Playing Instead of Sleeping

You might try making her nap time a little later and make nap time a specific time, say from 1:00 - 3:00 or whatever works for you and at the end of nap time she gets up even if you have to wake her up. And don't feel guilty about her playing alone in her room. it's good for her and her imagination and it's good for you. if she hated it, she would let you know.

My son went through this at the exact same age. It was frustrating and I feel the same way about nap time as you do. We changed the rules to books only and you have to stay in bed to read or you lose the books. It worked out much better for us. He was calmer and fell asleep faster. It took a little bit to get him to cooperate with the new rules, but he eventually "got it". He turned 4 in November and still naps for 2 hours a day, in bed by 7:30 and sleeps through the night.

Other people have given you better answers than I could but I just wanted to say, I love your daughter! The diaper castle is so cute! I bet she is very bright.

Good luck.

i would insist that she stay in bed, for one thing. leave her door cracked and check periodically, and if she's out of bed go in and put her back in, don't talk to her or engage her, just put her back in bed and then walk back out. my son doesn't really play before going to sleep, the one or two times in his life (he is 3) i have let him take toys or books to bed, he has done just like your daughter and stayed up like two hours later than he should. i would cut out all distractions. it also might be noteworthy, my son's bedtime is 8. i think if you put it off a bit she might be more tired and less likely to fight it. i think she does require as much sleep as you're thinking. i just think you need to cut the distractions, make sure she's tired when she goes down, and i bet her routine will straighten right out. good luck!

My daughter at that age began to sleep less and less so, about an hour before the middle of her day (about 3-4 hours after she woke up in the morning) I would take the stroller and her and let her walk alongside it on our way to a park. We would play at the park and then she would sleep very soundly in the stroller on the way back, and usually for an hour or so after we returned. I got some exercise and she got a nap!

Not sure I have any ideas or real help here, just a lot of sympathy as my own son was the same way. He quit taking naps entirely the week before we moved to another state, he was 2 3/4 then. He also wrecked his room right after the new home buyer had seen and agreed to buy the house but before it was sold. AAAAH! NEVER NEVER leave a Sharpie in a kid's room even if you're just using it to label packing boxes with and it is up on his high dresser. He ripped some of the wallpaper border down, he Sharpie'd the cloth honeycomb type blinds, some of the wall, but thankfully the box got most of the sharpie scribbles. I was NOT a happy momma!!!

It got to naps every other day or so, or late naps (sometimes aided by long boring car rides but not reliably so) but it was tough. Even now with him in 2nd grade, I ***HAVE*** to make sure he gets to bed on time because he does not sleep in, he does not nap, etc. Other kids can handle a late night out here and there, but not him (or more accurately, not US after he's had a late night.)

Encourage quiet cozy activities, ie, reading, lego building (or whatever girls do ha) in the middle of the afternoon, maybe even a tv show? and if she's tired enough, she may fall asleep.

Some kids sleep lots and still need/take their daily naps into Kindergarten, others are done with naps before they're 3 and never seem to need much sleep - but they DO! :-/ Frustrating, I know. Hang in there.

I completely agree w/the other respnses to cut out toys, needs to stay in bed, books only & to push bedtime back to 8p. But, one thing I wanna add that you may not like: this is not an uncommon age for kids to start phasing out of napping. My older son napped til 3yrs but my younger son stopped at 2 yrs & both times it KILLED me! But, it just meant that bed time was earlier by however long they usually napped. Example: my older son usually napped in the afternoon for 2 hours so instead of a 9p bedtime, he went to bed at 7p. My younger son went to bed an hour earlier. But the key is; stay consistent in whatever you do. Best of luck!

My kids both "gave up" their naps at this age, too. I forced my son to sleep by taking him for a ride- he always conked out in the car or stroller. My daughter didn't fall asleep no matter what. We ended up just moving bedtime earlier. She was a mess for about 3 months or so. We had quiet story time after lunch (which I still try to do), but there was hardly ever any sleeping during that time (usually about an hour and ten minutes or so).

At this age they will really fight sleep. During rest time she needs to stay in bed. My girls were allowed 1 book to 'read' in bed, but that was it and they were not allowed to get off their bed. If eliminating the toys and making her stay in her bed dont' work, you could try what my mom did with me. Unbelievable that I still remember this! Anyway, she would sit next to my bed and tell me to close my eyes. I wasn't allowed to open them. She would just sit there for a few minutes until she saw my body relax and knew I had fallen asleep. I was a very stubborn kid! She said the first few times it took almost 30 mins until she could confidently leave the room without waking me, but after a few days I stopped fighting the inevitable and would be snoozing happily in less 10 mins.

Good luck on your continuing adventure!

My daughter is a nap time player, has been since 18 months (she will be two this Saturday). I leave her room around 1, and I open her door at 4 --whether she sleeps or not. I never let her go past 4, as there should be a 4 hour gap between naptime and bedtime. I think you should wake her sooner, let her run around and burn energy, and push her bedtime back to 8. That might help some. My daughter usually only plays for about 15 minutes at bedtime, as she is exhausted.

I do have rules about naptime, though: you have to remain on your bed and you have to be quiet. She does get off the bed, but since I keep repeating the rule, she at least ends up back in the bed with whatever toy she wants to play with. I also limit the toys in her room to books and stuffed animals. She also has a desk with letters and numbers, but her options really are her books or animals. Previous there were other toys and she would NEVER settle down. I also remind her constantly about why we need a nap. She also believes I nap during this period of time too.

I know how hard it is!! Naptime was my saving grace (had 3 kids in 3 years). As much as you don't want it to be (and I totally get that) she may be ready to give up her nap. My two oldest took naps until they were 4 1/2. My youngest stopped just before 3 (not by her choice though, she loved her naps and would often put herself down). The problem came at night. She would be up forever. Always in her room about 7:15 with lights out about 7:30ish and she would often be up until 10:00ish. I tried everything and finally came to the conclusion that if I wanted my nighttime back, which I did (instead of having to police her constant getting up) I needed to get her to stop napping. It wasn't easy and the transistion took about a month or so. And her behavior was not the best during that time. As I said, she wanted to nap. So I stopped naps about 2 1/2 months ago and now bedtime is so much easier. She is pretty much always asleep no later then 8:00. At times she will fall asleep in the car if we are going somewhere and depending on how long she naps even that will aftect the bedtime.

I would start with shortening the time she sleeps. It was hard for me to take away the naps for my daughter.....she would sleep for 3 to 4 hours if I let her. I cut it down to 2 hours max and would wake her. That helped for a bit. Then I cut it down to just over an hour and finally had to just cut it out. Now she plays quietly during the afternoon, but I don't make her stay in her room.

Remember every child is different. I just assumed my youngest would take naps unitl at least 4 like my others, but she is just a different child with diffrent needs. So hang in there and do what you think is best for your family!!

Her behavior is bad when she doesnt sleep, therefore, she needs to sleep. You are the boss. Make her take her rest or whatever you want to call it. I also dont understand that. Its a nap, call it a nap. Sugar coating the name of the event doesnt change the event. I had to sit outside my sons door and everytime he put his foot on the ground i went back in and told him to get back on the bed and keep his head on the pillow. It was a rough couple of days but now there is no longer a fight and I do not even check on him anymore. He knows I am the boss and I say he needs to keep his head on the pillow (which means he sits still long enough to fall asleep) so he does it. Do not let your child control you or the events in your house. Children look for structure and rules.

You sound like your talking about my daughter! So far I haven't found the exact answer, but I did find that when she was between 2 and 3 that I needed to push her nap back a bit. I put her down later, so there is less playing before she goes to sleep. I also try to make sure she is very active during the day (which has been a challange this winter) to help her feel tired by nap time.

I completely understand where you are coming from! When my son outgrew his morning nap, I certainly wasn't ready to give it up! So we instituted "Quiet Time." During Quiet Time, I dim the lights, turn on some classical music, and my son is allowed to read (no toys) for 1/2 hour (he can't go much longer). Once or twice, he has fallen asleep during Quiet Time, but usually he just reads quietly. Then, for his afternoon nap, it's kind of the same deal - he's allowed books to help him fall asleep, but no toys. My son's bedtime is 7 (he's one), and so my rule is no napping after 5. I put him down for his nap at 1, and usually he falls asleep right away and sleeps until 3-4. However, on occasion he has stayed up reading or bouncing, and I let him, but no matter when he falls asleep, he has to be up by 5. Sometimes he doesn't get enough nap and is difficult in the evenings, but it's only 2 hours, so we deal. Even once my son outgrows his nap, I intend to keep at least 2 sessions of Quiet Time a day. I need it for my sanity, and I think it's good for him to have scheduled time to wind down.

So, I would suggest a couple of things. First, you might move your daughter's bedtime. 7 is pretty early for a 2-year-old, and so 8 might work better. Even if you don't agree, I would consider changing the rules so that toys are off-limits at bedtime - it's books or bust. Also, make sure you have a nap cut-off point. Chances are this is just a phase, but it's important to set the balance in any case. Good luck!

I had 3 kids in 3 years, all with different sleep needs. My youngest gave up nap time at 2 years and 1 month, the oldest went until almost 3 years old. Here's what worked for us with all three, but obviously you need to find what you are comfortable with:

1. Nap time became "quiet time". We used the word quiet time with our children and explained what we expected. At 1:00 the child went into his/her room and could play quiet games or read by themselves. They did not have to take a nap, they just had to stay in their room. At 2:30 (that's what worked for us, but 3:00 would have been good, too), quiet time was over.

2. If the child was really tired, they would put themselves to bed for a nap. And yes, some days we found them asleep on the floor, surrounded by their toys!

3. If the child was asleep at the end of quiet time, then we would give them an extra 15 minutes and then wake them up to stay on schedule.

4. Bedtime became earlier at 7:00 pm, as there was no nap during the day. We found that with just quiet time, they were ready for bed at 7:00 and off to sleep quickly.

5. It took each child about 2 weeks of the "5pm crankies" to adjust to an earlier bedtime and no napping. We really tried to stick with the schedule during the transition to help their bodies adjust to an earlier time schedule. We also kept their meal/snack times very consistent, and that helped a lot too!

Don't feel guilty at all about your daughter spending time alone during her quiet time. It gives her a break from all the stimulation around her, and teaches her that she can entertain herself without you -- some thing that comes in very handy as she gets older.

Hang in there -- your daughter is lucky to have a mom who cares so much about her.

Just a thought... have you considered the possibility of another place than her room for naptime? We have home childcare, so our kiddies sleep on cots in the play area. We simply have all the toys put away before lunch and while the children are finishing eating their lunch one of us puts down the four or five cots needed. We currently have children ages 2 1/2 - 6 and all are expected to lie down quietly. Most days all of them actually sleep for at least an hour... some for 2 - 3 hours. We turn out the lights, but have a large window in the room that is not covered - just has the light dimmed somewhat because there is a covered patio on that side of the house. We put on quiet music, and as the children go down on their cots we sit beside each one that needs a bit of encouragement to settle down. Sometimes we put our hand on them to help them hold still. Other times all it may take is just sitting nearby. The children usually are asleep within about ten to fifteen minutes and wake when they are ready to get up. If one wakes really early, we will ask them to sit or lie quietly on the cot a little bit longer.. possibly with a book if they can look at it quietly enough to not disturb the rest ot the children. On occasion a child will tend to sleep an extra long time. When that happens, we turn on the lights and change the music to something more lively, or even turn on a video for the other children to watch. If it's a video that is a current favorite, the sound of it getting through to the sleeping child is usually enough to bring them awake quickly so we don't have to be the 'bad guy' waking them up.
You could try finding a place in your house that would work for you and your daughter for the nap time and make it something special she does every day. That way, you'd be more able to observe her naptime habits and save the trashing of the room. It might make bedtime easier too.
You can make up a mat of folded blankets for her resting place, but If you want to invest in a cot for the purpose, here is a link to one I highly recommend.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-My-Cot-Travel-Bed/4433186
What I like about this cot is that it sits at a good height from the floor and folds easily for storage and can be taken along when traveling. The one downside I've found is that if a child decides to bounce, the under carriage can be broken making it sink to the floor. We have found a way to reinforce the one that was broken at our house and overcome that problem.