Poll: 2 year olds do they still have an afternoon nap?

[Em32]

And what do you do during the transitional phase? Ds is now doing a poo in his nappy on purpose so we have to come and change him and he then asks to come out of his room. He is absolutely shattered at the moment as hasn't slept at lunchtime for three days. He goes until late afternoon then crashes and his behaviour is awful at the moment as he is so tired. He used to sleep before as was left in a cot but now he's in a bed it just isn't working. How do you cope with this? (He is 2 and one month)

[colette]

Expat - i would definately see if she will drop it , my dd went through that phase and actually slept better at night once the nap was droppped. Ds is exactly the same age as edams ds and his sleep pattern is exactly the same ,it is wierd, hope his behaviour is better than my ds though

[expatinscotland]

dd1 (2.9) is still having one for about an hour in the afternoons. she goes right to sleep, but wakes up in a horrible temper.

should we drop it?

[FrannyandZooey]

Ds 2.11 and still desperately needs a nap every day. Of his peer group, from memory 5 out of 7 are still having naps, at least some days.

[JonesTheSteam]

MT - I could have posted that about my DS (except he's 2.6)!!!!

[WideWebWitch]

dd still sleeps at 2yo 4 months for about an hour, maybe a bit more at lunch time. She goes to bed at 7,30pm and wakes at 6.45-7 ish so it's ok but I feel sure the nap will go any day soon.

[Pomi]

ds also stopped having naps when he was 22 months. he is 2.3 and sleeps for 12 hours at night. If i put him to sleep during the day then he will not be able to sleep before 10 at night which is not a thing i want so i keep him awake during the day and he goes to sleep at 8.

[carol3]

dd is 2.5 and stopped having naps at 22months. She sleeps 12 to 13 hours at night though. Sometimes if we have a busy day she'll have a nap in the car but generally shes fine with that. I think all children are different though and you have to take there lead a bit, ds had naps in the day until he was nearly four and dd2 had naps unil 2.9.

[morocco]

neither of mine were still napping at 2 (sadly!!) and I think it must be genetic. ds 2 in the transitional stage got bad tempered at around 4-5 so I made sure we weren't out and about then (or he would fall asleep) and usually we did something calm like cuddle on the sofa and watch telly. Then very early bedtime.
tbh, it sounds more like your ds2 is unsettled at the change in beds and does still need his nap - pushchair an option?

[ghosty]

Dollybird, I could cut the nap ... and on school days I often have to wake her to do the school run ... but you know how it is; you plan to wake them after an hour and then you are enjoying the peace and you think, Oh, I'll leave her for another 20 minutes. And then that 20 minutes turns in to 40 and then she has had nearly 2 hours ...
Must be more resolute ...

[Linnet]

My dd1 dropped her afternoon nap before she was 2, can't remember exactly when it was probably around about 20 months. She always managed to last the day and was in bed by about quarter to 7 each night. She obviously didn't need the nap so naturally dropped it herself.

dd2 however is 22 months and still has an afternoon nap usually for about 2 hours and then goes to bed between 7-8pm depending on what we're doing that evening. She really needs her nap she's such a livewire that she's a nightmare without it. Although she did go all day Saturday without a nap and went to bed at 6.45pm.

[Nemo1977]

Ds is 28mths and at least 4 afternoons a week he will have a sleep. He will ask to go usually around 1pm till 3 ish. He then goes to bed at 7.30-8pm. He used to do what your little one is doing and try to stay up but I used to make him have quiet time in his room which 9/10 ended up with him going to sleep.

[sanchpanch]

yes my dd sleeps 1 -3 , then goes to bed at 8pm

[blueteddy]

My DS2 was 3 last Tuesday & he still has a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

[Pruneau]

definitely a nap of 1 or 2 hours
but can go without if we're doing other things (eg out)

[dollybird]

Ghosty, how long does she nap for? could you cut it short - then maybe she'd be tired earlier?

[ghosty]

Oh, and she is NOT coming out of her cot and into a bed until she is 10

[ghosty]

Like others on here DS started to muck around with his nap when he went into a bed at 2 years and one month. I got round it for a while by taking him out in the car for a drive and he would fall asleep. I would go home and transfer him from car to bed, no bother. But by 2 and a half I found myself spending a fortune on petrol driving around and he would still be chatting away to me at 2pm (a good hour of driving ) so I knocked it on the head.
DD has always been a better sleeper than DS from birth ... until she turned 2 (in February) and now she is having a laugh to be honest. She needs a nap and can't get through the day without one really but she now won't go to sleep until 8.30pm at night and wakes up at 5.30am/6am in the morning ... she used to sleep 12 hours straight.
It is a vicious circle really because she needs the nap to catch up on the missing night sleep but sleeps less at night because she has had a nap.
I am not sure what to do about it really ... I need the break during the day aswell.
I can't drive her around because she won't transfer to her bed and wakes up as soon as I switch the car off ... On the rare days she doesn't nap she is shocking by 4pm.
I think I just have to ride the storm really ... and stick to the normal routine ... and not give in to bringing her in to us or letting her sleep with us which is what we did with DS which was a shocker.
Sigh.

[Em32]

Acnebride yes have tried the shortened routine - no luck, he just gets straight out of the bed and wrecks the room.....

[acnebride]

ds is 26 mo, in a bed, and still napping at least an hour - we do a shortened routine (i'm sure you do too) of tuckup, story, cuddle, curtain drawn, then some sleep training if necessary. I wouldn't have stuck with this if the nanny hadn't proved it could be done...

[edam]

Ds is 2y 8mo and definitely still needs a nap, usually 1.5 hours, although some days he refuses and I eventually give up. On those days, though, he is shattered by bed-time, stroppy and overtired. Thing is, he won't sleep any longer than 11 hours at night, even when he hasn't had a nap. If I put him to bed early, he just wakes up earlier... so am persisting with putting him down for a nap.

[Em32]

Harpischordcarrier - put him in a bed as really don't want to have to take two travel cots on holiday (have dd nearly 7 months as well) but if necessary will do (sighs)

Generally, not sure whether just to put cot side back on (it went back on last night) or whether given this is second time round we should keep trying. I'm worried we're giving him confusing messages. This morning his first words were 'don't like that' points to replaced cot rail ( internally from me) He was getting it about going to bed but getting up very early in the morning. Main problem was his pm nap though. Has anyone tried a travel cot in the room where they go if they don't stay in the bed? My mum says I should just put the cot side back on.........

[wanderingstar]

My ds3 (27m) gave up napping at 24m; we went cold turkey as he just wasn't sleepy at bedtime and would also wake up at say 3am and STAY awake for a couple of hours, demanding my attention. If he is ill, or in the car late afternoon he goes back to napping, but otherwise no more ! I miss the break, but otoh bedtime is a dream, and he now generally sleeps through...bliss.
Oh, and he's in a cotbed, complete with grobag which I've used since he was a couple of weeks old. Escape is impossible on the days he does nap.

[harrisey]

my dd2 is 28 months and sleeps between about 2 and 4 (with a 7.30 bedtime) maybe 5 days out of 7 - the other days she doesnt sleep except in the car! If she has a really good sleep one day she doesn't need it the next - think she is slowly moving away from it but hoping for slowly - dd1 still slept for an hour aged 4, ds gave it up at just about 3.