19 month refusing to nap. Will he ever nap again or is this it!!!

[Ladylolly]

My 19m old has started to flatly refuse to nap in his cot.
We were on holiday for three weeks and he would nap in the car or pushchair with the odd cot nap. Before this he would have the odd day at home that he refused to nap.
Since getting him home he has refused naps in his cot and now struggles to settle in the car or pushchair unless I try for an hour or more to get him to sleep. Sometimes even that doesn't work.
Over the last week we have been putting him in his cot where he will scream or stand complaining for half an hour, I'll then give him toys and let him play quietly in his cot till the hour naptime is up.
As he is so tired come 5:30/6pm he is in his cot asleep by 6 at the moment and up 12/13 hrs later. He is happy chap and rarely gets grumpy or difficult even though he's obviously very tired.
What should I do? Persist with the cot where he definitely won't nap or go back to pushing him around till he drops off? Any sleep after 2pm means we get a very late bedtime and wake which leads to no naps and late bedtimes.

[FATEdestiny]

The average 17 month old is having two naps a day. Then the average time to drop to a single lunchtime nap is 18 months. So your average 19 month old will be having a 2-3 hour daytime nap, plus 11-12h at night.

I would suggest it would not be a good idea to stop the nap completely. But it does sound like you have some issues with poor sleep hygiene.

we have been putting him in his cot where he will scream or stand complaining for half an hour

What do you do to help him go to sleep? Are you just leaving him to cry and hoping for the best?

This is a typical age for separation anxiety, maybe he needs more comfort or reassurance?

[Ladylolly]

He has consistently dropped his naps early for his age. He went to one nap a day at around 13 months.
We sleep trained (I use the term lightly) by gradual retreat when he was struggling to settle at night. Now we read three books and then say night and tell him we are outside the door. We will then sit there and if he struggles to sleep quietly tell him it's time to sleep. If he still struggles I will quietly sing to him. This works beautifully at night and he settled well. If he stirs which is very rare we sing outside the door and he's straight to sleep again.
I have tried gradual retreat again for his naps but being in the room is now too stimulating for him as a toddler.

[FATEdestiny]

He went to one nap a day at around 13 months

That's not all that early. 18 months is an average age to move to one nap, but anywhere form 12 months would be considered normal.

You then usually see the single lunchtime nap staying for around 2 years, until about 3 years old (give or take). So 19 months to drop naps would be exceptionally early, whereas your change to 1 nap wasn't.

It's not unusual for daytime naps to be harder work than bedtime. If gradual retreat is too stimulating, controlled crying with, say, 5 minute gaps may help.

I would suggest this is just a phase though. Toddler just needs to re-learn about having a lunchtime nap in the cot and once that is learnt, it will be fine.

[Artus]

My eldest child stopped napping in the day, even in a carseat or pushchair at 15 months. Forcing children to nap is pretty counter productive I think. I'd be led by the child.

[Ladylolly]

Thank you. He will sleep for 13hrs out of 24 whether that's be forcing an 1hr nap on him or him sleeping for 13hrs in one stint at night. The no nap isn't helpful if I want to do anything in the afternoon but as said I should be child led.

[LivininaBox]

I am in the sane situation. My DS is 20 months and I have been struggling with the afternoon nap for a month. At first I blamed teething, but now I think I he is just ready to drop it. He will often have 10 minutes in the car, then go through to 7 or 730 no problem.