I have a wonderful 2 y/o son. The big problem...He will NOT sleep during the day. I know hes tired. I put him in his bed for nap time sing him some songs, tuck him in etc. He ends up spending the whole time either screaming or jumping around in his bed.
So he ends up being crabby and over tired all day long.
He wakes up around 8-9am And i put him down for a nap around noon or oneish. Sometimes I try to do it twice a day. But no matter what i've tried he refuses to sleep.
What do i do?!?
Leave him in his room for quiet time. Give him a puzzle or books, turn on calming music.
lots of expert advice here from Dr. Sears:
http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl11.asp
Sometimes, I lay with my 2 year old on the couch and turn on a boring cartoon. We get cuddly stuffed bears and his blanket and have a mini naptime. Then, once he's resting, I sneak off and do dishes and such.
At that age, I was more successful when I rocked him to sleep or soothed him to sleep and then moved him to bed. I know many people are concerned that this will turn into a habbit, but it was just easier for me. I trasitioned into putting him to bed awake.
What time do you put him down for a nap? With him getting up so late, I would think he'd nap around 2pm. What time do you put him to bed? If he won't nap no matter what, I'd say move his bedtime up so he gets to bed earlier and thus gets the sleep even if it's not during the day. You can also instill a quiet time where he can read or play but has to stay in his room or laying on the couch. My daughter stopped napping at home at 2 and never naps on weekends, even when we lay with her. She hardly ever naps at daycare either.
Try a later nap.
My DS (2.5) wakes up at 5:30 every day (UGH) and doens't go down for his nap until 1:30 or 2.
That is a fight each day, but I also know he's tired. Now, we have to threaten to take things away in order for him to lay down and go to sleep.
We'll let him take a toy upstairs and take it into bed with him. After a few minutes of playing and jumping around, we'll go threaten to take it away unless he goes "night night". When that fails, we threaten to take away his blankie. That always works.
Try putting him down later in the afternoon and really tire him out in the morning. I know that's tough to do, but if he's not tired at the time you put him down, he won't sleep and then it becomes a battle of wills.
With my son (same age), if he refuses to sleep, we lay down with him and watch a little t.v. to slow him down and then he goes to his room for an hour with a few books and stuffed animals. 99% of the time he will fall asleep within a few minutes, but sometimes he just won't.
You could also try putting him to bed earlier and having him wake-up a little earlier.
