how hard should I try to make my 28 month old nap?

[knackered]

Hi folks

My 28 month old DS will not go off to sleep for his nap on his own anymore. If left to his own devices he jumps, bangs, shouts - anything but fall asleep. Most days I can make him go off if I get in to bed with him but it still would take at least half an hour. However, I've got a 3 month old as well and I don't want to leave him for that long while I'm trying to make DS#1 sleep, plus it goes against my BW instincts!!

I figured it was time to drop the nap totally, and the last two days he hasn't napped. However, yesterday evening we had tantrum after tantrum and he woke up at 4am and didn't go back to sleep for a good half an hour - something he never does.

Today I tried to put him down as usual, but there was no chance. He's chilling out on the sofa watching TV as I type!

Do I just have to deal with the trantrums and the nw until he sorts himself out? Or should I still be trying to get him to nap?

Any advice appreciated?

x

[Layla]

{{{HUGS}}}

Its hard when they start fighting naps!!! What I would do is introduce quiet time. Tell him he doesn't "have" to sleep but he needs to have his rest. Give him lots of books and some quiet toys to play with and let him be. If he falls asleep, great and if not you need to do an earlier bedtime. He might just be going through a phase. Alot tend to start skipping naps around this age and some give them up entirely. Still don't give up on the nap altogether. He still needs his rest and whether it be quiet time in his room or on the couch chilling out... thats up to you.

Personally towards the end when my DD started fighting naps (around 29months), I started sleeping with her to get a nap out of her. She would take a nap every other day and then it was every 3rd day.. until it was more like once a week. So you might notice that he won't nap for a few days and then will need one to catch up.

Make sure you put him to bed earlier for the night though to compensate. So if he naturally wakes up around 7am, I would put him to bed no later than 6.30-7pm for the night.

The tantrums... well we still have the meltdowns here and mine hasn't napped for about 4-5months now. Its normal and the best thing you can do there is distract him the best you can (very hard with a baby around!).

There is also a support thread for toddlers who give up naps at the top of the page.

hth a little
Layla