dropping naps - help!

[lola88]

DS is almost 22 mo and is transitioning from having 1 nap a day to having no naps which is a complete nightmare. If he doesn't nap he is shattered by 4pm I keep him going and he goes to bed at 6 with no problem but he wakes up starting around an hour after he sleeps and again 3 or 4 times through the night getting up for the day at 8ish, if he does nap he won't be tired until 9pm and takes anywhere between 30 -60 mins to go to sleep he will sleep until 6am have a drink and go back to sleep til 8ish. I feel like i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one I don't like him being up until 9 and the hassle it takes to get him to sleep but it's unfair to keep him up all day for an easy bedtime when he's then not having a good sleep as a result.

He will not sleep until 2pm at the earliest no matter what I do and most days just does not want to sleep at all but is crying for bed by 5pm which seems far to early for him to go to bed as he misses seeing DP

Has anyone been though this? how long did it last? how did you get through it?

you have my sympathies - this is what I would do.

start fresh from tomorrow when he wakes at 6 (if he doesn't wake by 7am, wake him up) don't let him go back to bed till 8, get him up, have breakfast etc and then go out for the morning. let him have a big run round in park etc, give him a substantial lunch and say 'well done for lovely morning, off for a lovely sleep now'. aim to put him down for 12.30/1pm. I'd be very surprised if being up for 6 hours, physical activity outside and a good lunch he didn't fall asleep straight away. don't let him nap later than 2 as you know (and I do from bitter experience) you won't be able to get him down till 8-9pm.

when he gets up - again, plenty of stimulation in the afternoon (preferably outside again) and then bath and bed. again, I'd be surprised if he didn't conk out for 7.7.30. hopefully he will get up a little later in the morning at 7 rather than 6.

at the moment he obv doesn't want to nap till 2 as he's getting up at 8, so not ready for nap at 12 but exhausted by 4 if no nap. it's a vicious circle, so you have to re-set him so to speak!

get him up earlier first couple of days, nap earlier, bed earlier and then hopefully he should fall into a routine something like this:

7am wake

12 nap till 1/2

7pm bed.

I find with my ds he's harder to get to sleep if we are inside all day. out in the fresh air, running around in a park or on a autumn walk has a wonderful effect! I do hate gender stereotyping, but believe boys do need the fresh air and physical activity daily.

good luck.

I'm not sure it is dropping a nap - more a sleep regression. Their brains are going ten to the dozen and it is hard to switch off.

My 23 month old needs a good amount of exercise to get a nap. Does yours do a lot of walking etc? I mean at least an hour on her feet, proper walking about. I put her to bed at 8pm and she wakes at 6am and has a nap. That's not too bad. Her brother had a similar blip at this age and went back to naps. He's 4 and still naps twice a week despite me thinking he was dropping them at 2 and again at 3!

Thank you. I did waking him up earlier but he just rested at 12ish not slept, I can only really get him to nap if we go swimming but I don't drive so getting there is not an every day option. This week I've been out every day with him at swimming park or soft play and still he won't sleep. If I let him sleep late on at 4ish I can't get him back up because he thinks its bedtime!

When he was a baby he had 4 half hour naps a day and has slowly dropped each of them having longer stretches between naps this seems the same but 9 hours is his limit before he drops. If he has a nap he will sleep all night which makes me think no nap and he's overtired. My HV has just left me with some kids are bad sleepers end of

arrrggghh health visitors - so helpful...!

so he will sleep if he's tired from swimming?

try tomorrow getting him up at say 6.30 and then go out for the morning, if he won't sleep at 12, push nap back to 1 and then wake him at 2.

that way he gets an hour to help him go through the night, but he will be suitably tired for a bedtime at 7.30pm (even 8pm). I think at 22mo he still really does need a nap tbh.

if he's awake at 6.30am running around all morning and still refuses to nap at 1pm he must be made of steel at 22mo!

just repeat the pattern say for 5 days and see how you get on.

The other option is to put him to bed at 5pm if he's exhausted by 4 with no nap and see what happens then. If he sleeps till 6.30/7 that's still going through and when he's a little older you can push bedtime back till 6pm or later. and you get a very long evening all to yourself!

My 2 year old (nearly 3 actually) goes to bed at 6pm if he doesn't nap and sleeps till 7.30am. If he naps, it's more like 7.30/8pm, but like I said earlier it really is dependent on what physical activity we've done. He's out like a light after an afternoon at park, but much more awake at bedtime if we've just pottered about at home.

I recommend this book: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0449004023

In fact, it's the one and only parenting book I can't recommend enough.

It's a rather long, dense read, but by far the most useful thing I've ever come across in explaining what is "normal" sleep at different ages, and how to solve sleep problems.

Your HV sounds spectacularly useless btw

He really is made of steal people can never believe how he keeps going, if we go swimming he will usually sleep but didn't on monday he just kept going this week all the thing and times he usually sleeps have changed and he doesn't seem as tired just has a rest then keeps running mad he rarely sits down. He's never been a big sleeper and can easily go on a 20 mins sleep all day.

He used to sleep at 12 then started sleeping at 2 now it seems to be 4 so I'm hoping a few more months and he will go til 6 but in the mean time we are in a bad way :(

I have no advice, sorry, but I can offer lots of sympathy as we're dealing with similar here. It's reassuring to know we're not alone. DS, 23 months, has dropped his nap & is walking dead by 3pm. His crap sleeping is now even worse, we have 3-4-5 wake-ups a night. And no amount of effort will result in a nap at any time of day
It's horrible watching them be so tired and not their normal selves.
Anyway I'm watching for any advice that I can borrow, if you don't mind. If you have any success in resolving things please post again
And good luck.

wiLl he not sleep in pram if you take him out for a brisk walk?

I've got one similar. DS is 23 months and going through a phase of waking at 5am! Yesterday he refused to nap and was asleep by 4:45.

He was awake again at 5 this morning but he did nap today between 12 and 1:30. Asleep pretty quickly too.

The walking used to work like a charm but not anymore :(

Glad it's not just DS! He woke up 8 last night and was up for an hour and a half then went back to sleep and slept til 6.30 hoping that will help get a nap today

Lola snap - DS used to sleep in his pram but refuses to now. Won't sleep in the car either.