is 2.5yo ready to drop nap completely?

[heidiruthie]

uh oh! tristan napped today!! well, dh took him for a drive in the car at around 2:30 and, since he had been up since 4am ( ) he completely conked out within 5 min. so that is all fine and dandy, he even transferred to the couch nicely without waking up....but then it started to get close to 4pm and i started to worry. so i woke him up and he was an absolute angel for the rest of the evening! i was so happy and hoped that he'd wake up at a decent time tomorrow morning because of catching up a bit.

HOWEVER....bedtime i decided would be at 8. it is now nearly 9:30 and he CANNOT go to sleep! i know the nap went a little late...but seriously! i don't think he's been up this late since he was a newborn! and the thing is, my ds2 has been EW-ing as well, so i'm ready to go to bed right now, but can't cuz tristan starts crying if i turn my bedside light off (i keep his door open a crack so its not pitch black in his room) and dh is out playing poker tonight.

i just may get him sleeping in later like i had hoped, but at what cost? it sounds strange to say this, but i very nearly prefer the EW's to this! he is like a little jack in the box and if i take away his teddy bear or something as punishment, he starts crying and i'm afraid he'll wake up the baby. this just confirms to me that he must be done napping. this isn't his OT-ness coming through, he is simply not tired!

oooh, and here is something i found online: http://www.goodnitelite.com/index.php
i just ordered one and am hoping that it will work for quiet time as well as EW's.

okay, just had to vent a bit...how is it going, elf? is your dd beginning to take her naps again?

[elf]

I was absolutely certain that dd needed her day nap as she was actually asking to go to sleep but then walking out and saying things like, 'Good Morning'.  I spoke to my child health nurse who said it was 'pushing the boundaries' behaviour and advised me to get a lock on the door!  She explained that it takes the emotion out of it -  like begging for a nap, bribing, getting angry etc.  I thought even if she doesn't sleep I need her to be in her room for quiet time.  We put it on and explained it to her (her room is very safe by the way, and we are talking about a child who is very secure, confident and has been an angel sleeper since birth) and she actually looked relieved.  Guess what?  From that night we haven't had a single night waking from her and she has napped every day.  She tried to open the door the first few times and a couple of times fell asleep on the floor next to the door but no tears and no meltdowns.  She is now sleeping 7pm - 6am and roughly 2 hours during the day.  The lock has also stopped her getting out of bed and starting the day at 5.30am.  I know it may sound harsh but my dd is not very good on lack of sleep and she gets run down and sick, plus the tantrums that came with it!  I felt as though I needed to have her sleeping for her own good and health.  Plus with a 6 week old that I have to look after as well I didn't have the time or energy to fight with her or put her back in her bedroom.  Plus, on the days she didn't nap she was too tired to take out in the afternoon so she was missing out on fun activities such as seeing her friends at the park etc.  I don't even mind if she doesn't sleep and starts to do quiet time in her room but like I said, she has ended up sleeping every day again which proves to me it was more about her testing... she still needs her nap.  But, I don't usually put her down til after 12pm, even though she wakes around 6am.  Yesterday she slept from 12.30pm t0 2.20pm - bed at 7pm, up at 6am   I think a lot of her short nights were from ot and now we are catching up and getting back on track...  HTH

[heidiruthie]

wow! great success story! so happy for you that you have naps back on track, especially with the baby...i know EXACTLY how nice it is when you happen to have the both napping at the same time!

well, i'm pretty certain that my lo doesn't need naps anymore after all. the last day i posted when he had slept for 2 hours during the day and didn't go to bed till 9:30pm, well....he was up at 5:30 happy as a lark! basically, he normally sleeps 10 hours at night, but when he napped for 2 hours he only slept for 8 hours and night, so i'm thinking he just may be one of those kids who doesn't need as much sleep? at any rate, he is absolutely pleasant now, back to his old self despite not napping. occasionally we have a few issues during the bedtime routine because he is so tired, but no more NW's and the EW's....well, i'm just hoping that nite lite thing works cuz i went and ordered one!

[elf]

I think the fact that my dd slept from 2.30pm - 4pm and still was tired enough to be asleep by 7pm showed me that she wasn't ready to drop nap.  She is actually only 28 months so a little bit younger.  Also, every day she asked to go to sleep (she has a comforter and when she's tired she asks for her toy) so I kind of began to realise that it was more about her being a determined little girl!  The days she did stay awake she was actually fine but over a period of few days it was not good.  I am going to get a light also so that she knows that at 6am we will come to her.  She always used to be so good at waiting in her bed (sometimes up to an hour in the morning!) just chatting and laughing and relaxing so I am hoping with a light I can then set it slowly to 6.10am, and maybe get her to 6.30am!  Though, I have a funny feeling that those days are over   Anyway, our baby seems to like to start the day at 6am and the pattern seems to be that once one wakes the other is up anyway!  The only good thing about us all starting the day together at 6am is that both kiddies are tucked up and asleep by 7pm every night (sometimes  6.45pm) and after a very busy day I can finally relax a bit!!!  I am sure dd will eventually begin to drop her nap but for now I shall live in hope that we have solved the problem.  Let me know how the light goes - I think they are quite popular with this age group...