toddler day time sleeps?

Question

my toddler does not like afternoon sleeps everyday. when he is really tired he goes down quickly, but some days he just screams and screams and refuses to sleep. when i get him up he is full of beans!! should toddlers have an afternoon sleep every day or do i just go with his needs? im trying to enforce a routine, so is it worth putting him down if even to scream?

Answer 1

is it really worth the stress to fight your child to sleep???? rename Naptime and call it Quiet time. give him 30 minutes of quiet time in his room every afternoon with books or quiet toys. you both deserve it.

Answer 2

My 2.5 year old boy has started not wanting to go to sleep and this is a nightmare! What I have been doing is putting him down slightly later and I'm finding he will go to sleep after 5-10mins but not always without a fight. Then I put him to bed half an hour later now (7.30pm). If I try to cut the day sleep he just falls asleep on the lounge mid afternoon or in the car when we go to pick up my daughter and that just screws everything up.
My daughter stopped having a day sleep everyday at about 3.5yrs and when she was 4.5yrs and stared big school she was still napping every 2nd to 3rd day.
It depends on your child, but I personally think a child under the age of 3 should be napping for at least an hour everyday and over 3 every 2nd or 3rd day is okay. They should be getting 14-15 hours of sleep everyday to make them learn, play and eat better.

Answer 3

Does he nap in the morning? As a baby gets older he sleeps more at night and less during the day. If he naps in the morning then he may not need one in the afternoon. Try doing just the afternoon nap. My little girl fights the sleep sometimes but it is because she is too afraid to miss out on something. If you cut out his nap does he sleep okay at night? My daughter will go down at 9pm and wake sometime around 11pm to 2am wanting to play if she doesn't get her nap. She only naps once a day now too. When she fights it I lay down with her or sing to her or rub her back or sometimes I rock her like when she was a baby. Do you ever have times when you can't sleep but you are really tired? How many different things do you have to try to get to sleep?

Answer 4

I think the quiet time idea sound really good. If he doesn't take an afternoon nap does he go to bed earlier? My son only takes an afternoon nap maybe four times a week, but his bedtime is about an hour or so earlier when he doesn't. Sometimes I don't mind dealing with the crabbies if it means I get an extra hour to myself at night. Good luck!