2 year old dropping nap??

[Chewbecca22]

We have always had a rocky time with our 22m old sons sleep - he’s needed at least 7 hours between waking from his nap to bedtime for ages but now even going for a nap is taking 30 mins, and bedtime is taking over an hour to fall asleep.

Randomly, yesterday he woke up at 9am, and so we decided just not to do the nap as we wouldn’t have had time to fit one in. I was winging it, just waiting to see if he got tired and I’d have put him down for a sleep then, but he never did. He lasted fine all day and went to sleep within 5 minutes at 7pm. We haven’t had a bedtime before 9pm in months, and it’s having such an effect on our marriage and moods just having no downtime together.

I know I’m overthinking it but do we just .. not force the naps? He got up at 8am this morning and is in a good mood so just going to see how we go and if he’s tired, he can nap and if not .. we just won’t force it?

he did wake up within a couple hours last night and then an hour or so after that once I’d settled him but he slept hard and better most of the night.

I’m reluctant to drop the nap of course as I like my downtime in the middle of the day but I also like my evening and it seems like this is the only way I’ll get an evening..! But it feels so young to be dropping the nap?!

Both my children stopped napping before 18 months. It sounds like yours no longer needs one too

It does sound like he doesn't need a nap now. You can't really force a nap if he's not tired. I never had nap times with any of mine I just went with the flow of things.

Mine dropped naps at 18 months. He was only child and people tell you kids need x amount of sleep but I’d be trying to get him to sleep and he’d be looking at me like I was crazy. He’d still have the occasional one if it had been a particularly tiring day

It sounds like it's time to drop the nap. It's the earlier end of average, but not remarkably early.

If you really want to keep the nap, you can try upping the exercise he's getting in the day. Quite often they'll drop the nap and then lose the buggy and start walking and the nap re-emerges. Or they'll nap after swimming, for example. You can play around with that.

You might find that he needs a nap once or twice a week, but not everyday. Just see what happens!

Absolutely just stop them.

You may find that he needs the odd couple a week for a while.

This is with heaps of exercise 😂 he’s like a Duracell bunny! We have groups or classes every morning and he runs and jumps and climbs and swims - or we walk to the park and leave the buggy behind, get him walking around the village, playing in the garden, etc. all it seems to do is make me tired, not him 😂