Helping dd to cope in the afternoons without her nap

[ellesabe]

Dd1 is 24mo and has decided that sleep is for wimps.

She went into a bed a couple of months ago and has been getting gradually worse at putting herself to sleep at night. Over the past couple of weeks though she has been awful at naptimes too. So for the past few days we decided to try without the nap and as a result she has gone to bed much better in the evenings. Result!

I don't mind her dropping the nap but she is struggling to cope in the afternoons. She was previously having a 2hr nap every day so this is a big difference. How do I help her to get through the afternoons without facing complete melt-down?

This has also rather inconveniently all coincided with the arrival of dd2 12 days ago...

[LittlePandaBear]

Congratulations on dd2!

My dd is similar, is 24 mths and dropped her daytime nap a couple of months ago, except she still sometimes falls asleep in the car or at MIL's house in the day (just not for me!).

She sleeps fine at night but does get grouchy in the afternoon, usually before dinner. The best way round it that I've found is to read books to her or let her chill out in front of the tv or something else quiet where she isn't rushing around or having to do too much. It keeps her calm until she has dinner, then she has a burst of energy before bed. I appreciate it may be more challenging for you with a newborn to attend to too, so good luck!

[plantsitter]

I think the new baby (congrats!) and the rubbish sleeping will be connected. When DD2 was little and DD1 decided to drop her nap, we used to watch tv on the sofa with a nice snuggly blanket, and often she would drop off for an hour. I think she felt better about being asleep in the same room as me and the (then) baby.

It's the perfect time of year for afternoon TV and you can all have a nice snuggly time together.

[ellesabe]

Thanks both!

I really like the idea of snuggling on the sofa and dd1 did actually fall asleep with me the other day in front of cbeebies. She has never done that before! We woke her up at 3pm after half an hour though because we were worried she wouldn't be tired at bedtime and she was absolutely inconsolable for about 20 minutes - hysterical crying