Shouting, screaming, not napping - must be Christmas

[Passmethecake]

Really need to let off steam!!

Why, why, why, bloody why won't my DS nap?! Each time I try to put my 16 month old down he refuses point blank. He then goes into melt down, banging his cot, throwing his bedding out, screaming etc. He's never been great at napping but used to sleep well at night but even that's stopped now. I know he's tired but he will not stop running round, climbing on chairs and fiddling with anything and everything. I don't expect him to sit still during the day and I love it that he's an active little chap but I'm at my wits end.
I'm knackered through lack of sleep and completely out of ideas. I know I'm not the only one (and plenty of you will have it worse than me) - I think I just need some words of encouragement before I suffocate myself with tinsel.

Stay away from the tinsel, your right alot of us have been there but it doesn't matter when it is you going through it. I feel for you as my children are not great sleepers and have never really napped during the day.
Its hard when you are tired and there is nothing wrong with needing a break and wanting your child to sleep.
I recently put a post on here about how my children are mis behaving and just having people to talk to helped.Knowing that i am not the only one who is going through it.
My friends are great putting there children to bed, they said they just left them crying for a few days then they learnt.I am going to try this myself over the Christmas holidays and see how it works for me. So maybe you could too, good luck :)

Hi, will he sleep in the buggy or the car? Not great in the snow maybe, but this was often what I ended up doing with a child who was dog tired and not napping- put them in the car, off you go and within 5 minutes they are asleep. Or same with buggy. Did it once with the double buggy when one was 2 and a bit and the other diddy and managed to push to town and have a coffee (bliss!).

Maybe he's teething- they go through bad sleep when they're teething. Give him a dose of calpol before bed, you never know!

And put that tinsel down!

Could you try introducing a story time when you sit down with him on the sofa/a bed to get him to calm down and stay still long enough to know he is tired. DD (18 months) was the same about naps so I started putting her in her cot and sitting by the side reading an interesting story (one with animal sounds and voices etc..), at first she used to scream and throw things out of the cot so I ignored her and carried on reading the story. She became so interested in the story that she stopped the tantrum and got better at settling. Now she drops after only a couple of pages. For some reason The Sleep Book by Dr Seuss does it for her too, maybe it is the constant references to sleep and bed?! Still working on bedtime and waking at night however, am contemplating controlled crying ...

Thanks sooooooooo much for your replies!! I'll put the tinsel down now and put everyone's advice to good use.

Mommmmyof2 and AllSheepareWhite - Will definitely try your ideas. I think DS needs a prompt to tell him that he's sleepy and that it's ok to be sleepy! I'm thinking of controlled crying, too. Let me know how you get on. When are you planning on starting?

Tggr - He does have a couple of teeth coming through which I think have made him go extra crazy. He seems to have a permanently runny nose so maybe he's just a bit fed up all round.

Right. DS is at a Christmas party so I've got two hours of peace and quiet before the next sleep battle begins.

Thanks again!