Exhausted toddler won’t nap

[Lana1234]

Hi all just looking for any tips or support. My toddler is turning two on Monday and has always been a generally decent sleeper. Likes about two hour nap a day and will get a good 10-12 hours at night straight through (I know I’ve been very lucky).
The past week though he just will not nap despite being exhausted! He’s yawning, rubbing eyes, cranky yet when I put him down he will just mess around until I give up and get him up.
I wouldn’t mind if he was just dropping the nap and seemed okay but he’s just completely miserable for the rest of the day 😩 don’t think he’s teething atm and he’s eating and drinking plenty so he’s not sick
I’m a single mum as well so I’m really struggling to get anything done now 😫

How do you currently nap him? If it's in the cot, perhaps take for a walk in the pram or a drive in the car instead x

My daughter went through this around 2. I changed my daytime activities so we did less, that way even though she wouldn't nap she wasn't so exhausted that she was a grumpy so and so making me want to leave the country alone!

After a few weeks she went back to napping and we upped our activities again.

There are some huge developmental leaps around 2 that can cause awful sleep issues/being fussy/clingy/etc.

Perhaps he is ready to drop the nap. He just needs a little bit of help to power through the afternoon. Or he needs more tiring out in the morning to encourage him to want to nap.

By 2, my eldest wasn't always needing a long nap in the day. He only needed up to 90 minutes unless it was a really active day.

My youngest stopped napping in the day completely around 18 months. It suited me really with how our day was structured. I did have to take him in the car to drop him off on my way to work at 3.30pm so he could cat nap then. I knew he didn't need the nap because he didn't automatically sleep in the car. I also think that getting out in the afternoon helped distract him if he was tired and grumpy.

I should also say my youngest has always slept really well at night from a very young age. I can count on one hand the amount of times he's woken up at night so I didn't worry too much about his naps ending.

My son stopped napping around 18 months but struggled to get to the end of the day so I brought it back. He does nursery some days and always napped there so I just stuck to the same schedule, lunch at 11.45 then change nappy, nice calm story then nap. Would he take a sleep with you at lunch time? That helped my son get back into it. Also not using the word nap helped, he screams every day now that he doesnt want to go for a sleep but if I say to go for a nice rest he always falls asleep in minutes.
The rule in our house is that if he doesn't nap then he has to go to bed at 6pm which works great for us as I'm usually losing my marbles with him at that point! I'm on my own at the moment too and you really do need a break by either napping and early bed time.

Hi all thanks for the replies. Our normal routine is we always go out in the mornings either a play group or walk around beach or park so he’s always tired when we get back. Do lunch then calm down time with music and put him down. This has always worked so maybe it is just a stage (she hopes ). He didn’t nap yesterday but was fast asleep at 7pm and slept through so it’s not so bad. Wouldn’t mind at all him dropping naps but it seems like he could still do with a small one or he’s absolutely done in by late afternoon. He is definitely going through a very clingy stage so I might try him having a nap with me today after lunch

I have this same problem with my toddler! Last night he fell asleep at 5.30pm because he hadn't napped. He was then awake 11pm ish for a couple of hours!
It's like he's not tired enough to nap but can't quite make it until bedtime.

He has a disability so isn't fully mobile yet so I can't wear him out in the morning physically to induce a nap. It's really hard.

Sometimes he can make it to bedtime no problem, sometimes he has a nap at the right time and goes to bed no problem. It's different every day and hard to know what's best to do!

I wonder how long this phase will last. He starts nursery soon so maybe that will help bring the naps back.

Oh yeah and he's clingy too, although he did have a high temp in the week and just wanted sleep and cuddles so that hasn't helped much either.