My 2 1/2 Yr Old and My 1 1/2 Yr Old Won't Take naps---HELP!!

girl you have to play play and play and tire the hell out of them. I have a 14 month girl and she gets up about 8:30 sometimes 10:00 - and I play and play and somewhere between 12 and 2 she is tired and ready for a nap
I lay her in her crib put on her nightlight and some ocean wave sounds and leave her there. eventually she will fall asleep. she will sleep until 4 pm maybe and then we try and keep her up until about 8 pm then its bedtime.
taking them outside and letting them run around helps us out too.

hope this help - good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

My DS stopped his naps around 2 years old. We have done "quiet time" for him which means that he can watch a movie in the afternoon. This has worked great for our family. Of course, I'm envious of the people whose children still nap!

Do you follow a bedtime routine? Modify or simplify it to create a naptime routine. My 2 year sits on the couch and has a cup of milk while watching Teletubbies, then its diaper change and in bed. I also will tell her, "Ok, its time to sit on the couch and watch Teletubbies and then its naptime" or "its almost naptime."

The key is to be CONSISTENT. Since we follow the same routine everyday, she knows that its naptime and she walks into her room without protest. She has tried testing and stalling, but I don't let her get away with it: naptime is naptime. By being consistent, she knows what to expect and when. I also hold naptime sacred and make every effort to schedule outtings around naptime.

I agree that you need to tire the little ones out in the morning: just an hour of playtime outside does the trick for us.

Since she was 1 year old, my 2 year old gets up at 6:30am (on her own--certainly not my choice! LOL!), takes one nap from 1-3:30, bath at 8pm, and is in bed by 9pm everynight.

I hope this helps!

Hi A.<
What have you been trying? My son is 2 1/2 now. And he has lots of friends and cousins. What has worked for me is consistency. Just like they have a pattern for bed, they should have a pattern for nap. Even if I am at a friends house, he goes down for his nap the same time every day. Also, until their body sets the internal clock, if at all possible, put them to nap in separate rooms. Be consistant and you should see them come around. This is easier said than done for modern mommy, but you NEED that nap time too. Let me know how it goes.

I also continued to put my kids down for naps/ quiet time. After lunch I make the room dark and give them a couple of books. it helps set the tone and then they see me set the timer downstairs and know that I'll come and get them when it goes off. I put them up and then come down and turn the timer off. After an hour or so I 'd go get them, but if they were sleeping left them alone. It didn't work as perfect as this as my older fought me tooth and nail for about 6months-- but I held on to the hour. And now at 8 she still knows to go down for the quiet time after lunch, and now she reads the clock for the hour instead of the timer. It was worth the battle for me!

I definitely agree with the consistency theory! Routine helps significantly. My twins are now almost 6, and I remember going through that faze with them too. We'd play most of the morning, have our lunch, then we would all cuddle together on the couch and watch a movie or a cartoon until they calmed down. Then I'd take them in their room and read to them or sing them a song until they fell asleep. In the beginning, (when they were first in toddler beds), it would sometimes take me an hour or more to get them to fall asleep. Then, as time went on, their bodies became accustomed to that routine and it was just one story or song and they were sleeping. I have a 1 year old now who is great with naps so far- but she's less of a routine girl- she pretty much lets us know when she's tired and likes to take her naps! Either way- whether they're napping or just lying quietly for an hour- it's a great break for you too! Good luck- and don't forget to stitch every bit of this time with your children into your memory, because soon you'll wake up and it will all be a distant memory!

My "nearly 2" yr old girl is going through something similar. Here's what works for us - No car rides between 11 and 1. (Noon is her naptime - if she's in the car between 11 and 1 and falls asleep, her nap will be ten minutes long and then that's it for the day!)

I also started copying her "nighttime" routine in the afternoon, before her nap. Bottle, snuggles, Mr. BoBo (lovey) and it's goodnight. I give her the option of taking a book to bed, as well - it makes her think she's in control. i tell her she doesn't have to sleep, but she does have to stay in her crib for at least an hour. (She usually falls asleep before the hour is up.)

Good luck!

Well it's been a WAAAAAAAY long time since I put my 19 y.o. down for a nap, but I know, just by knowing, that you have to tire them out in the morning from the time they wake up. Cut out sugars. A bath always soothes as well.

They might be outgrowing their naps. I was fortunate - my older son napped until he was almost 4, and my younger son (3) is still napping MOST days, but when they got to the point where they weren't falling asleep until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, we gave up the naps. It made the 5-6 hour a little difficult until they adjusted (about two weeks), but it was better than having them up til all hours of the evening! (They are usually both in bed by 8 at night...)

When my son turned 2 1/2 he gave up his nap. It was very difficult for the first few weeks - until I tried something different. I told him that he didn't have to nap but he was going to have quiet time every day (same time) He was allowed to play or read stories quietly in his room. We had a gate at the door so he couldn't get out and quiet time was over. He will be turning 4 at the beginning of October and still has quiet time. Now that he is older he is allowed to spend his quiet time in the play room with a tv/dvd player. He chooses a movie and usually watches it while playing quietly. My son is a boy that absolutley needs this alone time. When he does miss this time to himself his behavior is awful! Hope this helps some. Best of luck!!!