2 year old refusing a nap?

Question

My 25 month old daughter has lately started refusing to take a nap. I know little children grow out of the nap stage eventually. The problem is she gets terribly irritable in the early evening around 5 or so when her dad gets home now. I know it's because she didn't get that nap.
Her schedule used to be something like this:

7:30-8am wake up
1:30-3pm nap
8:30pm bedtime

Now it's more like...

9:30am wake up
~NO NAP ALL DAY~
5pm early evening temper tantrums begin (last until bedtime)
8:30pm bedtime

I have tried to lay her down around her usual nap time but she has a fit until I come get her. Should I just give up?

Answer 1

to 3 Years
From ages 1 to 3, most toddlers sleep about 10 to 13 hours. Separation anxiety, or just the desire to be up with mom and dad (and not miss anything), can motivate a child to stay awake. So can simple toddler-style contrariness.

Note the time of night when your toddler begins to show signs of sleepiness, and try establishing this as his or her regular bedtime. And you don't have to force a 2- or 3-year-old child to nap during the day unless yours gets cranky and overly tired.

Parents sometimes make the mistake of thinking that keeping a child up will make him or her sleepier for bedtime. In fact, though, kids can have a harder time sleeping if they're overtired.

Establishing a bedtime routine helps kids relax and get ready for sleep. For a toddler, the routine may be from 15 to 30 minutes long and include calming activities such as reading a story, bathing, and listening to soft music.

Whatever the nightly ritual is, your toddler will probably insist that it be the same every night. Just don't allow rituals to become too long or too complicated. Whenever possible, allow your toddler to make bedtime choices within the routine: which pajamas to wear, which stuffed animal to take to bed, what music to play. This gives your little one a sense of control over the routine.

But even the best sleepers give parents an occasional wake-up call. Teething can awaken a toddler and so can dreams. Active dreaming begins at this age, and for very young children, dreams can be pretty alarming. Nightmares are particularly frightening to a toddler, who can't distinguish imagination from reality. (So carefully select what TV programs, if any, your toddler sees before bedtime.)

Comfort and hold your child at these times. Let your toddler talk about the dream if he or she wants to, and stay until your child is calm. Then encourage your child to go back to sleep as soon as possible.

Answer 2

Its totally up to you but I would consider giving up her nap. My daughter was exactly 25 months when she gave up her nap as well. what I did to make up for it was bump her bedtime up earlier. Literally I started putting her to bed at 6:30pm because she was very fussy. She slept right through though, until her normal wakeup time (which is between 7:30-8am). She's now almost three, and she is used to having no naps, so I am able to push her bedtime a little later.... but frankly my husband travels all week, so I enjoy her early bedtime - it gives me some alone time in the evenings. Anyways, I don't know if its an option for you or not, but try maybe moving her bedtime up til maybe 7pm.... then if nothing else its less time dealing with her tantrums. It took my daughter a month or so to get used to no naps, then she was much more tolerable. HOpe this helps!

Answer 3

Theres nothing you can do to make a baby sleep. You can change her schedule to make it more possiable. When she took a nap she was waking up between 7:30-8:00, now shes waking up at 9:30 see the difference? Wake her up every morning at 7:00- 7:30 she'll want a nap about 1-2 pm. Dont let her sleep more then an hour so she wants bed time still around 8-8:30.

Answer 4

My son will be 3 in July and he is starting to refuse his naps also. But I know what you mean if he doesn't get his nap he is just irritable around dinner time. So I know he still needs them.

I started to avoid the word "nap" and tell him it's time to rest. I will allow him to pick out 2 or 3 books to bring in his room to read. Sometimes he just reads his books and others he falls asleep. Even when he just sits there and reads his books he is still getting his "down" time to relax. If he falls asleep I will let him sleep about 2.5 hrs but if I can hear him just reading I will get him sooner.

Good Luck

Answer 5

My son refused to take a nap since day one. I just get him to have REST time. I ask him to lay down and rest. I dont call it nap time and it really works. I tell him that he does not have to sleep. he just has to lay there for his nap time and it has worked for a long time. There are some days that I have to work hard to get him to do it but it works most of the time. Good Luck:)

Answer 6

Take her to bed around 1-1:30 and tell her that she needs to take a nap, you are not asking her if she wants or not you are the boss, lay her down on her bed and you can try to pur on instrumental music so she can go to sleep, the music will help her to relax and fall asleep... But do it like an order do not ask her if she want.."Tell her it is time for your nap and you are going to sleep then we are going to eat a snak and play" try fro her to have a busy morning so after luch she will be tired and will go to sleep .... good luck

Answer 7

Try getting your daughter up at her 'usual time' when she took a nap ... and the first few days let her 'rail on' with no nap and don't even let her 'lie down' or fall asleep for the first two or three days ... and put her to bed at the 'proper time' of 8:30. After a few days, she'll just 'fall down' and go to sleep during the day ... and THAT should be her 'naptime' ... your 'artificial schedule' is what is making your life so 'miserable' because you are using an 'adult schedule' on a 'basic baby' and not a 'kid friendly schedule' ... go to my more 'kid friendly schedule' but GET HER UP even if she's 'sound alseep' and you'll get a nice 'nap-time' ... but you should also never let her sleep MORE THAN ONE HOUR when she's napping, even if you have to go in and wake her up.

Answer 8

Perhaps just a quiet time in the middle of the day. I was formerly a nanny for two little girls and when they outgrew naps they still had a quiet time.

The rule was that they did not have to sleep if they didn't feel sleepy, but they did have to be in their room for one hour of quiet time. They could play with quiet toys, read books, whatever they desired. Usually the kiddie gate was done in their doorway so I could see them and they could see out.

At first I had to be strict about not speaking to them during quiet time ( it would just egg them on and turn it into noisy time). I had told them that I was having quiet time as well and could not talk. But after a while they got the clue and they would collect whatever toys they needed for house-wide quiet time. Most of the time Lily would conk out and nap anyway.

She just hated being laid down. But given a few minutes of quiet time with the option of play, she would fall asleep on her carpet with a barbie majority of the days. As for Sam, she didn't need naps anymore but the hour of quiet time just helped her to unwind and re-energize even if she wasn't sleeping.

Answer 9

Both of my children gave up napping very early, before they were 2. The good news is you can up that bedtime to 7 with no guilt. The bad news is you just lost another hour's worth of free time!

Answer 10

the first answer covered a lot of things you could try at bed time but as far as the nap. you can try laying down with your child for a little bit. if they go to sleep get up and go about your day. if they just lay beside you then you can talk low and rest yourself. there is nothing wrong with taking a time out and resting with your child. i did it with my two if they got hard to sleep