No more naps?

[Mama4life14]

My son is 2.5 years old. He's napped every afternoon for 2 hours since he was around 14 months old. Every now and then, I would have to skip his nap due to being busy or something during the day, he would be tired and cranky by late afternoon, but I would just put him to bed 2 hours earlier, and he would fall asleep fine, but it seemed like it wasn't a deep sleep. He'd wake up easily and toss and turn.

Lately, he's seemed like he's not tired enough for naps, and when I try to put him down, it takes an hour of me laying with him before he'll fall asleep. On days when I decide no nap, but bed early tonight, he doesn't get as cranky as he used to. But he still seems to sleep a little lighter for the first couple hours.

I'm just starting to think maybe he doesn't need naps anymore. But I know naps are important for development and stuff.. So I don't want to take them away too soon. Every day that he doesn't nap, he goes to bed around 7pm. And he will sleep until 8am or even later sometimes (he sleeps in his crib attached to our bed). So I think he'll still be getting enough sleep at nights.

I know I'll have to play it by ear day to day. But I just want to know when did you know your little one was done with naps?? Is there anything wrong with taking the nap away and bed early instead?

Thanks for reading, and any advice you can give!

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Edited by Mama4life14 - 6/28/12 at 2:42pm

[sbgrace]

I knew one son was done when he just wouldn't fall asleep anymore for naps. His giving up naps was very hard on me so I kept trying for a long time but he was done and finally I accepted it.

The other child I knew was done when his naps made it extremely difficult for him to fall asleep at a reasonable hour that evening.

The first child had some adjustment in that no nap wasn't quite enough sleep even with an early bedtime but he was a lot younger than my other son or your son.

I don't see anything wrong with letting the nap go if he seems ready. You'll know if he needs it and, if that happens, you can always put it back in.

[KellyandBean]

27 months going through the exact same thing. She naps maybe once or possibly twice a week now, goes to bed at 7-7:30ish and sleeps until 8am. i keep trying to get her to nap at 1:00 but she just lays there for an hour so i guess she is just not tired. I'm going to keep that quiet time as long as i can so that she has the option to nap if she is tired enough. My thoughts are that they are dropping and it is ok to let them go back and forth and nap some days but not others but after a while (a few more months?) i think i will just cut her quiet time out and make it quiet play time in her room with toys. Right now she still has a crib but once we do a toddler bed i think the naps will be done for anyway so ill just have to gate her in her room and tell her she can nap on her toddler bed or play quiet with toys for an hour or so. At least this way she is making the choice to nap or not to nap and not me. But yeah, it sounds like your son is almost done with naps too.

[greenemami]

Dd stopped napping around that age too.  She was really hard to get down to sleep in the afternoon, and would keep pushing the nap back later and later and then wouldn't be able to settle down for bed until really late.  I laugh now, but I actually drove around for an hour nearly every day because that was the only way to get her to sleep some days and I was desperate for the break!

I would try to institute "quiet time" if your ds won't fall asleep, where he gets used to spending a short time alone to rest whether he falls asleep or not.  I did not do this with dd and completely regret it, especially since ds was born shortly after she gave up napping and it would have been nice to have an hour where they were both resting/sleeping.  I know a lot of people who say that kids will often fall asleep doing this even if they wouldn't before for nap time. 

Good luck!

[mamapenguin]

I'd love to hear how others have implemented "quiet time".  I've been trying to do this on days when DD doesn't nap (she's 29 months, and it's getting more difficult to get her to sleep), but have had no luck so far.  She still doesn't really play independently, and she gets very upset if I try to leave her alone in her room.  I have tried making a "nest" for her out of blankets and pillows in my room, with books and toys, so that I can lie down and read on my bed, but she just wants to talk and play in my bed.  I've explained that mama needs a rest, but she gets upset and cries and says "no, you don't need a rest - no sleeping".  

Any suggestions would be appreciated:)

[newmamalizzy]

Sound a lot like my DD.  She's 27 months, and no longer naps.  For quiet time, we generally hang out together in the bedroom after lunch.  Usually we start by reading a few books, and then we have some snuggle time, This is not as sweet as it sounds and involves lots of touching my face, glasses, etc.  But she really likes it.  Sometimes during snuggle time I sing to her.  Then we turn out the lights, and she has to lie down in her bed and let me rest in mine for 5 minutes.  Or so.  She is not a fan of this part of the routine, but she will usually comply after some fighting.  I only count time if she's lying down in her bed.   It's not the world's best quiet time, so I'm looking forward to hearing some more ideas.  It is a start, though.
 

[Mama4life14]

Thanks for your replies! I am loving the quiet time idea. I will definetly start implementing that. Maybe it would alleviate any grumpiness around supper time! My DS will sit and read books with me. So luckily I think it will be easy. But maybe now that I said that, it won't! Ha! And if he falls asleep then great! He actually napped the last 2 days, but not today again. So I'm thinking it will probably be random for a while.

Thanks again for all the replies! Keep 'em coming! Its nice to know we're not alone

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