Dropping the nap

JosieB68 · 2025-06-03T12:17:35+00:00

Has anyone’s little one dropped all naps completely before the age of 2? Not sure what to do but almost 2 year old has always been a crap sleeper, can count on one hand how many times they’ve actually slept all night. Consistently wakes up crying in the night looking for comfort. Always been an early raiser, 7am is a very long lie for us. Anyway for last few weeks she has been refusing her nap and if she has crashed at 4/5pm bedtime has been a nightmare, not falling asleep until 9pm. I was hoping maybe stopping the nap and an early bedtime would lead to a full nights sleep with less wake ups has that worked for anyone?

Y2ker · 03/06/2025 14:45

Hi OP, do you mean she is having a late afternoon nap which is stopping her from falling asleep before 9pm?

What time have you been trying to give her a nap? I think that by 2 years old, dd didn't need a nap until 1.30/2ish and limited to no more than an hour. I think you're in a catch 22 situation at the moment. If she isn't sleeping well at night, cutting out her nap altogether will probably result in her being beside herself before bed, falling asleep really quickly and then waking in the night still.

Does she/can she fall asleep on her own?

heroinechic · 03/06/2025 15:04

DD turned two a couple of weeks ago and has pretty much dropped her nap over the last month or so. Sometimes we try if she’s woken up particularly early but she probably only naps once or twice a week now!

Melissac88 · 03/06/2025 19:10

We're having similar dilemma with my 13 month old going down from two naps to one. 6am tends to be the latest she'll ever sleep til in the morning but often wakes earlier than that. So she's knackered and ready for a nap by 9.30 and has around an hour max, she won't nap longer than that. So then obviously she can't go from 10.30am til bedtime, but she also doesn't seem to easily nap in the afternoon. Ike she's on the verge of not needing it. Sometimes she'll end up not napping again til 2pm in which case I only give her about 15mins as she can't sleep past 2pm or she won't be ready for bed until a bit later which then ALWAYS means an even EARLIER waking! She sleeps best at night when she's in bed by 6:15 to 6:30, been that way from only a few months old. There's been a couple days recently she's managed stay up until 10.30am for first nap then waking just before lunch which just about worked, but it's still like 6 hours from nap til bedtime which is long for both of us. I'm convinced she only really needs one nap now, like an 1 hour or so late morning to early afternoon. When we do eventually get there I imagine she'll have an early lunch then sleep from around 12.30 to no longer than 2pm. It's a vicious circle til then!
With all this being said I'm quite sure my baby won't still be napping when she's two, I don't think my other daughter did either. So it's definitely a possibility she's ready for that.

Original poster

JosieB68 · 03/06/2025 20:25

@Melissac88 i swear I could have written your reply when my daughter was 13 months 😂 we also had the same issues dropping to 1 nap. I even paid for a sleep consultant (waste of money) who said she had to have two naps, at one point I was driving around at 5pm trying for that second nap off the back of her advice… complete nonsense. And once we dropped to the one nap I must admit things were really good nap wise, for the past year she’s had one solid nap during the day. Started off around 11ish for a couple hours with an earlier bedtime then as she got old the nap got later and really worked so I hope for you it does too.
So today was a no nap day as she completely refused, fell asleep at 6pm and has already woken 3 times upset so I know she’s overtired and needs that nap.

OP posts:

Original poster

JosieB68 · 03/06/2025 20:27

@heroinechic and does she sleep well during the night? If it didn’t effect night sleep for us I’d just power through but she seems to sleep worse at night without the nap although doesn’t sleep all night with it either.

OP posts:

Original poster

JosieB68 · 03/06/2025 20:30

@Y2ker she was falling asleep on her own in her own cot previously, although not 100%. Some nights she needs a hand hold or a few check ins if upset.
I have tried a later nap time but I think I just need to keep being consistent and try around 1pm for an hour and no more as any later and bedtime is just far too late.
I never thought at almost 2 I would still
be having multiple wakes up at night. Sleep has always seemed to be a struggle for us to get right.

OP posts:

heroinechic · 03/06/2025 20:56

@JosieB68 honestly whether she has a nap or not she sleeps the same, she just goes to bed half an hour later when she’s had a nap. Will they sleep in the car if you take them out? I appreciate it’s not ideal all the time!

Melissac88 · 04/06/2025 09:54

JosieB68 · 03/06/2025 20:25

@Melissac88 i swear I could have written your reply when my daughter was 13 months 😂 we also had the same issues dropping to 1 nap. I even paid for a sleep consultant (waste of money) who said she had to have two naps, at one point I was driving around at 5pm trying for that second nap off the back of her advice… complete nonsense. And once we dropped to the one nap I must admit things were really good nap wise, for the past year she’s had one solid nap during the day. Started off around 11ish for a couple hours with an earlier bedtime then as she got old the nap got later and really worked so I hope for you it does too.
So today was a no nap day as she completely refused, fell asleep at 6pm and has already woken 3 times upset so I know she’s overtired and needs that nap.

Yeah I'm telling myself it's just a matter of time with the nap/s and trying to ride it out. She woke at 4.30 this morning and guess what, went to sleep last night about half hour later than normal, after having that weird late 15min afternoon nap! I'm convinced the few days we had where she only had one nap were followed by the best nights sleep and its not coincidence. Either way I guess I have to take early wakings if she's technically sleeping all night more consistently.

Y2ker · 04/06/2025 15:54

JosieB68 · 03/06/2025 20:30

@Y2ker she was falling asleep on her own in her own cot previously, although not 100%. Some nights she needs a hand hold or a few check ins if upset.
I have tried a later nap time but I think I just need to keep being consistent and try around 1pm for an hour and no more as any later and bedtime is just far too late.
I never thought at almost 2 I would still
be having multiple wakes up at night. Sleep has always seemed to be a struggle for us to get right.

It's tricky to transition. I think she's on the cusp of not really needing a nap but busier days will wipe her out. It's a pain but how about doing the drive of doom around nap time - even every other day? Is that do-able? I think once it was settled down her night sleeping will be more consistent.

Y2ker · 04/06/2025 15:56

Melissac88 · 04/06/2025 09:54

Yeah I'm telling myself it's just a matter of time with the nap/s and trying to ride it out. She woke at 4.30 this morning and guess what, went to sleep last night about half hour later than normal, after having that weird late 15min afternoon nap! I'm convinced the few days we had where she only had one nap were followed by the best nights sleep and its not coincidence. Either way I guess I have to take early wakings if she's technically sleeping all night more consistently.

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It's her morning nap that's causing the early waking annoyingly. If you keep nudging that (by whatever means of distraction) 10 mins closer to lunchtime each day, she will hopefully start to sleep later in the mornings.

Melissac88 · 04/06/2025 16:51

Y2ker · 04/06/2025 15:56

It's her morning nap that's causing the early waking annoyingly. If you keep nudging that (by whatever means of distraction) 10 mins closer to lunchtime each day, she will hopefully start to sleep later in the mornings.

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Yes I've read this before too! Partly why we pushed it back for a few days. But today she had a little music class at 10.30 so I knew she'd be grumpy through it if she hadn't slept so we went with a 30 min nap at 9:.15....but tomorrow I'm going to try keep her up longer

MummaT0M · 05/06/2025 10:29

We are transitioning out of naps for our almost 2 year old. She tends to alternate day to day, so we just let her nap on the go. If she hasn't fallen asleep by 2pm we do everything possible to avoid a late nap or it leads to a difficult night e.g. letting her watch YouTube if we have to drive somewhere. If I know I need to be out in the afternoon I 'force' the nap at lunchtime with a quick drive or buggy ride.