Help with 2 Year Old Who Won't Nap Anymore!

My son stopped napping at 12 months. He just wouldnt do it anymore. So he went to bed about 6:30pm and got up around 7am. Try an earlier bed time and dont force the naps. I would continue to try the nap once in a while, but if she wont, theres not much you can do.

I remember this stage with my twins, but don't give up! It lasted a few weeks and eventually they started taking their naps again. Keep at it, I think 2 is too young to give up the nap.

Oh, I feel your pain. My 3 yr old has been doing the same since she was about two. I refer to naptime as "alleged quiet rest time." I've tried the wear her out technique, and the last two times she spent 2 hrs. at McDonald's playland in the morning, she just had a major meltdown tantrum before she refused to nap. I've had limited success with coercion (i.e. sticker charts, tv time w/special snack treats if you sleep - no tv time if you don't, etc.) with limited success. Best thing I can hope for is that the singing isn't too loud & she actually stays in bed. I guess I just wanted you to know that you are not alone and I'm still waiting for the phase to end!The only advice I have is that I just go about my business and take my rest time while she has "quiet rest time." Every once in a while she throws me a bone with a full fledged nap.

maybe you should make her nap later like 1:30 or two.

My son is 32 months old. The only time he skips a nap is when he does too many sit down activities in the a.m. Have your two year old be active in the morning...limit t.v. to no more than an hour. You could also try moving the nap to 1:00. My son wakes at 7 am, eats breakfast at 8, lunch at 12:30 and nap at 1. Bedtime at night is 8/8:30, usually 8:15. Hope this helps. I hear most kids get by without a nap by age 3 though, so your two year old may just be starting a little early.

I have a daughter who is turning 3 in the next few days. And we are still dealing with her not taking afternoon naps. She stopped taking them around 2 years as well. And she needs them desperately. This is a stage they tend to go through & I would continue giving her a set time for afternoon naps. Because eventually most kids will go back to taking naps. I'm still waiting for that day with my daughter. Just so you are aware that it can take a really long time before they start taking naps again. This is what I do. I treat this as a nap and I don't allow her to be loud while she is in her bed. You can't stop your kids from playing, but you can work on them having "quiet" time. If I notice that she isn't sleeping after and hour and half. I will come in and allow her to have a reading session in her bed. I turn on a small light, so it's not to bright in her room, and give her some books to read. That way she is giving you some alone time and staying quiet. You'll find that they act much better if they at least have a quiet time during the day. My daughter will take naps when she needs them. Which is only about 2 times per week. My hope behind all of this is that she will start taking naps on a regular basis sometime soon. For now, this seems to work out pretty well. It gives me at least two hours to get stuff done around the house.
Good Luck,
ak

Do you have a nap schedule? Develop set naptimes and a naptime routine. Once your child has moved to one nap a day, it usually works best to have naptime right after lunch. This way, your toddler will always know that when lunch is over, it's time to wind down and get ready for a rest. Have a naptime routine that's similar to your bedtime routine, such as reading the same going-to-bed book or having a cuddle.

This is what I do with my daughter. Try it and see how it works.

we put a tv in our girls room (I have twins) and that seemed to help. We let them watch some movies in their crib so that they can unwind. If you don't want to do that, we have also given them books to "read". Usually after flipping through the book a few times, they fall asleep.

My son gave up naps at about the same age. I still put him down at the same time, but his (generally 2 hour) "nap time" is now considered "rest time." Bed time was moved up to 6:30. My son is now a solid 6:30 to 6:30 (sometimes even to 7:00) sleeper.

All children are different, some need more sleep than others. If your child is not grouchy in the day and appears to be getting enought sleep, it's likely she has passed the nap stage. However, I agree with one of the other respondents - it doesn't do any harm for a child to have a couple of hours quiet time each afternoon - even if they are playing in their crib. This is a practice most child care centres in England adopt. My son actually started to sleep longer at night once he stopped the daytime naps.

It's so unfair, but my son gave his up at around 2 also!!! I was like "WHAT??" I thought there was no way, but he really did give them up. If she doesn't take a nap, and needs to go to bed at 7, then I would just lay her down. She'll get more and more used to it, and be able to stay up for her 8, or whatever it is, o'clock bedtime sooner or later. Oh the naptimes!!!! Those were the days!!!!!! :(

My daughter gave up napping all together when she was 2.5, which stunk for me, b/c I just had another. Now she will be 3 on saturday and the only time she will nap is when we happen to be in the car in the late afternoon. Then both kids will nap and I want to drive around for hours...hahahaha!! She does go to bed super early now, she is in bed and asleep by 7:30-7:45pm.

She's going through a phase (I think). Mine did the same, but I kept the nap routine and he got back in the habit of falling asleep again. Until then he just played quietly in his bed until I told him it was time to get up. The mom definitely needs the break almost as much as the kid needs the brain-nourishing rest!

I am not sure if my advice will be helpful since my daughter is 22 mos, which is a bit younger. However, we just went through 1 month of little to no napping and it was driving me nuts. At first she would play in her crib for a few hours, which was fine by me. But then, she started to scream whenever I put her in the crib and this would go on for an hour or more. That was unacceptable since it was not restful for me or her. We skipped nap for about a week and I noticed that her separation anxiety got really bad and that sometimes she napped at 5pm when I picked up my husband from work. By the way, she would not nap if we just stayed home around 5pm, even if we were doing a quiet activity.

The week off of naps made me realize that she was too young to stop napping. She is now napping most days (today she did not, but this is the exception, not the rule). The point of my post is to say that if she stops napping and you notice a change in her behavior or she seems sleepy late in the afternoon if you take a drive, then she probably still needs the nap. If she does not get tired in the afternoon and her behavior stays consistently good all day, then she can probably just do quiet time without a problem.

My daughter ditched her nap at around 2.5 yrs. I just ended up putting her to bed earlier. Occasionally she would take a nap, but not often. She was always happy and ready for bedtime and slept well, so it wasn't too bad of an adjustment for us.

Supposedly some 2 year olds can go without a nap. What I'd really like to reply to, however, is the "going ballistic by 7pm" concern. I'm not sure what time you get her to bed, but 7 is pretty natural bedtime for many children her age. I would probably try to put her to bed as early as 6:30 to avoid her wigging out. If you're worried about her waking too early, it shouldn't happen. Yes, she might wake at about 6:30-7:00, so if you're hoping to put her to bed later so she'll wake up at like 8:00, it might be an unreasonable request. Her natural rhythms might just be to sleep from 6:30-6:30. The good part about getting her to bed early is that you will have some nice adult time in the evening. It does make it hard when you work but she will be happier and healthier in the long run which is what is important!

She may be giving up her nap or it could be a phase.
Just keep her in her crib at nap time and have her play.
Or maybe maybe her nap is changing to a latter time.
Put her down for her nap at 1:00pm.
Hope this helps.
K.

Hello,
I'm no pediatrician, but some toddlers give up their naps earlier than others. If your daughter is content in her crib, let her have "quiet time" while you enjoy yours. I used to do the same thing. There may be times that she will nap. It will be good to establish that expectation now so that when she is out of her crib, she may actually stay in her room for rest time. It's important for both of you to have that break. If she doesn't nap, she'll need to go to bed at 7pm and it will be without a fight...so enjoy it.

Good luck.

My daughter went through this phase and I absolutely refused to let her "drop her naps". LOL I agree, I needed the naps as much as she did! I still put her down for her naps at the same time and just kept the noise level a little lower. There will be days when she's really not that tired...and others when she'll pass out. Even now, at 5 1/2, she has quiet time after lunch. She can read, play with her dolls in her bed, or sleep. But, she has to have her quiet time.

Just keep up with what you're doing...it'll kick back in. Also, look and make sure that she's not over-tired when you put her down. Also, make sure (as someone else mentioned) you are not putting her down too early. As kids get older, you sometimes have to adjust their nap/bed times.