No Nap = Cranky!

my first child never napped either. I had to take him in the car to get him to sleep. I just got to the point that if he didn't sleep I just kept him really busy and active with different things around the house. If he got too cranky i just put him in his room, shut the door and left him cry it out. He was normally asleep within about 15 minutes. When my daughter gets cranky i just put her in bed with music and let her be. Best of luck to you, it is hard.

J.
Helping Moms Work From Home
www.formymunchkins.com

hi J., just sounds like a phase to me, especially if he's a busy little guy! you could try tweaking the time of his nap a little, but not too much as i'm betting he'll get through this blip. don't fret too much about sleep. the quiet time away from busy-ness will do him good too. just tell him he doesn't need to sleep, but must stay quiet, maybe read books. if after a month or two he's still not dozing he might be ready to give up his naps, but it sounds as if he still does need them.
good luck!
khairete
S.

My son is 2 years old Before he had a 12 oclock bedtime but now I moved it to 1 or 1:30. I run him outof energy so he will be ready and make sure he gets only an hour or less of tv in the morning before nap. That way I know he has worked all aspects of his brain and he should sleep well. Just thought I would let you know what I do.

You can train him back to a nap. I just went through this and read Healthy Sleep Habits, happy baby and it worked!

basically make him goto bed earlier at night (before 8)
and start the nap around noon or 1. keep toys away and room dark. there is a lot more to it but u just need to read about 4 chapters of the book = it goes by age.

Give extra water durng this time and see if it helps!!

My oldest went through this once in a while around that age. He could be growing or possibly having something new in his life. Any changes he went through seemed to cause a weird pattern in his naps. I suggest trying really hard to physically tire him out before nap time. Get him to run and jump and burn energy before he goes to sleep. No matter what keep laying him down as normal, he is clearly not ready to give up his sleep. It may take a week but he should return to normal.

If a week goes by and you are still having trouble try setting his nap time back by 30 min. Use the later time for a few days, if he is still awake try another 30 min later. As long as he is up by 4:00 he should still be ready for bed at night.

I do find that for my 3 year old we have to adjust his naptime based on the day. If we go to the park in the morning he sleeps right after lunch at about 12:30 p.m. If we stay home all day and he can't go outside he doesn't nap until about 2:00 because he just isn't tired yet.

Good Luck!

First I want to say WAY TO GO MOM! You Rock J.! What a blessing for you to be able to be a SAHM! You are so right about them growing up way to fast!

As for nap time, well, there are some children who do stop napping around that age. So it's not that he would be abnormal if he did stop. However, if you are noticing that he is tired, he must still need a nap but for what ever reason isnt able to wind down enough to fall asleep.

Have you tried soft music, a book on cd or maybe a baby video to get him to slow down a bit to fall asleep? I read a book once where the dad (who was working outside the home) would record a special message for each of his 8 children on tape. The children would play their 30min tape each day during nap/rest time. All of the older children would rest for 1 hr and then back to school work (homeschooled) and the little ones would sleep for 1&1/2 hrs.

I have even gone into their room and rubbed their arms and legs and told them that it's time to go to sleep. And helped them settled down. Their little minds are going 90mph and sometimes they have a hard time slowing down to rest.

We still have a rest time during our day for an hour. Its a time for me to regroup and get ready for the second half of my day. And the boys, once the big ones realized it wasn't an option but a requirement, have settled into this routine very nicely. The 2 yr old still whines and fusses every day but that's not unusual for a 2 yr old. LOL

Good Luck to you!

Take Care,
N. :) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys 13, 8 & 2 yrs old and married to my Mr. Wonderful for 15yrs. I love to help other moms, who want to become SAHMs, reach that goal!

It could be that he's giving up his nap, some do at this age. Most don't though, and if he's cranky it means his body needs it. I always felt like rest time was good enough, but it doesn't sound like it here. I would continue with the quiet time, it could be a phase and he'll likely go back to napping.

I agree with whoever said to change the time, perhaps half an hour to an hour earlier.

Will he sleep on you while you rock? I actually did that with my second child, because he'd nap for 2 hours if I let him go that long... but put him in the crib and no go! I was able to work on the laptop so it worked out for me.

White noise is a huge help for sleeping in general.

Hope this is short lived for you!

J.,

Some kids at this age just decide they aren't going to nap any more and there isn't a whole lot us moms can do about it. My oldest was off daily naps at this age, although he would sometimes fall asleep on his own in the afternoon if it had been a particularly active day. Every child is different. Just have him sit and do something passive, like watching a movie for a little while in the afternoon. If he needs a nap, he will most likely fall asleep, if he doesn't then he won't. Let his body do the work for you.

Best of luck!

my son, 28 mo, occaisionally goes through this. He too is very active. I think it is a combination of being overtired, there being a lot of other things he wants to do, and be a 2 yo. it also happens more on weekends when he isn't on a schedule. I will give him a 5 minute warning so he can finish what he is doing and then he goes up. I tell him he has to stay up there for 2 hours and give him some books if he wants to look through them. Sometimes he cries, but i try not to give into him. Good luck.

Yup, I definiately think kids under 3 need naps. My son was a poor sleeper from his second week of age. My saving book was, Healthy sleep habits, Healthy child. Check it out. Basically he states how many hours sleep a child needs... some sleep more at night and some need more naps to add up to the total! Please check out the book at the library. And, my child at 32 mos gave up his nap, but the book doesn't recommend that. Always trust your gut.
Are there developement issues...new skills? Problems w/too many toys to distract from sleep? Too bright? My child needed darkness blinds, and soft music; any sounds or light was a distraction to him. (he wouldn't sleep in the car seat either until later!) And, we had the same bedtime routine at nap and night. That got us thru almost 3 years. Good luck.

My son just turned 2 and he does that sometimes. You know he is tired, but he will not go to sleep. I make him stay in his bed until he falls asleep, if he is crying too much, I will let him out and just kind of follow his mood. May be it will get better. My son for the last 2 weeks tells me he wants to go nite nite. I know it can be stressful without that nap break, but hang in there, he will go to sleep if he gets tired enough.

B.
www.workathomeunited.com/busymoma

My children gave up their naps in the same week. She was 8 months old. He was 3. I think you are a very lucky woman to have gotten this far.
He is adjusting to no nap. He is tired, but not tired enough to want to sleep. I'd push dinner up a half an hour, same with bath and bed time... Or give him a protein filled snack at 3 or so so that he has something in his tummy. Tired and hungry are a BAD combination later in the day.

I made my children have an hour of quiet time during what used to be their nap times. They had to be in their rooms - they didn't have to sleep. They could play, sleep, rest, read... whatever, but I needed the break.
Sometimes they slept. Sometimes they didn't.

Good luck!!
LBC

We set a very standard quiet time for the whole house. All 4 of my children (ages 7,6,4, and 2)participate in quiet time from 1-2:30.(My husband does also) The older kids can read a book quietly or work on a puzzle (here lately they have been wrapping presents). The youngest one lays down for a nap and usually sleeps. Of course there are the days when you are just not at the house. I do not like to deal with the crankyness so my youngest does not get to get up until she has fallen asleep for atleast 30 minutes. Persistance and a set schedule is key.

have you tried a different nap time? have you tried taking him out of the crib and having his crib mattress on the floor instead? 22 months is about the time to take out of the crib
don't tell him he has to sleep. tell him he can just rest there and be quiet and he might actually fall asleep when there's no pressure to fall asleep. maybe he's being like that because of the new baby. that's very common. he might feel like if he goes to sleep he will miss time with mommy. maybe try to promise him that when he wakes up he gets to spend some time with just you and you can put the baby in a bouncy seat or swing for a little bit and spend time just with him. i don't know if that's plausible. i am going to have a 2nd baby very soon and am expecting a lot of regression and issues with my 2 year old and not sure how i'll handle them.

J.,

My oldest three children all began dropping naps at about your son's age. I found that they would end up needing a nap every two or three days rather than every day. It was a gradual process. My youngest is now 20 mos. and has already missed naps here and there (and been cranky, or taken the dreaded late nap at 4pm or so and then been up way too late at night!). Do your best to give your son some quiet time in the early afternoon, and if he's tired, he'll fall asleep. If not, it just might not be a nap day. As always, remember that it's just a stage, and before you know it he'll be a teenager who wants to sleep all day :-).

My son is the king of No Nap=Cranky. I would say, that I was able to start getting him to nap. What I found worked was either changing his naptime or the combination of putting him to bed earlier and waking him up earlier made him conform to his regular naptime.