When do they drop their daytime nap?

[99redballoons]

Hi all, ds is 2.1years and it's getting more and more difficult to settle him during the day at 14:00. He normally sleeps for an 1.5-2hrs if I let him, but I've been restricting this to 1hr this week as it's helped him sleep longer at night. However, he's been a little devil to get to drop off. Even the old trick of laying down with him in his bed isn't working any more. I'm 6mo pg and find this is annoying me more and more and I shouldn't be getting myself wound up by it... sooooo... is it that inevitable time that he wants to drop the nap? I think he still would struggle to get through to the day without any sleep, but 4pm is my cutoff time and he's not allowed to sleep after then or bedtime routines go out the window. ARRRGGHHHHH!

When did yours drop all naps and what was the transition period like?

PS. He's at home with me at the mo, but due to start nursery in Sept.

Mine ( all 4) had a long sleep until school age!!

My DS1 didn't drop his afternoon nap until he was about 3.5. But he would go to bed in the evening at 8:30 at that age, so he was sleeping less at night.

The transition wasn't bad, we had a busy period and I was ill, and there were a few days where napping wasn't possible. Before that, he would miss his afternoon nap maybe once every few weeks, because he couldn't sleep.

Does he sleep in a completely dark room? I think that was what helped us keep the nap so long. And will he be at nursery all day in September?

Ds1 (3.11) still has a sleep most afternoons at home. He's at nursery 3 days a week,where he never sleeps, so often has a nap on the car on the way home, between 5-5.30 - doesn't put him off his bedtime at night... As this is a very slow transition, I would say that sometimes when he's really tired cos he's not had an afternoon nap, he's a bit grim between 5 - 7.30, needs lots of jollying along and patience (not always my strong point)

lol Jamiesam!

DH would still have an afternoon nap if it was possible!

DS has been dropping naps for past 2mths and he is 21mths. If he does nap then he will be up at 5-6am the next day so dont know which is worse. Today he hasnt napped and been up since 5.15am so both dh and I are shattered but he is bounding around playing with his toys...

Transition periods have been rough with both of mine, but if you feel he still needs the nap then persist. I think 2.1y still needs napping (but then my nearly 5yo is still napping 3-4 times a week for over an hour). My 2.6yo is still napping about 2h from 1.30ish every day.

At this age he may well be acting up and challenging you, rather than genuinely not being tired. Be persistent in putting him down. Be boring and don't respond to him any more than absolutely necessary. Is he still in a cot? Keep him in one if poss when the baby is born.

18 months!

My 18 months old daughter still sleeps upto three hours in one sleep per day. But she's younger than your son. My first daughter loved her sleep, nad continued sleep when she came home from play school. And believe it or not, during her first year at primary school she would even nod of in the car she was so exhausted. If your son still likes a sleep during the day then let him, you can limit it if you want to. If he continues to nap through the day it may be of benefit to you when your new baby arrives to give you some relaxing time.
Its wierd you have said this because I have noticed that my 18m seems to be less fussed about wether she sleeps or not, although I make sure she does because I find that she sleeps a little better at night. I am hoping to get her into play school around two, so im sure she'll appreciate those naps then. x

Hi All, thanks so much for the comments..

Well today he's resisted. I put him back into bed a number of times but he just got out and played. He seemed happy enough and I calmed down enough to just get on with some other stuff in the room next door. He's starting to hit the hyper stage now so that also tells me he really needed a sleep. I too think 2.1 is too early, especially as his past record shows that if he misses a nap he wakes up earlier the next day. My mum said she can remember my brother going to his room for a 'nap' when I was a baby and sometimes he played, sometimes he slept. He was about the same age. I guess I'll go with the flow to see if it's a phase. It might be he's just had too much sugar today (made suzywong's famous brownies yesterday, recipe under the recipe section - yummy!)

Thanks again

hi all ,

My dd is 2.6 and usually has a nap after lunch for around 1-1.5 hrs. But recently she has been resisting going to bed at night til ten. She hasn`t had a nap today and went to bed at seven so fingers crossed .

hi all,

well dd slept till one in the morning then toddled into our bed ,i tried to take her back to bed but she wasn`t having none of it !She ended up taking up most of the bed and waking me and dh up at six am ,so it appears that this has its flaws too .Not sure what to do now as she sleeps no longer if i drop her napany ideas ?

Hi elliemae, they drive you mad don't they??!?

No advice to give I'm afraid as I'm still having problems with DS. He's been a complete nightmare to settle the last few lunchtimes (but has just gone down today cos he fell asleep in the car back from the shops). A few friends have said it might be a phase as their's have done this too for a few days and then got back into their old routine. I'm hoping so!

Hmmm.. can only suggest you cut the nap down to 1hr and put down for bed by 8pm. If she won't settle have you tried the 'super nanny' technique of putting back to bed over and over, quick kiss and cuddle first couple of times then no eye contact or talking for each subsequent time? We've had some success with that with DS at night only (in the day he just laughs his head off at me and thinks it's all a game !)