NAPS

[Mommy2Isabella]

Does anyones two year old contest nap? Isabella almost refuses to sleep lately.

She stays up late playing in her room with WHATEVER she can find, the curtains her covers, stuffed animals, whatever. and wakes up first thing the next morning, in a HORRIBLE DESTRUCTIVE mood I might add.

Any ideas? Is she too old for naps??

[Boo&BugsMom]

Too old??? No. IMO, a 2 year old needs a nap. But that's JMO. I would take anything away from her reach that she can play with. If she is staying up playing and doesn't get enough sleep at night she could be so overtired that she doesn't want to nap. If she is playing with curtains and things that can not be removed, then I would keep checking on her and telling her to go to sleep.

I think a lot of parents think because a child is refusing to sleep that they do not need one. A lot of time a child is either testing the parent, or is just so overtired that they wont sleep, or they are distracted/over stimulated with the things around them.

Hope you can figure it out, but IMO, she does need a nap at her age.

[~Roo'sMama~]

2 definitely isn't too old for naps, but Andrew was around 2 or 2 1/2 when he gave up his nap. And believe you me I TRIED for a loooong time to get him to take one anyways. I finally got tired of listening to him scream in his room for two hours every day and stopped putting him in there for one. For a while I could get him to fall asleep on the couch with me in the afternoon, but eventually he stopped falling asleep and just started getting into things while I slept. My mom is always giving me grief because Andrew is only 3 1/2 and doesn't take a nap, but unless he is super tired, there is no getting him to sleep. And on the rare occasion he does sleep in the afternoon, no matter if it's early afternoon or late, he will NOT go to sleep that night.

[PrairieMom]

each kid is different. Al is 2 1/2 and takes a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. Ben napped until he was 4. He still really needed one, but he was in preschool every morning so we dropped it. Looking back we should have hung onto it. I NEED nap time.

[my2monkeyboys]

Will quit napping around 2 1/2 yrs old at the house. Sometimes he would still take a short nap in the car, maybe 30 min or so, if we were running errands, but not at home. He would go to bed as usual but he just wouldn't fall asleep. I could go in there 45 min later and he'd just be laying there, looking around. Finally I realized that he just didn't need a nap anymore but he still had quiet time in his room. I moved his bedtime up about 30 min just to help with the transition, too.
If she's staying up half the night she may not really need a nap - maybe just some down time. I'd try just letting her stay up a day or 2 without one and see if that helps. If not, then I'd word on getting her more in the mood for a nap... maybe by letting her watch a favorite movie as long as she's laying down being still and quiet. I know I used to fall asleep easy that way.

[gr33n3y3z]

When my kids hit a year they stopped taking naps

[lisar]

Raygen doesnt take naps either. She hasnt been real big on them since she was about 2. However at night we have our bed time routine. I tuck her in read her a book. However she doesnt go to sleep right away. She will lay there for hours playing with her books and singing songs. So I am no help here. And just to add she is always the first person awake in the morning.

[moped]

They really do NEED a nap at 2 - so badly.

Without going on a sleep nazi rant, what time does she go to bed at night? How many hours does she sleep? What time do you try to make her nap?

It is normal for them to fight it but still VERY important!

[msoulz]

My kids have ALWAYS protested naps - my son protested sleep in general forever! Erin is just over 3 and she needs a nap or she is evil and falling apart by 6 p.m. And she sleeps for 9, sometimes 10 hours at night so if I put her to bed at 6 she's up by 4 so the earliest she goes to bed is 7:30. But I do hear some 2 year olds don't need them. I think it depends how long they sleep at night. I would be really happy if I could put her down and she would sleep 11 or 12 hours then she probably wouldn't need a nap.

[my2monkeyboys]

Will has always gotten up by 7:30, regardless of how early or late he went to bed. His bedtime is around 8:30-9, so he still gets about 10 hours of sleep a day. Even when he was younger if I tried to get him to sleep a little later by keeping up a little longer, say on a Saturday when I'd love to sleep in a little, he still got up at his normal time. Even now he has to be dead tired from staying up late 2-3 nights before he'll go past 8. Like on New Year's Eve, we all stayed up to ring in the new year and he was STILL out of bed at 8:15!

[My3LilMonkeys]

Both of my older kids stopped napping around 1 1/2 so I'd say it all depends on the kid.

[Jackie012007]

Carly just turned 2 and she naps at least once, if not twice a day. She is usually in bed by 8pm and she used to fight it badly and then we got into a routine and it helps a lot. I cuddle with her for a few minutes and tell her its "nuhnight time" and then I have her give me a hug, give me a kiss, then she gets in the crib with a stuffie in each arm. Doing the routine has seemed to help, maybe you could try it!

[HuskerMom]

Keith isn't quite 2 1/2 yet, he still takes a nap every afternoon. If he misses it he's a bear in the evenings.

[Calimama]

Miabella is 2 and still naps religiously. She goes down the same time everyday and TRIES to fight them occasionally but doesn't succeed. Her nap is right after she's played outside and has had lunch, so she's exhausted and full.

[Hillbilly Housewife]

There is quiet time in our house after lunch EVERY DAY.

Zach usually reads, or plays quietly, but even he does sleep maybe half an hour now and then... but he'll stay in his room quietly doing his thing for a good 2 hours. He's 6 1/2. (omg!! )

Emilie plays quietly for a while.. then she gets a little rowdy, which is when one of us goes to tellher that she needs to be quiet. She'll then usually climb into bed with a book and a toy or two.. and fall asleep. She'll sleep for maybe an hour. All in all, she usually stays in her room for about an hour and a half, and then she's just too annoying, and will bother the others, so we let her come to the main floor and color or something.

Naomie gets into bed no problem.. she will usually sing to her stuffed animals for about 15 minutes, then she'll sleep for a good 2 hours if not woken up.

It's non-negotiable in our house, quiet time is quiet time.

They go to bed around 7, 7:15, and they will sleep until about 6 the next morning.

On occasion that we are doing something and they don't get quiet time at their regular time, the only one affected really is Naomie... she'll crash out around 3, if we're in the car she'll fall asleep.. and she'll sleep until dinner time.. then we wake her up, the kids go to bed a little earlier, maybe 6:45.. and she'll stay up a little later, maybe 8pm, and then they all wake up closer to 7am.

we take it in stride though.. i mean, if it's an all around quiet/lazy day, then we're not as strict about it.. because they're having quiet time with us, ya know? we jsut put them to bed a little earlier, no big deal.

We used to have major problems with Emilie and her sleep... but they all ask if they can go to bed when they are tired, they know it makes them feel better.

[Cece00]

there was never a choice about naps in our house. still isnt with the 2 little ones.

they take 2 naps a day and sleep around 11.5 hrs @ night.

my older 2 boys dont really nap on weekends, but will have "quiet time" or sometimes I do make them lie down. My oldest will usually fall asleep, my 2nd boy will fall asleep about half the time but stays quietly in his bed playing or reading the other half...most of the time I make them do something quiet. Its nap time here right now and the babies are asleep, DH is asleep next to me, I'm relaxin and the boys are in the front playing video games quietly.

For MY kids- they still has naps @ 2. My babies are almost 2.5 and 3.5. there just never has been a question on whether or not they were going to do it, I said it was nap time and they were sleeping. They are still in cribs and dont have an option to "destroy their room".

My older 2 and almost 6 and 7. They still take naps in the 6 yr olds class, she says he takes one about 1/2 the time...I know he would take one every day but he's on a medication that makes it more difficult to sleep...

[momofone]

The 2 year molars may be coming in too. Maybe they are causing pain.

[~Roo'sMama~]

I was just looking on parent center for a guideline of how much sleep a three year old needs - Andrew doesn't take naps and I'm trying to figure out how many hours of sleep a night he should get - and stumbled on this thing about naps. Apparently 2 year olds giving up their naps isn't all that uncommon. I should show it to my mom.

ETA the link. http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/0_nappi...3-years_7672.pc

This post has been edited by ~Roo'sMama~ on Jan 17 2009, 07:33 AM