Is 20 months too early to drop the lunchtime nap?

[AnnieDelores]

DS has been going to sleep really late at around 9pm for about a week now when he used to be dead to the world by 7.30 or 8pm. He is just chatting and phaffing about in his cot.

His lunch time naps vary from 45 mins to 1.5 hours after which I usually wake him.

He wakes up in the morning at around 7 or 7.30am which doesn't change even if he doesn't go to sleep until 9pm. No lie in there!

Could it be time to drop the nap? He loves his lunchtime kip but probably would keep going all day if I didn't put him in his cot or the buggy.

It seems a bit early to drop his nap but I'm baffled as to why he can't seem to settle at night. Perhaps his little brain is busy as he is developing very quickly at the moment with new words and skills and seems very excited about life.

Any thoughts?

[nannynick]

Try not having it and see what happens. He may be sleepy later in the afternoon, so you may need to let him have a short nap and wake him from it, else he may not settle at night until very late.

Some toddlers will nap in the buggy, in the carseat, when on journeys. So getting a little sleep on the way back from an activity they have done, especially something like swimming.

Try to have a regular bedtime routine for the evenings, pjs, stories, milk, relaxing music, sleep. Try to start it at the same time every evening if possible, so that you can get him used to the routine and his body clock gets used to the time of day that is for main sleep. As it is lighter in the evenings now, make sure the room is dark and also cool, about 19 Celsius.

[AnnieDelores]

Good tips. He does have a routine but resists quiet activities and won't even sit still for a story for long. It's as if he is "buzzing" and just wants to play!