To stop afternoon naps at 24 months!

[Ayla182]

DS is 24 months old. He has always had slight sleep issues. We had to drop his 2nd nap at 6 months and life turned a lot easier as it was a complete struggle putting him to sleep.

For the past month it has become an absolute nightmare putting him to bed. He howls, screams starts shaking bangs his head for 2/3 hours until he finally gives up and goes to sleep. He then ends up sleeping until 5/6pm which then ruins his night bedtime.

I am considering giving the day naps up because its so exhaustign and stressful to see him go through the stress. However it worried me that he will be awake from 7am up until 7pm every day!

Any advice??

Have a look into introducing quiet time as an alternative. Make his room safe. Let him know he can sleep/rest his body if he wants to or play quietly and you'll be back "after the light turns green" or some similar trigger. Start with a minute and build it up. Gives you both a middle of the day break.

Disclaimer: my son is still napping but I intend to introduce this once he starts to drop the nap which I expect will be around the same age. Saw it on Big Little Feelings.

My youngest is (just) 2, doesn’t usually have a nap at nursery - too much going on! On the days they’re with me sometime has a nap if cranky (and always after swimming lesson), but only for 1.5 hours max, and no later than 3pm finish or I’m still doing bedtime at 10pm 😩

"He howls, screams starts shaking bangs his head for 2/3 hours until he finally gives up and goes to sleep."

That should tell you Op that he doesn't want or most likely need it. He eventually sleeps because that has exhausted him.

Why do you think he needs a nap so much that you put him through that?

One of mine dropped all daytime naps at 11 months unless we just happened to be out and he fell asleep in the car/pram. He still needs the least sleep of us all now. Listen to your son.

I’d try a different nap time tbh. Maybe try one late morning time, go for a walk and put him in the pram or go for a drive?

My 2.5 year old doesn’t have a nap every day anymore but most days he will sleep at least for 30 mins in the afternoon when we’re on the school run. He’s in a much better mood when he’s had a nap so it’s welcomed by me.

If he's screaming for up to 3 hours he obviously doesn't want a nap. If he falls asleep in the buggy when you're out, leave him in the buggy, you don't need to transfer a 2 year old to bed.

Don’t let him scream in his cot to force naps.

Quiet time, naps every 2/3 days while he transitions out of it, big walk in the morning and try for nap at 12pm after lunch and no sleeping after 3pm so it doesn’t disrupt bedtimes.

@Ayla182 DD didn't need much sleep at that age. She was never a 7 - 7 sleeper at night. More like 9 or 10 until 7. Unfortunately, now at 20 she has CFS and sleeps more now than she did as a small child

I don’t understand why you’re letting him scream/bang his head for up to 3 hours? Surely that means your day is mostly either him screaming or him asleep. It’s time to let the nap go, it sounds horrendous for both of us. Mine dropped his at 19 months, just the occasional 10 minute one in the car or buggy. It takes them a couple of weeks to adapt so don’t worry if he seems tired to start with, it’s like jet lag. But he’ll adapt and so will you. (Use a quiet time or tv time for a bit of respite)

DD will be 2 at the end of June, and there's no way I want them to stop yet.

If we are busy, out and about and she doesn't sleep, by 4pm she's a menace, asleep on her feet and tea time is a nightmare!

In a perfect world she'd had an hour after lunch and that sorts her out.

Good luck with whatever you do x

Dd was (is) a horrendous sleeper. She went to 1 nap at 10 months and dropped that one at 20 months. Her sleep did massively improve with no naps, we went from an hour or more to get to sleep at night and 7 or more wakenings in the night to asleep within 15 mins and 2 or 3 wakenings on a bad night, sometimes 1 or none!!

Do what you think is best. Dd did struggle a bit with tiredness in the evenings but she adjusted. I used to give her an hour "quiet time" around 1pm where I'd lay her in a dark room with her soft toys and she would happily chat to herself but not actually sleep.

Both of my sons dropped their naps at 2, very close to 2nd birthday. I introduced 'quiet play time' instead, after lunch they would choose a couple of toys or books and then they played quietly in their cot with them for about 20 mins just to give me a breather! My 2nd son is nearly 3 now and still does the quiet play time (oldest at school). They both still go to bed at 6.30pm and sleep through until 6.30-7 so the benefit of no nap for me has been that they go to bed at a good time and I get an evening

He does sleep in his buggy! However then when we get in and try to transfer him to his bed he wakes up and ends up grumpy all day

Just leave him in his buggy then?

My little one dropped his nap at 20 months. He has been awake from 6:30/7am till 7pm ever since! I wouldn't keep trying to force the nap. If he's that distressed just take him back out.

He’s telling you he doesn’t need his daytime nap anymore. Don’t let him scream & thrash around for hours, it’s just stressing him out. Keep him up, or take him for a little walk in his buggy at lunchtime for some downtime. But listen to what he’s telling you. Then put him to bed at 6.30. He’ll be ready for it then. My DS1 dropped his daytime nap completely at 24 months, he just didn’t need it anymore. Don’t force the situation, it’ll just give him & you a lot of stress.

Please don't leave him to cry for 2/3 hours that's absolutely horrid .

Just leave him in his buggy if he's asleep in there.

Both of my children stopped napping at 24 months. Just put them to bed a bit earlier in the evening instead? I think forcing toddlers to nap is quite stressful for them. I could see trying to nap was causing them anxiety so never forced them.

We stopped naps at that age and if he fell asleep we would only let him have half an hour 45 mins had a few sleepy heads in his dinner plate though lol thank god the food wasn't piping hot 🤦🏻‍♀️

My child dropped naps before 18 months and is happy as a clam awake from 7-7. She just didn’t need it. They’re all different so ignore the books!

My eldest gave up naps completely at 12 months and my youngest at 18 months. Neither slept through the night until they did. Youngest is now 3 and is a dream sleeping 8-8. Eldest needs little sleep and at 8 sleeps 2230-2300 until 0700. Kids just need different things and you go with it!!

You can’t let him be screaming and banging his head!!
Drop the naps to every other day and see what happens.
I never let mine sleep after 3pm as it just delayed their bedtime as they weren’t ready to sleeping if they slept after 3.

My son stopped napping a few days before his second birthday (we'd been out with friends all morning and for lunch, him walking everywhere, and he simply Wasn't Tired).

Didn't have a regular nap after that - though during nursery and very occasionally reception he would sometimes fall asleep for about half an hour before dinner.

My daughter was 18 months. She was running about at 10 at night with a nap. No nap went down at 7. However my son was 3 and would still fakl asleep in the car. You know ur child. 2 isnt too early for some children.

My third DC has stopped napping now at just turned two. It works really well for everyone. He’s knackered and in bed by about 7.30 and sleeps a solid 12 hours. If he has an afternoon nap he’ll still be up at 10pm.

You leave him screaming and crying for 2 or 3 HOURS? Have I understood that correctly? If so, poor child .

@ChrissyPlummer

Why not just say he’s 2?

Because there is a huge difference between a 2 year old who is 24 months and a 2 year old who is just about to turn 3. Developmentally they are polls apart. So it’s totally relevant when you’re talking about milestones like sleep, speech etc.

Surely it’s obvious but if not then now you know! HTH