Time to Give up Naps?

I might start doing a "quiet time" at nap time in his room. No toys, no TV, just books or maybe puzzles. You might have to stay in there with him at first, if he's not used to it, but he has to have that down time or he will get too wired by day's end. And you need the break, too. Do it around your 4 month-old's schedule, and maybe you'll even get a little catnap! You could also try a reward system--if he takes a nap, you will go out for ice cream, or play outside, or whatever he really likes. Don't do it too late in the day, or he'll sleep too long and be up all night!! Good luck...

If taking a nap makes him get up in the middle of the night, try having a 20-30 quiet time! Have him lay down or sit and quietly read some books to him! Children fade naps out at their own pace, but almost all young children need some down time to regroup and then they are off and running again!

As for the blanket and thumb sucking, I don't see the blanket being an issue, it's a toddler thing! But the thumb sucking can cause some teeth problems if they do it too much, or too long! I would keep an eye out, to make sure he isn't spreading his teeth out, cause it can cause major overbite! Good luck!

My 5 year old is still in preschool, and they have mandatory rest time at school, which we do at home on the weekends as well. I do notice a big difference in her behavior if she doesn't have that time to herself. She sleeps about half the time. We always do the same routine: Potty, book, snuggle, bed. She takes a nap at the same time as her infant sister inthe afternoon. I put on soft soothing music (they seem to like Enya a lot), shut the curtains and tell her that we are ALL going to have a rest. I tell her she can come down from her bed once to potty, but has to stay in bed and very quiet until I come and get her. She gets to take one book up to her bed with her. Hope that helps you.

Regarding the blankie-I don't know when it is the "right" time to start the process of separation, but there is a great book by Kevin Henkes (if you haven't read his stuff, it is just hilarious!!) about saying goodbye to the blankie. It is written for kids, so you can read it with your son. In the end, his mom makes him little hankies out of his blankie, so then he can take little pieces in his pocket. My daughter never had a favorite "Lovie" so i guess I lucked out. Too bad we can't take away the thumb!

my son also gave up naps a little over two years old, but I found he went to sleep and slept so much better at night.
when we decided to give them up it was because it was a constant battle to get him to take a nap, then a constant battle to get him to sleep at night if he had a nap. I also love the "Healthy sleep habits, happy baby" book and since we have given up naps he consistently sleeps 12 hours at night, which is enough sleep for him but every child is different, if I put him to bed at 8 he sleeps til 8 in the morning
he is 3 1/2 now and still has a movie time every afternoon in place of his nap, right about the time he starts getting real grumpy, or instead of a movie we will pretend to sleep in mommy's bed, read books and snore out loud, that will usually settle him down for a while
he has a blanket that he loves and I never took it away from him but just over a few months ago he has given it up on his own, he still sleeps at night with it but doesn't ever carry it around during the day unless he's giving it to his baby brother

I agree with Jack's mom - institute a quiet time where he has to play in his room quietly, but explain he doesn't need to sleep. My son did this when he was ready to give up naps around his 3rd birthday and some days he'd just play and other days he'd actually fall asleep (usually about every 3 days he'd end up napping). And I scheduled it during our daughter's afternoon nap so I'd get a break, too.

I don't think you need to take away his blankie since it's his comfort item. That may just add to the stress of being grouchy from not napping.

Ditto!!! My 2 1/2 year old is having the exact same problem. If you find an answer to our problem, will you please let me know? There are some days when I just can't stand him because he is so grumpy and yet he still won't nap - and when he passes out at 6 pm he doesn't go to bed until 11 or 12 pm! I'm going crazy! Please let me know if you figure it out! :)

P.S. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about the blanket as much as the thumb sucking. I grew up sucking my thumb and have had problems with my two front teeth because of it.

Continue to be consistent.. keep doing naps or at the mimimum rest time. Even that down time can help tremendously. My son will be 3 in 3 weeks and we have definitely had periods of no naps ..which I will usually try then to put him to bed earlier. But we always have quiet time and he doesn't fight that. He'll play, squeal etc all up in his room contently for 2 hours. Most times he'll fall asleep but sometimes not. But that is just the rule, it's nap time and we do it every day; even if they just rest.

Some of this is out of necessity for me but kids this age still need between 12-14 hours per day of sleep. It may be hard to get him back on schedule but it will help his demeanor.

My favorite sleep book is Health Sleep Habits, Happy Baby