Could she possibly not need a nap anymore?

[monkeysmommy]

My 21 month old daughter has been really resistant to taking naps for the last week and a half of so. There have been days when I have literally spent two hours trying to get to to take a nap, and then she takes a 20 minute catnap and that's it. Yesterday when I went to pick her up from her sitter's, the sitter told me that dd did not nap, but that she rested. She lay down for a while, and she also sat in sitter's lap and looked at books. Last night she went to bed at 7:30, (an hour earlier than usual) and I did not hear a peep from her until 7:30 this morning. She usually wakes me up at least once and she gets up at 6. In the past, if she had not napped, she may have gone to bed early, but she would have flopped around and moaned and groaned all night due to being overtired. This morning when she woke up, instead of being whiny and cranky like she usually first thing in the morning, she was cheerful and ready to go. Today, again, she did not nap at the sitter's, but rested like yesterday and went to bed at 7.

When did your child stop napping?

[smarmie]

dd has acted similar with the naps. If she can't fall asleep I set the timer and tell her it is time for a rest. She stays in her room on her bed with some books and rests until the timer goes off and then early to bed at night. Now she is back to taking naps with just a rest every so often.

I would say every child is different and not really predictable! But I am pretty sure she will nap until she is 18 or moves out of the house !

[homebirthmama2]

Ds1 is 3 and he goes through phases with napping, some weeks he will nap a few times some weeks none and some weeks most days. I do find that havingg him asleep at 7:30 is a wonderful thing in our house as it gives my dh and me some much needed alone time. Follow her lead, it sounds like she is making some sort of transition and it may ebb and flow or she may be done.

[EmmalinesMom]

Oh yes...lol....we have been through this.

Emmaline really gave up napping right around her second birthday. We still have some quiet time each afternoon right after lunch, where we read in bed, or sometimes just lie there (while she plays with my fingers, lol). Very occasionally she will sleep for 15 or 20 minutes, but no longer.

The up side to this is that bedtime is SO much easier. We do our same routine of bath, teeth, story, prayer, sleep, but since she stopped napping, she falls asleep in 15 minutes or so rather than 45 minutes or an hour or longer. Her bedtime has also been pushed up about a half hour.

[monkeysmommy]

update

Well, yesterday she took a two and half hour nap, and then last night she tossed and turned all night. So if giving up a nap means I get to wake up bruise-free, I'm all for it!

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I hear ya! My daughter has been dealing with fitting her nap in for months now! She started right around two and is now 2 and 3 months. She still naps but we’re on a pattern of about three days off naps, one or two days on. It’s rough in some ways but in other ways it’s opening up to more flexibility for our family.

The advice that worked for us was not letting her nap if she hasn’t fallen asleep by a certain time. My daughter was always a later sleeper so for her, she can nap anytime up until 4pm. I never wake her (this is not a philosophy…I just can’t bring myself to wake a sleeping kid…not when could be reading in peace!).

I know this time is hard. I would give you and your child lots of time to make the adjustment and go with the flow, following her lead. Enjoy the naps when they come and enjoy the flexibility and easy bed times when they don’t. It could take months.