2 year-old's nap getting later and later

[Bearcrumble]

My DS is just 2 and I am due to have another baby in 2 weeks time. Just recently his nap has started getting later and later and he's harder and harder to settle. We tried a day without a nap (early night instead) but he was too tired in the later part of the afternoon.

Today he got up at 7.30am, started acting tired around 1.30 but didn't actually sleep until 3.30. He's still asleep now and I should really wake him if I want him to go to sleep tonight at a reasonable time but I am so bloody knackered I can't bring myself to.

I guess this is just another difficult transition period like the one from 3 to 2 naps and again from 2 to 1. Just wish it hadn't coincided so very neatly with the arrival of baby number two (but then that's my doing, not DS's).

Any tips on how to cope? I really need the hour/hour-and-a-half in the afternoon at the moment. I am an old gimmer (38) and late pregnancy is so tiring.

I think he's showing signs that he's ready to drop the nap but he's in an awkward transition period. I've been through this and if by 3pm my DD hadn't slept, I would keep her up and give her an early bedtime (6pm). If she did sleep near to 3, I would keep the nap short.

I had dealt with chronic early morning waking prior to this for months on end so I was always consistent in my approach as I knew that worked for us.

So what age-ish is the last nap usually dropped?

DS is only 17 months old, and still naps well at ~1pm. He's become a pest to get to go to sleep in the evening recently though . I think he's probably quite young to be dropping his last nap though, although he did drop his previous nap at quite a young age (~1 year).

Goof luck Bearcrumble , it's really difficult, isn't it?

My dd1 is 2.7 and hasn't had an afternoon nap for a couple of months unless she has a particularly tiring day. I sometimes leather have justva half an hour snooze at 3 which is enough to get her through to bedtime or go to bed early

Are you putting him down for a nap once he looks tired or before? If you wait until he's looking tired, you're too late and he'll get a second wind and fight.

Best to stick to the same time every day - say 1pm.

Ds is 2.5 and that's what we do - if we leave it much past 1, he fights the sleep!

Honestly, bedtime battles aren't always an indicator that a nap needs dropping. It can be a sign that theyre overtired or going through a developmental leap. I'd always tweak the bedtime rather than drop the nap. The nap should be the last thing to go IMO.

Thanks Iggly, that's interesting.

I agree that bedtime battles can be an indicator of something else, but if he's also starting to resist his nap, I think he's trying to tell you something!

My DD dropped her nap almost completely at 2. S
It wasn't a smooth transition and at 2.5 now she occasionally needs 10 mins. But at 2, she was showing all the signs of not needing it: refusing bed, waking early and resisting being put down for her nap. Once she dropped it, bedtime became much calmer.