My 2 year old has been down to one nap since she turned one. Our routine was always read a few books and she would drift off and I would put her in her crib. Probably not a good idea that I was putting her down asleep but it worked for us and at night we were able to just put her in her crib and she would fall asleep in about 30 min. Suddenly she is waking when I lay her down and not wanting to go to sleep. Yesterday I put her in her crib at 1:15 and she did eventually go to sleep at 3:00. Today put her in at same time and it is 2:30 now and she is still awake. Not sure what to do. She definitely needs to nap. Any suggestions?
If they arent tired they wont fall asleep. Make sure she's getting enough exercise (mental and physical) to wear herself out some. Mine took naps until kindergarten. And even if they didnt sleep I would make them lay on the bed and read or be quiet for ONE hour so I had an hour to regroup myself. Putting her down at one and her not falling asleep till 3---- thats a long time to be in the crib.
You could try a special nap mat to encourage her to rest during the day instead. My daughter started having sleep issues when she wanted out of the crib itself--mattress on the floor worked well until she learns not to roll around so much:) Maybe the novelty will encourage her to self-soothe there instead
In my opinion, you can't force a kid to nap.
Mine never did really. I just gave them the place and the quiet to have rest time. I never did books and all that. That was reserved for night time.
Hugs, cuddles and "it's rest time now" was all I did.
If they rolled around, talked to themselves, whatever, I just left them to do it.
I didn't go in. As long as they were in their crib and having their own time, whether they slept or not was not the issue to me.
Kids also go through phases where their sleep patterns change so what worked last week, might not work anymore. That's pretty normal.
You might have to adjust things a bit and don't fret if she doesn't sleep. Sometimes trying too hard about it just backfires.
Best wishes.
I wonder if her molars are coming in...
I also put my son down asleep for naps and awake for bed. Finally I decided it was time to put him down awake for naps. He did do it eventually, so I believe you could do it too. But since she wakes up so easily, I'm guessing that some discomfort is keeping her from resting.
My youngest pretty much gave up naps when she was around two. There were some days that she would doze off in the car (if it was around that time), but if she didn't seem tired at all, we'd just plan for an early bedtime.
Best of luck!
M.
My son is two and at least once or twice a week he decides he isn't going to take a nap. He normally naps for 2 hours from 1 PM to 3 PM. So on the days he refuses to fall asleep, I tell him he needs to have quiet time and rest. He normally doesn't cry or scream, but he will just talk to himself or his stuffed animals and rest until I come in to get him. I agree with the other replies that say you can not force a kid to nap, all you can do is give them the opportunity.
If you aren't already, do your "wind down" routine away from her room with snuggling, singing, whatever works works for you. Make sure she is not hungry, wet, thirsty, and also not recently stuffed from a meal. Consider bumping the time you put her down to a little later so she is a bit more tired, but not miserable (that always makes things worse) and start by leaving her for at least 15 minutes at a time. We've had to change and adjust our nap routines so many times, and now my oldest doesn't nap and my younger one does, but he might go down anytime within a two hour range, depending on the day. If he really isn't sleeping, I bring him back downstairs and let him play then try again. It will definitely make things easier when she switches to a twin bed if she puts herself down well now. I would get her up, play quietly, read, and put her back in bed a little later, maybe closer to 3.
