Dropping the nap at 2 years old?

[24HoursFromTulseHill]

My DS is 1 week off his 2nd birthday and has started to not sleep during his lunch nap.
I still put him down for an hour of quiet time in his room between 1:30 - 2:30 but he just rolls around chatting to himself rather than falling asleep. He's full of beans in the morning and after lunch and sleeps solidly for 12 hours at night so I don't think it's doing him any harm not napping - I do an earlier bedtime for him so he gets a bit more night sleep on the days he doesn't nap. He dropped his late afternoon nap pretty early on and can't nap in his pram as he gets major FOMO so I'm not completely surprised he's decided to stop napping. I'll keep offering it for a few more weeks incase this is a sleep regression or he still needs the awake but quiet time in his cot to rest.

If your child dropped the nap at 2, what did that look like for you? How long did you keep offering it for before you gave up? Do you do something restful at nap time instead to have some chillout time?

Mine dropped completely pretty much overnight just before 2. Save a couple of illnesses, she never napped again!

We used to cuddle on the sofa with a bit of TV, or some colouring, or reading a book. TV worked best to ensure an hour or so quiet time to be honest as it would stop
her running around after 10 mins drawing and crashing later on.

Mine dropped it at 2 for four months and is now happily napping for an hour again. It’s normal to go through phases of not needing it at this point. Offer it but don’t force it. It’s better for brain development for them to nap, but forcing it just makes everything more stressful for everyone.

I’d absolutely expect the nap to come back though.

DD1 dropped her naps at home before 2 I think, she still has naps at nursery tho and she's 2 and a half now. I do try to give her some quiet time yes, or if we go somewhere in the car of a weekend, she MIGHT nap

Dropped overnight at 2. I thought, well that's that then. Dropped for a couple of months then all of a sudden needed a 2 hour nap every day again. I think he was going through some developmental leaps and a growth spurt and needed the sleep again. So they can come back.

That lasted a couple of months. Now at 2 and a half he pretty much doesn't nap but now and again he's tired and needs one. Especially if he's got a cold or a bit run down. Will nap in the car too.

To be honest I prefer getting him to bed earlier, so I'm not bothered the naps have gone!

Mine dropped naps at 2.5 very abruptly at both home and nursery and never napped again.

My eldest dropped naps at around 1 year and my youngest at around 8 months, and they've never napped since lol but they were very good night sleepers and both got solid 10-12 hours

Ours dropped his naps at 18 months. Slept very well during the night.

So child dependent!

If they will still happily go for downtime for an hour I'd do that (obviously don't not make plans to do that!) as it's a good period of them being happy, independent and peaceful in their room, gives a bit of quiet time for you both!

If they're unsettled and don't want that hour then don't do it, but if you start to notice them getting tired try again! Some will drop and never go back, others sometimes fall asleep and sometimes just sit and sing/be peaceful for a bit etc.

Mine was a 2-3 hour napper until he was nearly 4! And I was a bit worried as everyone I knew, even with children a year younger at nursery, had already stopped napping! But he'd go off into the baby section and nap at nursery or take himself for a 'little sleep' at home! Then he just suddenly stopped, maybe one or 2 naps within the first month but other than that never again. I guess their bodies let them know when ready!

My little boy will be 4 in June and still naps! He loves it! He is now at preschool 3 days a week, but the other 4 days he will go to bed 12-2.30pm. I think quiet rest in his bed if he is happy to do it is the way to go for now. Seems a bit young to stop, but all children are different. Mine still sleeps 6pm-7am so if hasn’t affected his night sleep x

My daughter recently dropped her nap at about 2 and 2 months old - a whole year earlier than her older brother did!

She just stopped going to sleep for them so I tend to put her in her cot with some books and leave her as long as she is happy (usually an hour max but some days more like 20 mins) but she will go to sleep left alone, with her big brother we have always had to sit with him til he nods off so it is a bigger commitment trying to work out whether to try to put them down or not if that is the case!

She carried on napping at nursery for a couple of months after she stopped napping at home, but we noticed after a while that her sleep was much worse in the week than it was on the weekends and so we asked nursery to stop napping her and it majorly improved her sleep overall.

Both mine were before 2 when they dropped the nap. The eldest one would still have his nap but then wouldn’t go to sleep at night so we dropped it and it worked. There would be the odd day when he’d have a danger nap but on the whole, it worked much better for him. My youngest was like yours and started refusing naps so we just stopped and was fine but he does go to sleep quite early. I was very sad to drop the nap but I would rather them go to bed at night! Quiet time is a good idea as well. All the sleep experts say it’s too young but every child is so different and you need to do what is best for your family.

My eldest dropped day naps at 18m old but for a few months did ‘quiet time’ my youngest is almost 3 and dropped naps about 6m ago but then started pre school and started napping again. On the days he doesn’t nap I don’t do bedtime earlier we still do same routine wether he naps or doesn’t. He just goes to sleep quicker with no nap

My son is three months ish from being 2. Super inconsistent with naps. He is 50/50 between one nap and no naps.

He never naps more than once a day if at all. Sometimes he asks for a nap at 10 in the morning - if he has woken up early at 7 he does this …. Sometimes a lunchtime nap …. More frequently it is at 3 or 4 ish. It can be anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

He often doesn’t nap at all. He hasn’t today.

I wouldn’t say I do anything about it. I just let him sleep when he asks and roll with what he wants / needs. He obviously naps less when there’s things going on. Although today we have just pottered in the house and he hasn’t napped.

I'd keep offering the nap. My now 2 year 10 months has done this twice over the last year for a week at a time and is currently on 2-2.5 hr naps each day and sleeping through 7.30-6.30. Save the nap!