Giving up the daytime nap....what do you think?

[mrsbabookaloo]

DD is 2 years 4 months. She has always been a good sleeper.

In the day she is very happy to go for her nap: doesn't complain and goes straight to sleep for 2 hours..I have to wake her up.

However, in the last couple of months she can't go to sleep at night. Her bedtime is at 8pm and she now doesn't go to sleep until after 9pm...she spends an hour or more shouting us and making up spurious excuses to get us to come to her.

She obviously just isn't that tired, and i feel bad for making her go to bed when she's not tired. The obvious thing is to cut the nap, except she seems so happy to have it and I can't quite face giving it up.

Even if she only has an hour we still have the same problem in the evening.

I guess i just need a kick up the bum to say: yes, you need to cut the nap. I'm 8 weeks pg though, and so exhausted. I need that break!

Sorry for long post. Any ideas?

i used to get ds1 to watch his favourtie tv for about 45 minutes in the afternoon so i could also put my feet up

Yes, i had a feeling more TV might end up being the consequence!

dd1 started being like this just before she was 2 so at 2.1/2.2 we stopped the nap (she'd occasionally have 10minutes in the car if we were coming home from somewhere) I do remeber that around 2pm we'd have to go out for a walk/run around as she'd be dropping off on the sofa (also remember doing this when heavily pregnant with dd2 and it was november and friggin cold!) she used to then come home and watch peppa pig whilst I got her dinner cooking (talking to her to keep her awake) bath by 5pm and she'd fall alseep by 6pm and stay that way until 6.30am!!

DD2 is just 22months and doesnt nap every day and if she does she sleeps int he morning and awake by 12pm then she goes to bed at 6.30 with no trouble

You need to give up the nap...

Sorry!

I was in your position when pg with dd2. Stick a film/cartoons on instead and put your feet up as well. If lucky, I used to get 40 winks at the same time

OK, less sleep and more TV it seems like!

Yes ditch the nap and get your evenings back, probably a 7pm bedtime? Dd4 did this 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday I was gutted!

Ive just dropped my dd's daytime nap. She's also 2.4. I did it because even though she would happily go to bed for a 1.5 hours ish (and I would so look forward to that time!), it was affecting her sleep at night. She would still go to bed ok, but would wake a few times in the night and be wide awake by 5am! It made a massive difference to her night time and she now sleeps from 7pm to about 7am. I must admit its hard during the day and by tea time you are exhausted but also I find that your day seems to flow better ie you are not having to arrange your day around nap times. Unfortunately though, the tv is getting switched on now and she will cosy up on the settee with her blanket for an hour whilst I sit in the kitchen and watch my tv for an hour!

We dropped our dds nap at 3yrs for the exact same reason, except that sometimes she'd be up till gone 10pm chatting away. There were a few weeks when I really regretted it as she was shattered and really tetchy in the evenings esp as week progressed. We had some great weekends though while she caught up on sleep. She seems to have adjusted now. We did the TV at lunch time thing and I actually think it is really good for her as well as us. She needs wind down time too otherwise she gets craggy and occasionally she falls asleep in front of it despite big prostestations before that she was not tired.

DD1 is only 22 months old so I'm thinking this is far to young to give up the nap, however.... feel like I'm in the same position.

She is regulary waking in the night (around 4amish although this can vary), unfortunately DH has got in the habit of going in to give her a bottle and this is starting to become a habit.

We try to get her back to sleep asap as I'm nursing DD2 in a separte bedroom.

anyway - she will take a lunchtime nap - although it's usually after a long talk/play in her cot (sometimes this lasts up to an hour even though she is clearly tired - she does eventually drop off though).

Is she ready to drop the nap or are we in an overtired situation. Is 22 months far too early to stop the lunchtime nap? She's started crying gotta go....

22 mo is prob too young to drop it. If you read about sleep requirements then all the people on here inc me dropped it too early. I think they suggest that even some 4 year olds would benefit.

I'm 33 and I KNOW I would benefit .

my 2.2 dd dropped her nap at 2
but on the school run in the pm she often falls asleep for anything btw half an hour or an hour

I feel like is is too young but what about these night wakings - could they be from too much sleep in the day - perhaps limit the nap to an hour?

Not sure on your query sunshine...hope somneone else can help

...but regarding benefitting from naps: I LOVE napping, and had hoped that dd would nap until she was at school!

Me and dh love napping at weekends when she naps and we will be sorry to lose this time together.

I had to do this with dd at 2.2. It was a painful transistion...I miss those naps

However she wouldn't go to bed until 9.00pm after napping, even for 10 mins....This started at 23 mo.

BUT, now with no naps she sleeps much much longer at night (14 hours at weekend ), and 13 hours during week.....so perhaps this might happen with yours?

The days are hard work though, I find Peppa Pig quite a helpful prop when I am getting to the end of my tether........