Nap refusal at almost 2 years , is it too soon ?

[Henrihetta]

DS is 23 months, over the xmas break he has refused to nap for 2 weeks! We have been driving him around to nap! He usually until recent naps for 2 hours after lunch!

Do we stop driving him around and see how he is without a nap? Or do we carry on as he is not yet 2 years?

He returns to nursery on Monday, it will be interesting to see if he naps there by copying others or not

No, I certainly wouldn’t drive him around to nap because he may get too used to it and when you’re all busy and back to routine, you won’t be able to sustain that. When he’s back to nursery, he may well fall back into his routine. Don’t worry about it.

He May no longer need to nap every day. If he's used to full time nursery he may not be as tired as usual either.

My DD stopped her daytime nap at 13 months and for quite a while before it had only been for 20 minutes anyway. You are lucky he has had a nap for this long

My DS stopped napping before 2 yrs and slept through the night quite early and has always been a deep sleeper. He stopped using a buggy early too and was much later diagnosed with ASD but I don’t suppose this is relevant to stopping napping early. 🤔

Stop driving him around to nap it won't help in the long run. As he has been at home for 2 weeks he probably isn't as tired than when at nursery. I didn't have nap times for any of my 4 I was just led by them.

Dts refused around that age, couple of months later they were back napping.

My first started refusing at about 22 months, and napped rarely (completely refused at nursery, but only 2 days/week) for the next 6 months when she stopped completely. As others have said, it might be a case of not being as tired as he would be being used to FT nursery, so see what happens once he's back.

DS1 stopped napping at 12 months.

Mine napped until years later so I would say I'd leave it until he's back at nursery. I've always had to walk mine around in a pushchair with white noise playing and snoozeshades etc passed two. Never managed cot naps as a regular thing. Cam count on one hand!

Not too early. My DD dropped her naps before 2 unless she was really tired.

I'd stop driving him around and see how he gets on. You may find he needs the nap again once he's back in his usual routine, but if not it's not too young to stop napping everyday.

My son was 2 years and 4 months old when he completely stopped his daytime naps. My son didn't attend nursery at this age either. He just seemed to naturally not want to sleep during the day. I didn't force the issue, had to accept that was it!!

My daughter is also 23 months and has been refusing her nap very similar! She only goes to nursery 2 x mornings a week and stopped napping there a few weeks ago
I'm still taking her upstairs for some down time, but I stop trying as soon as she says out bag (sleepbag), open curtains etc as it's not worth the fight
She will still nap in the pram on a walk, and went several days refusing the cot nap to having one so I'm just taking it day by day

I'm interested those of you saying your children stopped napping around 2. Did you walk them in the pram to nap or assume because they didn't nap in a cot they didn't need a nap?

Thanks all! I will see what happens when he goes back on Monday! I didn't think of the fact he may not be as tired during the holidays.

yes mine stopped around this age. And I refused to let her sleep until 630pm in return or she’d be up all night! Much easier though without a nap

She only napped in her pushchair anyway so it just meant we couldn’t go out in the afternoons for a few weeks or she’d attempt to nap abouut 4pm

My daughter napped 2 hours every day until she was 3.5, she dropped the nap at nursery but still had it on a weekend until 4, she also still slept 7pm-6:30am.

Keep the nap as long as possible!

For me I'm not walking her in the pram to ensure she naps unless I'm planning on going out anyway so I can incorporate it, if I go upstairs and she's not napping within an hour (she takes a while to go to sleep anyway and is rocked/sat with next to cot) when she starts saying out bag etc I abandon it otherwise it takes too much time out of the day. I've then found when she's not napped she's been fine, not over tired and bedtime goes very smoothly and she sleeps through. Whereas when she's napped it can take her 2 hours to fall asleep at bedtime and she may wake up in the night too. I would rather she napped still as I like the downtime and feel it is a bit early age wise

That's interesting thanks. So with mine I always found that a pram nap would happen in under 20 mins whereas trying to get a nap in the cot (even under 18 months let alone 3!) near impossible. I could be sat there sushing and rocking or patting etc an hour after boob and nada! Mine seemed to need motion for naps, luckily not bedtime!

2 of my 3 DC had stopped napping by 2yo, the third occasionally dropped off for an hour after lunch until she started school but she was by far the best sleeper and slept more.

Dc3 stopped well before 2years old -we were in lockdown which I think contributed as she wasn't as tired. Instead we had quiet time around lunchtime. She did have days when she still napped on and off.

I'd wait until your DC is back at nursery to see how the napping looks like. You might find it's a mix across the week.

Mine never napped after 18 months unless we were out in the car or very occasionally in the pram, he was a terrible sleeper & never slept through until he was nearly 4 (ASD)

You're lucky! My eldest was 17 months and dropped all daytime naps (had slept through from 6 weeks so really cannot complain)
You may find nursery is more tiring hence the nap.

I’d see what happens at nursery. As PP have said, it’s such a stimulating environment you may find he needs a nap there but not necessarily at home any more. You could try ‘quiet time’ instead. But the surest sign they no longer need it is refusal plus disrupted sleep at night like a delayed or prolonged bedtime. I wouldn’t assume it’s totally unnecessary because they’re refusing alone.

Our DD is 2.5 years and has a very high motor, so she does still need a nap during the day, though a shorter one recently. We’ve also just had a baby so her emotions are running high and I want to keep her routine consistent atm. That said, I don’t think we’re long for it. Highly likely we’ll have dropped it for her at home within 4-6 months. I’m actually looking forward to it. Don’t relish the prospect of managing life around two different nap schedules!

Update: DS returned to nursery and continued to nap normally there! But still refusing at home, even after me taking him to a playgroup for an hour in the morning on a Friday!