Nap Problems 22 months

[rach]

I am having lots of problems with my 22 month olds naps. He does not want to sleep (now 4 days in a row) but will not just sit quietly in his room (tried to explain if no nap then quiet time) and he seems tired. I tried to force him by just lying him back down when he gets up but he screamed for 45mins and I felt a bit sick doing it.

He is definately out of sorts at the moment - I think molars (the last four teeth seem to be coming at once maybe) and he went through a similar phase just after no2 was born (four months ago). I'm hoping that it is just a phase but I fear if I do not persevere he will think great no more naps!! I guess I could be ok with that but I think at this age they really need to sleep as he gets very grumpy towards the end of the day.

Also he has never been a good sleeper - he gave up morning nap very early (10 months) . At nights at the moment he has to go to bed early (6.45 to 7) and wakes around 6.30 or maybe 7)

Anyway expereince this - I don't know of many kids this age who don't sleep at lunchtime??? not sure what to do pretend its not an issue and hope he will just decide to go back to sleeping

[miaka]

my daughter stopped her afternoon nap around the same time. unless we really tire her out she doesn't nap. and w/ taking care of my second (they are 16 mos apart), it was just a lot less stressful for me to stop trying to get her to nap. she has a quiet time either reading, coloring or even lying down but not sleeping.

to keep they grumpiness at bay i'll give her an extra snack time and a drink.

my daughter sleeps late (830 or 930pm) even w/o her nap.

[rach]

interesting - it is hard with 2 so young - they are not old enoughyt to be in unaccompanied playgroup so you are with them all day long.

he does has mild fever on and off and his behaviour can only be described as a bit wild today so maybe it is his molars. still interested to hear if anyone else experienced anything similar

[jzb]

I have 2 boys - one aged 3 and the other also 22 months. I remember my 3 year old going through a similar thing and me thinking 'oh no - there goes my peace and quiet at lunchtime' and I was resigned to him losing his lunchtime sleep. He didn't sleep for about 2 weeks at lunchtime - and yup, he was as grotty as all hell. Not fun.

Then he just got back into the routine of it again and I got at least another year or so of daily lunchtime sleeps after a 2 week break.

My 22 month old has just had his second day in a row of refusing to sleep and I'm trying to stay sane and tell myself that it may not be the end of the sleeps for him! Even my 3 and a half year old will still have a sleep a couple of times a week now so I think they do go through phases.

It does drive me mad though. My boys both get up really early so if they don't nap they are EXHAUSTED by 6.30 so they end up going to bed fairly early (7ish) and that means they both wake up really early (which I'm not a big fan of!). But I think that's the way their bodies work.

Just means that I have to remember to go to bed early and drink plenty of coffee during the day!

Good luck and hope you all get some rest!

[rach]

thanks jzb that helps. hopefully it is just a phase! at least no 2 is a much better day sleeper so far. it is a long day when they both at home hey - i guess you are in the same boat having two close together.

[MLBW]

My son has never really be into the nap thing. I think that some children just don't do naps as well as others do. I think that if your child is getting the recommended amount of hours of sleep (around 14, I think?) or somewhere close to that (i.e. 12-13 hours) then it really isn't a cause for health concern. Although, it must be difficult as you, the mom, don't get a break.

My son is 10 months old and from the beginning, we were really fortunate if he happened to sleep 2 hours of naps during the day--usually in 30-45 minute sections. Now he takes at the most one 2 1/2-hour nap every day. The payoff is that he goes to sleep at 8 pm and sleeps for 12 hours straight.

As a child by the time I was 22-months-old I didn't take any naps at all. My mom figured it was pointless to try to spend an hour fighting with me to get me to lay down and take a nap. I was much more interested in exploring. Like you, sometimes, she could get me to lay down and rest for maybe a half-hour. She said she would give me a book or put on the TV and tell me to lie down and take a break. This might be an option for your child. Some kids are nap-takers.

[MilkMonster]

Have you tried pushing the nap back an hour or 2? I have a soon to be 21mth old (also teething) and a soon to be 5mth old and without the 2hr nap I would be frazzled...When my elder son started to resist naps I tried pushing it back an hour and it worked for us. He used to take his nap at 11am and have lunch at 1pm when he woke up but as he got older, he would fight the 11am nap just how you mentioned - talking to himself/quiet time but definitely not sleeping so I switched to feeding him lunch first and then nap at 12pm. That worked for a while but then he started to fight the 12pm nap time on some days so on those days he didn't seem tired or we were having a quiet day, I would delay the nap until 1pm and he would be ok with that. Now we are on a flexible time table so sometimes he naps at 12pm - when he has school in the morning and comes home tired. And on those days where we don't have a morning activity, he takes a later nap starting from anywhere between 1pm - 3:30pm (if he naps at 3:30pm, then I will wake him up by 4:30pm so it won't affect his night sleep at 7pm). So far this has worked for us and he still sleeps from 7pm until 7 or 8am.

I am not looking forward to the day when the naps stop all together!! Haha I guess it means I will have less and less mommy-time!!

[tstmum]

My oldest was never a great daytime sleeper, dropping from 2 naps to 1 at 9 months and stopping daytime naps altogether at about 23 months. The payoff being that mostly (touch wood) he sleeps from about 7:30 pm to 6:30 am and rarely wakes us up at night. My youngest (6 months) is also not a great daytime napper (sigh), and I'm lucky to get 2 naps of 1 hour each during the day. I agree, it does make for a LONG day... Unfortunately, some kids just don't need as much daytime sleep.