends are :faint: Today we went to the mall for 2 hours just to get out of the house. Once the weather gets nice, there will be so many things to do but right now I am :drown:

 

I have a random napper and one that naps every day. But I still put both of them in their rooms with a couple books and quiet toys and they are welcome to play with them in their beds. If I hear them making noise I'll go in but it seems to work well here. Good luck!

 

I'm in the same boat as Brigette. I do the same with my two. They do have a couple of books in their rooms and some toys to play with, so if they choose to nap, great and if they don't then they have some things to keep them occupied. I will go in and "shush" them if they are being too loud.

 

Thanks for the ideas and support. Glad I'm not the only one with 2.5 year olds that won't nap. I will try the quiet toys and some books and see how that goes.....

 

Mine haven't abandoned naps complete--in fact they still need them--but since making the switch to big kid beds, the will often choose not to nap and play instead Then if we drive anywhere afterward they will pass out in the car. Every few days they will actually fall sleep in their beds. Downtime is an essential part of the day for me and helps me regroup after the morning and gear up for the afternoon--I like how it structures my day. I plan on implementing quiet time (at least an hour) every day until they are 18 and out of the house, haha!

 

For us, at that age we went through a napping problem. They started not wanting to nap. I wasn't ready for them to give it up and I didn't feel like they could really make it through the day without one. So, we did go to 'quiet time'. They would lay on the couch and I would put on music. Most often within 20-30 minutes they would both be out. We made it through the rough patch and they started napping again for probably 6 more months. At this point, they no longer nap. DD gave up naps first. When she didn't want to nap, I would have her sit in her room and read books for 30 minutes or so. I still do it if they need some down time. However, for DS we still go the music route. He is not a reader (for the most part). So, when he needs down time I put him on his bed and he listens to my Ipod for 20 minutes or so...just enough time to recharge his batteries!

 

When they went back to napping, when did they go to bed for the night??

 

Around 9pm...I know alot later than they probably should, but I didn't have to worry about waking them up in the morning. So, they were still getting there recommended nighttime sleep. I knew it was time to give up naps all together when it was 10pm consistently (every night) and we were still fighting DS to stay in bed! Now that they don't nap, bedtime is back to 8:30pm. BUT...at the age yours are now when I knew they still needed a nap, I was willing to trade 30 minutes of a later bedtime rather than a He// filled afternoon/evening. ardon:

 

Yeah, I think I will keep putting them down and hope that the naps will come back. They stopped so suddenly, I really wasn't ready for it so I'm thinking (hoping, wishing) that it's a phase.

 

We started "quiet time" around age three... they go into their room and I read them a story and then put on a book on CD. The idea is that they're supposed to be quiet and listen to the CD and look at books. Some days this works, others it's insanity in there. Depending on what i need to get done and how patient I'm feeling, I either go in repeatedly and tell them to keep it down or I just ignore the fact they're not being quiet. Mostly it's a break from each other, a time to rest as much as possible, and an hour that I need to get things done around the house.

 

I would bet that it is just a phase, too. Stick to your guns and hopefully they will get back to happy napping soon!