Time to drop the afternoon noon ?

[kaz33]

My 2 year 2 month old always has a sleep in the afternoon - from about 2pm to 4.30pm - he used sometimes to sleep till 6pm.

Recently over the last month or so he wakes up after a hour and a half/ two hours crying and saying no, no, no. He is getting worse and worse. It took me half an hour to calm him down this afternoon.

Is it time to drop his afternoon nap ? I know if I sleep during the day and I don't need to, then I always feel terrible when I wake up. Well thats how I remember it, its a while since I have had that luxury

Why don't you try gently waking him a little earlier instead of cutting the nap out altogether? A friend of mine has just cut her ds's naps and the tantrums have unfortunately increased so perhaps just shortening rather than cutting it out is better?...

Sounds to me like it's the end of nap time.

If he doesn't sleep at all, expect a few days (weeks?) of grumpiness, esp late afternoon, while he gets used to it. another thing to try is encourage him to have a quiet time in him room, where he can lie down/play quietly/look at books or whatever for an hour or so, so he still rests, but isn't actually made to go to bed.
I personally never did this. When the y made it clear, as your ds seems to be, that they didn't want naps any more, I jst dropped it. While on the ne hand I dreaded not having the time to myself, it does actually make things miles easier, not having to hurry to get out of the house by 9.30, or it wouldn't be worth it, sort of thing.

kaz33, my ds2 who is 2years 4 months started waking really early, around 5:00am when he used to sleep to 6:00 or 6:30am. So we have cut down his usual 2 hour plus nap to an hour. I am finding that he is actually better tempered after an hour than if he is left longer - I started cutting back to an hour and a half and he was exactly like your ds.
A couple of times he has gone without a nap completely and he was foul from around 5pm. I still think he needs a nap - but only a short one - and he is now back to waking at 6 am or later.

I'm not sure, but I would say that if he is still sleeping for 1.5-2hrs then he still needs a nap. My ds is nearly 2 and also sometimes wakes up in a really foul mood which takes a while to snap out of - he cries and doesn't seem to want to do anything. I have just put this down to a developmental stage and also sometimes its clear he is still tired. I've had friends with similar experiences iwth their toddlers when they wake from naps. HTH

btw, when ds dropped his morning nap it was completely different - he just didn't want to go to sleep anymore.

I moved ds's nap to mid-day, so that he sleeps from 11 until 1 maybe 2 sometimes 3 (if I'm lucky). It works for us as I make him walk 3 miles (or as much as he can) to take dd to school, he is only 18 months though and I know that everything can and will change when he reaches about 2.

IMO I think that he does still need this nap but you should gently wake him up, there's nothing worse than an unexplainable grump.

I think they're all different but my DD (18 months) was waking up in a real strop when she was sleeping 12-2.15pm. I then cut it back to an hour and she wakes up all sweetness and light - also sleeps a bit longer in the morning - she's a 7-7 baby.
Very impressed with your son Jenie - walking 3 miles. How long does it take or has he given up on examining every bit of rubbish/leaves/grass along the way?

Thanks I'll try cutting it back to an hour as not sure if I quite ready to give it up.....

I know when I cut ds1 down to an hours nap I found it really hard to stick to. I was used to him sleeping 2 or 2.5 hours so could get loads done in that time - surf mumsnet, have a cup of tea, watch last nights corrie etc !! An hour is no time - but stick with it. It really is worth the effort.

well as I have DS2 to cope with, not probably such a big deal !!!

Actually, just did it - we went out this afternoon to the park and DS1 was given an icecream as a treat. Went pretty well, though we did have a bit of a paddy on the way home - my fault for going to the shops after the park i think

He is now sitting in front of Balmoray - comotose.