Author Topic: A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?  (Read 1792 times)

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Offline Liliben

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A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?
« on: May 16, 2007, 13:28:54 pm »
Ds is a very spirited toddler who has started to drop his nap over the last 3 weeks or so. He has only slept twice for a nap in this time even though he gets put there after lunch as he always has done. He went from having to be woken up after to hours to no sleep at all. He finds it very difficult to play independently (which I'm trying to push in the mornings) and afternoons are a nightmare.
What does the usual no sleep toddler's day look like. Any ideas on stuff to do in the afternoon. He is jumping off the walls trying to keep himself awake, doesn't watch TV and wants to play imaginary stuff all day (but only with me)! I'd really appreciate it if some of you posted your routines for no nap 2.5 year olds. I still try to take him to his room in the afternoon to encourage quiet time but it's anything but quiet in there!

lilmonkey

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Re: A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2007, 20:52:59 pm »
Lurking for ideas. 

Offline Erin M

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Re: A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2007, 17:54:55 pm »
We go back and forth here from naps to no naps, though she does go in her crib pretty much every day for some not-so-quiet quiet time or for an actual nap. 

In the AM when she wakes, she comes and hangs out with Mommy and Daddy for awhile, then one of us (usually me as dh is off to school) will bring her downstairs and give her breakfast.  She alternates between playing with her Legos, trains, etc until dd2 goes down for a nap.  We usually try to go outside then or do something artsy that dd2 is too small for - markers, paints, play-doh.  Depending on when dd2 is up from her nap we sometimes run an errand before lunch, sometimes it is just time for lunch.  After lunch we generally play with Little People in her room and read some stories, followed by her nap or noisy quiet time.

After that, there's generally some TV watching -- depending on whether or not dd2 is napping again, I'll take them for a walk in the stroller, go outside, or run some errands until it's time to make dinner, when she generally watches TV so I can actually cook.  After dinner, she plays with daddy. 

She's relatively good at playing by herself, though she does need some one-on-one play during the day periodically. 

Offline Liliben

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Re: A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2007, 18:23:35 pm »
Thanks so much for that! My problem is that we've gone for pretty much a usual day to a downhill spiral since DS dropped his nap 3 weeks ago. I've put him in his room every day as usual but he's only napped once. Today was a nightmare. He pulled down a whole shelf of teddies, emptied and started throwing baskets of books and then used them to climb up on top of a radiator and into a built in wardrobe. It just seems useless to try and make him stay there, even for half an hour becuse the chaos it creates is awful. I end up having less time to myself because I have to check what he;'s getting up to. He doesn't usually watch much TV but he's been sitting rather quietly on his own (which is a rarity) for 10 mins or so before I take him up to his room for a few stories before I leave him there. He seems very sleepy after lunch up until this point and then all hell breaks loose. I was wondering if I should leave him to chill in front of the telly after lunch instead of putting him in his room in the hope that he will nap?

Offline Erin M

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Re: A routine for a no nap 2.5 year old?
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2007, 02:20:52 am »
Sounds like you need to do whatever you can to get him to nap right now.  Maybe change the time of his nap?  Have you posted on Toddler Sleep - maybe someone there can give you a better idea as to what to do.