Daytime Napping in Toddler Bed...

[TaffyandTeenyTaffy]

We have very successfully transferred DS (2y1m) from his cot to his toddler bed at night - no issues whatsover. However, he will not get into bed to have a daytime nap.

He is at nursery 2 days where he naps (for a good 2 hours) on a floor mat and with his grandparents 2 days where he will usually nap either in his pram or on the sofa (despite the fact they have a travel cot for this purpose but thats a whole other thread!)

Today, I have tried changing him into his PJs /cuddling up with him, to see if that would help, but he really doesnt want to go - he just jumps up and starts running around! We purposely have not put any toys in there apart from his cuddlies for bedtime, at the moment. He is really tired- but the room is quite light, so not sure if thats an issue. We do still have his cot up in the spare room - but I think it might confuse him to try and get him to nap in there.

Any ideas/suggestions welcome, please!

What happens if he doesn't have the nap?
if he can go all day without it then i wouldn't really worry about it as he will be dropping it soon anyway. It might be that he is getting enough sleep at nursery and his GPs.

My ds dropped his nap about this age.
Does he really need one now?
After the first few day without a nap, the routine is set and you may find he can go all day without feeling tired.

What time does he go to bed/get up?

I had this problem initially with ds he is 2.8 and naps from 1.30 till 3pm. At first I put the travel cot up in the room and he napped in that and had nighttime sleep in the bed. But then he started to hop out of the travel cot. I would sit out side the door and return him to bed. It took a few weeks, some days he'd settle straight away, others I'd have to put him back into the bed. But eventually he stopped and now he settles to sleep no problem. I figure he'll drop the nap when he needs to Or when pre school gets in the way, but for now if he's happy to have, it then why stop him?

The running round is just a phase while the adjustment takes place. Give no big reaction just calmly return him. I had to do the same at bedtime initially it took an hour and a half at bedtime, nap time was always quicker oddly now I just close the door and he stays in bed. If he was ever still awake after an hour ant nap time I'd give up, go in and all bright and breezy just say: ok time to get up! And act like nothing had happened.

Oh the other thing is that I removed all toys as you have, but the book shelf is still full of his books and often he gets up and gets a book and takes that back to bed. Good luck

Thanks - yesterday he went without a nap and was very tired, crotchety and falling asleep by teatime so dont think hes quite ready to drop it yet, but I did wonder whether we were getting to that stage. He does occasionally go without but he will usually have a good couple of hours.

He usually goes to bed about 8:30pm and generally gets up between 6:30am and 7:30am. He has always slept through and loves his sleep. This is the baby that I had to set the alarm to wake up him up to feed at night! (Was prem with weight issues - I'm not a crazy lady!)

Today I left him and after running about his room and on to the landing for a bit, and having a mini-paddy, he got fed up and went to bed and napped.... so some success!

We put ds in toddler bed at 19months. He's now just starting to drop his nap at 21months.
Anyway.. we put a stair gate on the door and just left him to it if we thought he needed sleep. He would olay with his books for a little while then sleep when he was ready, same at night.

HTH

He is probably getting to that stage where he won't need one every day. I work with toddlers and the transistion stage where they drop the afternoon nap can be tricky. I always try to follow the child's lead and let them sleep if they are tired and stay awake if they are not.Sounds simple but I am amazed at the number of parents who insist their child has to have an afternoon nap. with the best will in the world, there is no way of making an active toddler sleep if they don't want to.
If he drops his nap youwill probably find he is ready for bed at 7ish. Which si why some parents insist their child sleeps in the afternoon- they want that extra time with them if they have been at nursery all day- but it really doesn't work like that. Which is sad for the parents.

Thanks - we are going to get another stairgate and put it on the door of his room tonight. We have one at the top of the stairs and have been closing all the upstairs doors apart from his and ours - but the dog doesnt like it and has been crying to go up and down the stairs!! Hope it will feel a bit easier to leave him in his room with the gate there.

Can you take him out in the buggy to get him to sleep? DD1 dropped her daytime nap as soon as we transferred her into a bed from her cot, around 2y 3m, but she would still sometimes have a nap in the buggy if I went for a walk.

Zimbah, thats what my mum and MIL do - Can't really at the mo because I have a fractured toe but yes, thats an idea for the future. Thanks.

Taffy ouch! Are you able to drive, that could be another option. I know some people have success with putting on a story CD for the child to listen to in their room, which sometimes leads to them falling asleep. Didn't work for me though, DD just cried and shouted in her room, not very sleep-inducing