Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

DS has never been a good daytime napper, bu the does generally sleep well at night. For four days running now, he will not nap, not at all. I've been waiting for all the usual signs of sleepiness--quiet, beginning to yawn, and we go through our nap routine and then I put him down.

Except it's not working. We have some upheaval in my family right now, and DH is home all the time, and DS isn't going to his usual activities. There isn't much I can do about this at the moment, and my guess is some of the napping issues revolve around these changes. Any suggestions for nap routines? I'm trying CIO as well, but it just doesn't seem to be working with him.

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

dd has trouble napping the days she knows my dh is home, now that dh has been home for the past week.. its settled down and has began napping again. Its probable a phase with your ds too, once he realizes daddy is home more he will nap again... hopefully.

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

NOPE he naps min 2-3hrs aday

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

my DD rarely naps but if she does then she is awake until midnight dd is 26 months old

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

DD just started fighting her naps. The only thing that was working was a drive in the car, but then I couldn't transfer her to the crib. She'd wake up and that was it! The past 2 days I tried something new: we'd lay down on my bed together. At first she was hyper. Then I started lightly rubbing her forehead. She was out like a light. Stayed there for 2+ hours. I put pillows around the bed, but she's big enough to get down on her own now. I really miss my 2+ hour break when she was safely tucked into her crib, but I think those days are gone. She may be done with her naps soon, but when she didn't nap at all, she was so exhausted by dinner time. Good luck! I hope you find a solution. We mamas need that nap (our breaktime) more than they do sometimes.

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

My oldest son (3) doesn't nap either. He stopped napping at around 2.5. When he does nap he's up late.

Message edited 2/27/2009 12:23:55 PM.

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

DS is 3.. he rarely naps.. MAYBE once a week he will..

And no matter how early he wakes up.. he always goes to bed late .. so I have pretty much given up and just let him sleep later on the days he doesn't have school

Re: Anyone Have a Toddler Who Will Not Nap?

DS is 15 months next week, so he really should not be done with his nap yet. And on the days when he skips it, he gets so cranky, so he is tired. I don't know CIO works at night for him, but not during the day for some reason--he usually just gets hysterical, so I don't think I can do it with naps anymore.

The funny thing with Dad, he has been home 3 weeks now. The first two weeks, DS basically napped fine, maybe he missed one day. This week, he's up a lot. So maybe it's the change, maybe he's going through a phase of some sort. Teething doesn't seem to be going on now, so I doubt that's it.

And yeah, I have the same trouble getting him in the house asleep from the car, so unless I drive around for an hour or so, he won't really get a decent nap.

I could try lying down with him and rubbing his back--he likes that. He usually is sort of wild when I've tried it before, but maybe the back or a forehead rub will help.

But you are right, I think it's more of a problem for me than him. I keep thinking "Oh no, 7:00 pm is a long way off, he'll be cranky, and I can't get anything done."