Dropping nap in day completely

[scoobydoo33]

Morning all. Just wondering if you can help me please? My little boy has dropped his daytime nap this week, he's 2.9, and was still having on average an hour and a quarter after his lunch. He has just stopped completely and last night had the biggest meltdown ever. I have bought his bedtime earlier and he slept to usual time Tuesday and Wednesday morning, but this morning was up an hour earlier. What are your experiences of your DC's dropping this last nap? Should I keep giving him the opportunity to sleep or accept that this is it and bring bedtime earlier still? Thank you.

Hi,
I found that some days DS definitely needed a nap, and other days he was fine to go without one. I found doing something exhausting in the morning helped as he would sleep for 20 mins in the car on the way back and that would tide him over til a slightly earlier bed time (half an hour or so worked for us).

Make sure he's having enough snacks to keep energy levels up.

You'll probably find that you have a difficult couple of weeks as you make the transition...

Thanks Jareth. Appreciate your response. How long did it last until your DS dropped that nap completely, or is he still having it? I work every morning and DS goes to nursery and jumps around like a mad thing and then I would bring him home for his sleep. Can not actually believe that he's dropped it now as he's on the go all morning! Snacks to keep energy levels up is a good idea - will do that in the afternoons.

DD1 dropped it at about 2.5. Once a week she would fall asleep before diner though and sleep straight through the night and it becames rarer and rarer before she turned 3.
You can have him have quiet times (stories, painting, TV, quiet time in his bedroom (never really worked with mine ...) and a snack around 3 pm.

It took a while.. the first 2 weeks was the difficult bit, but then it seemed to settle down a bit. After that he would only really sleep in the car so I had to do most things in the morning.

After a month or so they were pretty much gone, except at nursery where he still has one.

Early dinner might also help him keep going. Does he watch TV? I found that restricting TV to just before dinner time helped too as he'd still still and calm down a bit, then dinner would keep him going again until bed.

Difficult stage, isn't it

Don't change the rest of your routine, if he is dropping it on his own, he doesn't really need it.
Also, after school or playschool, DD need some serious playtime in the parc running climbing... rather than quiet time no matter how active or excited she has been in the morning.

Thank you all for your replies. From what you're saying, it seems generally it might take a while to drop completely and these next few weeks are going to be tricky! and to let him lead really. It is a difficult stage Jareth, you think you're pretty much there and they throw in a curve ball to stop you becoming complacent! I will definitely do as you suggest and give him an earlier dinner too. He does watch TV and I will restrict that to before dinner with TV off with enough time before bed. Meltdown last night was triggered by wanting TV left on and wanting to play football with mummy while not even really being able to see straight or balance on two legs!

Oh, glad I've been helpful

Good luck with it.. in a few weeks you'll be through it and wonder what you did with all that free time when he napped!