Dropping afternoon nap - help??!!

[happynappies]

My dd was 2 in November, and has always been pretty good about daytime naps. For I can't remember how long she's had a two-hour nap in the afternoon after lunch (usually about 1.30pm - 3.30pm, sometimes later).

Baby #2 is due tomorrow (!) and for the past week or so my dd has been saying she's not tired at nap time. I have been sticking with the routine and putting her into bed for some 'quiet time' anyway, and she usually drops off to sleep for about an hour, but can take so long to drop off that its making me think perhaps she doesn't need the afternoon nap anymore?

She can be extremely fractious around tea-time if she's had no sleep at all, but sleeps fine at night.

Would you persist in offering her the nap, drop it altogether, or try letting her have a shorter nap later perhaps? Am I just going to face facts that the days of having a bit of time in the afternoon are over - not that I'll have much time with a newborn, pah!

Anyone got any suggestions? Many thanks!

Am interested in this one too, so will BUMP for you.
Sorry, I'm not of any help to you. My DS (22 months) doesn't seem keen to nap in his cot OR bed in the afternoon either. We have to take him out in the car for him to do it without kicking up a fight!

i would continue with the quiet time in her room, even if she just looks at books or has a quiet play

does she sleep ok at night if she has a sleep in pm?

Hello, am in the same predicament as you, but persist with putting my two and a half year old boy down because I'm due in two weeks and can't bear to lose the nap now! As Blonde says, even if it's just quiet time it's no bad thing.

He always sleeps after a while when he's put down in the day, and at night too like you say, so I don't feel too bad about keeping it for a bit until I've got a handle on no.2!
Another way of looking at it though is that at least he can go without a nap when needed, and we just put him down a bit earlier on those days.

Good luck with your new babe!

just reduce teh duration for now....if she is going from 2hr to 1hr it is still a significant reduction.

My DD3 (2.8) still has 30 mins...which isn't much but enough for her and she needs it.

I think it all comes down to if she will go down at bedtime at a decent hour if she still has a nap?

If so, keep the nap.

We knew it was time to drop the nap when DD would not go down at night til 9 or 10pm after having a sleep during the day. She just wasn't tired enough.

When we cut out the nap, she went down like a dream at 7 ish.

Personally, I think children should be put to bed in the afternoon for as long as you can get away with it.

I would shift the going down time by 45 minutes later and continue going with it. DS (now 2.8) started doing the same just after his second birthday but by persisting with "quiet time" I still get a nap out of him 3 or 4 days a week and if nothing else half an hour to an hour of uninterrupted time from him. I do insist it happens in bed (else he won't sleep) but if I feel it's a "no nap" day then I put on a story/music CD and give him a few books to browse. I'm really grateful I've persevered. Some weeks he's more tired than others and will sleep, other weeks I think this is definitely the end of the nap, and then through persistence it comes back again. Makes me a much nicer mummy

Thanks for the thoughts everyone... I think I'll try to keep going with the nap for as long as possible then, and will try tomorrow doing something with her straight after lunch then putting her down a bit later on. We'll see how it goes!!

nkf - i agree my 3.3 still sleeps 2hrs and then goes to bed at 7.30pm and sleeps 12hrs

I agree too. DD (2.9) still naps sometimes, although she does so less and less. Quiet time keeps me from being sectioned sane

We are in the same boat!
(Missus few weeks away from giving birth -
fingers crossed, happynappies!)

As regards nap times, if we don't take her out in the morning for fresh air and lots of running around
afternoon settling is getting more and more impossible.
Even nursery are struggling now.