Is your 2 year old cutting out day time naps?

Question

My two year old boy is slowly cutting out of his day time sleeps. He starts to get grumpier in the afternooons however still fights his sleep. The advantage is that he's ready for bed earlier in the evenings and i can have some time with rest of family. It is a long day, other son's still napped until three years. I'm sure this is common, just want to hear similiar stories. Thanks...

Answer 1

Yes, that's a difficult time. It got to the point that my kids really needed "1/2 a nap"--impossible I know, but if they took a full nap in the afternoons, it was very hard to get them to go to bed at a decent hour and/or they wouldn't sleep through the night well. If they didn't take a nap at all, they were very grouchy and cranky for the rest of the day, and might fall asleep before I could get them bathed and ready for bed.

You will want to try to enforce a "rest time" or quiet time, even if he will not nap anymore. Soft music, lights out, books and soft quiet toys only for at least 45 min. or so. The reasons for this are, of course, to give you a bit of down time, to help him recharge so he won't be grouchy, and to keep him accustomed to this habit for preschool and kindergarten. Most schools have mandatory rest periods up through kindergarten, and he will disturb the other children and annoy his teacher (I know because I used to teach preschool) if he isn't able to at least lay quietly during that time. If you develop a firm ritual with naptime story, certain "lovies"--special pillows, blankets, and/or toys for him to sleep with, and soft music, and have something fun for him to do when he gets up if he waits until you wake him up (you could even set a timer or have an alarm), you should still be able to get him to at least rest.

Just wait until the time change--that used to really mess with my kids' biological clocks, too!

Answer 2

my children, my grandchildren and ALL the kids i have taken care of over 36 years of childcare are required to take at least an afternoon rest until they are in school all day- usually at age 5 or 6. I can't MAKE them sleep, but I CAN make them stay quietly in their rooms for an hour or 2- depending on age- for a little respite. Usually, the younger ones will fall asleep and by 3 or 4 or so, they just rest for a bit.

Answer 3

My first child napped until he was four. But my almost three year old hasn't taken a nap in months. If he does sleep during the day for even an hour he's up until midnight, so we don't make him take a nap anymore.