28 months too early to give up nap?

[bluedaisy]

My 28 month old dd typically has 1-2 days a week where she won't nap - we've started doing a short quiet time on the days she doesn't nap.  She falls asleep around 730pm on those days, falls asleep in about 5 minutes, and sleeps for about 12 hours total.

There are some days she still goes to sleep pretty easily for a nap and sleeps for 1-2 hours.  When she wakes up, she wants to nurse and will fall asleep again, but I don't let her go back to sleep because if she sleeps too long during the day bedtime is a nightmare.

I never let her sleep past 2 or 230, but it still takes her FOREVER to go to bed on days she has a nap.  After her bedtime routine, I have to nurse her for 30-60 minutes before she falls asleep, and she often falls asleep between 9 and 10.  She still wakes up at 7 or 730 so on days she naps she sleeps a total of 10-12 hours, usually around 11.

At this point, I would prefer for her to give up her nap because i am SO DONE with the loooong bedtime issues.  she has always been a difficult sleeper and 2 1/2 years of this is too much!  I LOVE evenings when she doesn't nap because she falls asleep so easily and I have lots of energy to get things done and still get to sleep at a reasonable time.

Do you think it's ok to just make her give up her nap at this point?  I would still have her take a nap if she has a rough night or is really exhausted, but I'm thinking of just nursing her briefly and then letting her have quiet time and not even letting her try to fall asleep.

What do you think?  My mom said I gave up my naps at 18 months so I know there are kids that just don't need as much sleep as the average child, but I want to make sure I am not going to push her into sleep deprivation or something.

[sagesmothertree]

Well... every child is different and you know yours best.  If she isn't getting cranky or difficult during the day, and seems to be handling napless days well, then perhaps it would be okay to give up the nap. Our son is two years old this month, and on days when he has long naps, we make a point to get him physically moving in the afternoon or early evening (more than usual). That way he's thoroughly exhausted for his scheduled bedtime.  You could always try a more tiring activity in the morning too, to get her to nap earlier.

[lilmom]

My DS gave up his nap around 15 months. So, no, it's not too early. They're just ready when they're ready.

[Mal85]

Your situation sounds so much like mine! My daughter is almost 25 months old and is having all the same issues. There are a few days a week she absolutely refuses to nap and on the days she does nap, it takes her over an hour to fall asleep. And I have to limit how long she sleeps, because if she sleeps too long then bedtime can take up to two hours.

I'm not really ready to give up that quiet time in my day, but I'm also very tired of the fight over sleep everyday. When she doesn't nap, she's asleep so easily and early in the evening and sleeps right through the night. I'm thinking it might finally be worth it to let her go without.

I'm still going to have a designated quiet time for her. I have daycare kids here who do need to take a nap everyday and that would be impossible if she was just allowed to play as normal while they try to sleep. So, during that time I'm going to allow some television. She has a couple of favorite movies that should would happy to watch while the daycare kids nap. I don't love relying on tv, but I figure it's some time when she will be still and let her body rest for a little while. Then, she's not such a bear later in the afternoon.

[nettlesoup]

My daughter gave up her naps at about 18 months. We had the choice between an afternoon nap, or her going to bed at 9pm, so we chose having the evenings to ourselves, and we are all happy with it.

[mrscookie]

i'm kind of envious of those of you who have kids who will go to sleep at 9. my little boy (2.5) gets up between 7 and 8 (with much encouragement from me, because i have to go to work and get ready) and then sometimes takes a nap starting between 1 (very rarely) and 3.30 and sleeps for an hour or two. i try to tell my MIL, who is the one whom he usually naps with, not to let him sleep past 4.30, so for the most part, he is woken up what would be halfway through his naps to make sure he doesn't sleep too long. then, on days when he hasn't napped, he'll fall asleep between 6 and 8 p.m., but when he has napped, he'll fall asleep on average around 11.30 p.m., sometimes later. this is also because i'll come home late from work on those days (around 9 and sometimes later) and it takes time to reconnect, go upstairs, get showered, etc. but he's clearly not tired and not ready to sleep earlier and if i do come home earlier and manage to get him in bed, he's just chitter chattering, moving around and not going to sleep. (i still nurse him to sleep and we still co-sleep, although usually i have to sneak back out after putting him to bed to get other stuff done.) it's super exhausting, and i wish that he could drop the nap throughout, because it makes evenings so much easier, and that way we could have a consistent schedule every day. now that he naps sometimes and sometimes doesn't, it's always stressful when he's staying with my husband and doesn't take a nap, because i'm worried that he's going to fall asleep at 4.30 or 5 p.m., because for some reason, he gets tired and falls asleep with my husband much more. and then i'm trying to rush home from work and juggle everything to get back and keep him up, otherwise i'll have a kid jumping around all night until 3 or 4 in the morning after he wakes up from his "nap" from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

[LadyCatherine185]

sounds like what my ds1 was doing just before his second birthday.. we dropped the nap, and he is now in bed by 7 and it only takes 5 min's.. we are all much happier!

[bluedaisy]

Thanks for all the replies!

I decided to go ahead and have her skip naps every day unless she seems to really need one.

She has had sleep issues all her life and for the past 2 1/2 years I have spent a minimum of one hour a day nursing her to sleep for naps and bedtime.  She won't fall asleep for anyone else so it has been every.single.day for the past 28 months.

Spending less than 15 minutes a day getting her to sleep is amazing!  Sleep has definitely been the most frustrating part of being a mama for me - dd was asleep by 720 today and I don't even know what to do with all this time in the evening!