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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

Should I drop my 2 year olds naps?

26 replies

GothicRainbow · 29/06/2015 21:11

We've recently started having problems with our 2 year old DS's bedtime.

The routine is completely the same, he's happy throughout even up to going in the cot but when I go to leave the room he starts crying. I've been dealing with this over the past few weeks it's been happening by sitting in his room with him til he's asleep - not really been a problem as he usually only takes half hour to drift off.

Over this past week however he's been taking longer and longer to fall asleep, with tonight's taking an hour and a half.

We skipped his nap on Sunday and he was asleep within 20mins but I'm really not sure whether I should be thinking about stopping his naps all together??

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MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet · 29/06/2015 22:04

I don't think he's too young but perhaps try it as a temporary thing (to reestablish good bedtime routine/habits) and see how you all cope?

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flanjabelle · 29/06/2015 22:06

Why dont you shorten the nap? Wake him after 40mins ish so he only has one sleep cycle? Or less if he usually only sleeps that long.

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GothicRainbow · 29/06/2015 23:11

I might try giving him just half hour, although I do sometimes find he's grumpier after a short nap than he is if he's had no nap at all!

It's so hard to know what to do for the best!

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GothicRainbow · 02/07/2015 20:32

Argh!! So I let my DS sleep from 1pm to 2pm today as he seemed abit tired, I woke him at 2 and he was a right grump about it. We're now in the process of a very long drawn out bedtime. He seems nowhere nears ready to go to sleep - so frustrating!

Yesterday he didn't have a nap at all and was in his cot by 7pm and asleep by 7.10pm. I think I might well have to knock the naps on the head completely but his mood was rubbish come bedtime yesterday.

I would just love to have my evenings back. I still haven't eaten dinner!

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Kennington · 02/07/2015 20:36

My daughter is now 3 and I liked keeping the daytime nap but I just made it slightly earlier and also a little shorter when we had problems putting her to bed.
The day nap refreshed her and gave us a break plus she didn't go into and early evening bad mood. I guess it is different for each child thoigh.

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purplemurple1 · 02/07/2015 20:36

We are having similar issues and generally have dropped the nap but let him take 15-20min catnap if he asks (curls up on the sofa) any less and there is no point amy more and he is grumpy as hell we have woken him.

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Bigbadgeorge · 02/07/2015 20:42

We have same issues! DD(2) is still playing in her room now!

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PosterEh · 02/07/2015 20:45

I did and it worked for me. Took a week or so of her being a bit tired in the afternoon but then she adjusted and didn't miss it.

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Superworm · 02/07/2015 20:46

I would shorten the nap and bring it bring forwards to 12.-12.30 pm for 45 - 60 mins max. Lots of research shows toddlers learn better with a sleep in the afternoon but it's getting a balance too. Think you need to persist for at least a week and see how it goes.

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AndThisIsTrue · 02/07/2015 20:48

Watching with interest, DS slept from 1.30-2.00 and is still awake now...if he doesn't have a nap he will be asleep by 6 and wide awake at 3am. We can't win at the moment it seems!

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HaleMary · 02/07/2015 20:50

I dropped my son's nap at about 2.5 after a couple of accidental dropped naps on holiday resulted in much better bedtimes. I did find he needed a quiet time with cartoons or books on the sofa after lunch to replace it and stop him being too tired by dinner time. Short naps didn't work at all.

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GothicRainbow · 03/07/2015 17:05

Well we had a short nap today of half hour from 12.45 to 1.15, seems he won't go to sleep any earlier than that as he's just not tired enough.

We now have an demon child in our house - he's grumpy, whiney and tearful - sigh!! He has actually done better when he's not had a nap at all!!

Intrigued with the 15-20min cat nap maybe we'll try that if he wants a snooze tomorrow. I'm hoping with an early bedtime and fingers crossed a good night he won't want to sleep tomorrow.

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mycrazytoddler · 03/07/2015 23:17

My DS stopped napping around 2yrs old, bedtime was earlier & quicker compared to the long, loud, grumpy late drawn out affair with a nap!! Even the shortest of naps (10mins is enough) recharges my Ds's battery and bedtime is at least 2 hours later compared to non nap days!!!
Drop the nap, they adapt quickly.......enjoy your evenings!!

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perfectlybroken · 03/07/2015 23:21

I dropped the nap at 2 for ds1 and it really helped. He slept 12 hours at night without waking. It was young to drop the nap compared to most kids I know but worked for him.

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StormyBrid · 03/07/2015 23:37

We've had this recently, and it got so silly that even a twenty minute catnap at noon was adding two hours onto shutting up and going to sleep. I dropped the nap, instigated a new routine of tea at four, bath at five, bed at six. Had quite a few quiet and grumpy afternoons but a few weeks in, she's adjusted pretty well. The overtired strops have subsided, and she's sleeping thirteen hours a night.

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GothicRainbow · 04/07/2015 09:02

Well we had a very tearful bedtime but I only moved it forwards by half hour so tonight it will be moved forwards by a full hour.

He went to sleep at quarter to 8, I was expecting earlier as bedtime was so tearful, and slept solidly until just after 7 so at least we got a full nights sleep if nothing else!

I'm also going to instigate a quiet hour from 1pm-2pm when we read books/cuddle/watch some cartoons so that he does rest abit.

Still plowing forwards with the no naps though we just need to make the transition as painless as possible for him!

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slightlyconfused85 · 04/07/2015 14:23

I had to knock dds nap on the head just after 2 and just put her to bed early or we had drawn out bedtimes too.
She survived and would just have 15 minutes in the car now and again

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GothicRainbow · 04/07/2015 18:38

Tonight seems to be going much better, he's been a bit grumpy but nowhere's near the level he was last night.

He only really hit the grumpy wall at 5pm and coped really well during the day with no sleep.

Here's hoping he falls asleep quickly and easily!

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IWillOnlyEatBeans · 04/07/2015 19:00

We are going through the same here. DS2 (2.6) needs to nap at least one day per week to 'catch up' - on those nights he can be up and busy until 10pm!!

If he doesn't nap he's a grumpy mess by tea time, if he does nap he's up til all hours - sigh...

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GothicRainbow · 05/07/2015 19:09

So we've had a pretty grotty afternoon he's been sobbing on and off since half 5 and through most of his bedtime routine ????

I think trying to give up naps isn't working for us at the moment. My DH works late during the week and there's no way I could cope with my DS how he was today without help.

It's back to the late nights for us! Might try and work on him being happy to be left on his own to go to sleep instead.

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confusedandemployed · 05/07/2015 19:16

We've just dropped DD's nap, she's 2.4. She's out like a light within minutes now, and sleeps later too. She didn't wake til gone 8 today.

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GothicRainbow · 05/07/2015 22:22

How are you all managing bedtimes and the afternoons?? My DS is a wreck by 5pm!

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purplesnail · 05/07/2015 23:14

Hi, my 2 year old ds has always taken some time to drift off to sleep but it has got worse lately and he started insisting that he held my hand through the cot bars rather than just having me in the room.
I'm a little reluctant to drop his nap, some days he refuses to have a nap and is ok without but I think he still needs one when he's willing.
I got to the point where sitting in his room every night waiting for him to go to sleep was too much so I got him a grow clock I taught him how we lay down when the stars are out. I told him he would lay in his cot and I would sit just outside his door and sing twinkle twinkle. He wasnt happy about this, I went back in every minute to reasure him and offer a quick cuddle which he didnt want then went back out. After 2 hours he went to sleep and I felt terrible for putting him through that but not had any crying since he happily lays down and I leave, sing twinkle twinkle twice then can sneak away.

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GothicRainbow · 06/07/2015 12:50

Thanks Purple we were thinking of getting a Gro clock for when he moved into a toddler bed so might look to introduce it early.

I've also order a book called 'The rabbit who wants to fall asleep' apparently it helps toddlers drift off to sleep - we shall see!!

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omama · 07/07/2015 21:19

OP is he only just turned 2?
There is a developmental leap at this age & lots of people find their 2 year old suddenly taking ages to fall asleep. Many think its the end of the nap so try dropping/cutting it only to find that overtiredness hits.

We did exactly the same as you & realised we still needed to keep the nap. Within a few weeks the developmental leap passed & he started sleeping better again, albeit with an 8pm bedtime.

After a few months he didnt seem to need the nap every day so on those days we did early bedtime 6pm & the rest of the week stuck to his usual 2hr nap & 8pm bedtime. Over time he napped less frequently, eventually dropping it at almost 4.

I say hang in there!