20mo old will NOT nap, am I evil for giving him Calpol???

[katyt1]

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!

He has decided he will NOT sleep during the day, I feel he's not grown out of it just got of the habit at home (at nursery he sleeps 'no problem' for 45mins-ish twice a week).
He's in a bed and just gets out all the time, opens his door and stands at the gate crying, talking, sometimes just sits there, looks at books (which I should probably be grateful for), etc. but will NOT sleep.
this can go for up to 1.5hrs (longest I felt I could stick it for so far!).
Tues & Wed he's at nursery so thought he might be back in the habit, so hopeful for today but no go.
So, I've given him Calpol to try and make him sleepier. Am i evil??? god i feel bad but in my defence, i am 39wks pg with no 2 and really really need some downtime in the day as well as wanting him to have a nap once baby is here, so (hopefully) they can both nap at the same time (fingers crossed for inrealistic dream i know!).

what would others with small gap and stubborn toddler do????

don't yell at me about the calpol too much tho cos i'm feeling like crying today already

forget i gave him the calpol, it didn't make him tired today so all those who said it wouldn't were right.

we sat and read stories together instead which i'm sure he liked but not my idea of a rest - atm i actually want sleep not just 'time off' iykwim.

he won't go down earlier at night even if really tired and tbh i wouldn't want him to as he gets up pretty early most days, awake from 5.45 today

don't worry have taken a deep breath and a friend coming with her LO later for distraction so no more calpol from me, or tears hopefully...

(and i'd like to say before you all think awful thoughts about me, this is normally a drug-resistant household, i actually had to open a new bottle as he's not had calpol for so long. must have thinking back to last teething when it did help...)

anyway, crisis over for now, will try the quiet toys approach tomorrow and hope for the best....

thanks for all the advice.

Poor thing. No advice as my (one and only) lo is only 5 months but just wanted to say don't feel bad for resorting to desperate measures. You won't be the first and you won't be the last. God the end of pregnancy is so so so hard and knackering, no wonder you feel so at the end of your tether!

Mine can be a bit of an insomniac in the daytime and sil advised me to give him piriton as antihistamines make them drowsy. She said it was the only way she could get her dd3 to sleep at all during the day, and with three under 6 she needed a break. I didn't take her advice as with him only being very little I knew he still needed naps in the day. (Of course, he WILL sleep, but he prefers to sleep on me so I can't get anything done!)

Glad you'll be getting some time off later, make the most of it. No catching up on housework, off to bed!!

I'm in the same boat. I am 35 weeks pg and knackered too! DS is 2 now and dropped his nap just before then too. He STILL sleeps at nursery (one day a week) now, but never has the nap at home any more.
I tend to just go for a quiet cuddle and cbeebies after lunch instead so we both get a sit down and rest when he would have had a nap before.
On the (very) occasional day, when it really does get too much, I put him in his room, with some milk, his cuddly and just let him have 'quiet' time for an hour or an hour and a half, so I can REST! He has a stair gate on his door though, so cant out! He tends to complain at first but soon settles down and just plays with toys or books for the time after that (makes an ENORMOUS mess for me to clean up later though lol)
Hope you get a bit of a break soon x

DS1 just got to dropping nap stage (23m), tired and bad tempered by 4pm...groan.
Have found, nice exhausting morning eg big walk, mothers and toddlers etc. followed by lunch then cushions and blanket on floor with a bit of ceebeebies works a treat. DS2 is 5 months and an appaling sleeper...have discovered that when putting him to bed for naps it's v. easy to have a 5 min doze and will really recharge batteries for oooh an hour better than nothing tho'

Actually, He fell asleep watching Diagnosis Murder - so advanced, appreciating the witty dialogue and van Dyke acting dynasty!

my dd's coming up for 20 months. she doesn't nap every day. sleeps 7pm til 8.30am. when she does nap it's only ever half an hour, maybe three times a week.

I agree with Overmydeadbody - try lying down with him. I am 25 weeks and do this on the days my DD isn't in nursery. We lie with our heads together until we go to sleep (or she does and I sneak off to do my jobs if I'm not too tired !) Only thing is, she will expect this once the little one arrives (if she's still having sleeps by then) and that might be harder to manage. Fingers crossed for an easy baby. Wishing you all the best x