Support for dropping the last nap age 2-3 yrs

[babybarr]

What about alternating nap and no nap days?  At least the you'll get a break every other day and her overall sleep will be less so she should settle quicker?

[sianie]

Ashley - a 2hr nap at your LO's age is quite long and it looks like it's robbing from her night sleep. Either go with Laura's suggestion or cap her nap at 1.5hrs to see if that helps?

Well we tried for an early BT last night (7am), she had been really tired at nursery & apparently stopped eating her lunch half way through & said she was tired & wanted to go to sleep!! She finally went to sleep last night around 8.30pm so an hour & a half after going down. She woke at 5am & was awake chatting for about an hour then went back to sleep 'til 7am ('tho I couldn't get back to sleep!). So I'm trying to come up with a plan for today (she's already told me she's tired!). Do I try for a long nap as planned (1.5/2hrs?) & put her down at her usual time (1pm) or try earlier nap time (12.30pm?) *sigh*?

[babybarr]

If she's saying she's tired I'd try for an earlier longer nap.

I'm at a loss as to what to do anymore with O!!

[*Liz*]

I would do an earlier, longer nap then hopefully you can still get a good A to her usual bedtime. That is  a great way to catch up OT. But the decent wake up might stop that I guess. Try a 1.5 hr nap as some of these bedtime antics are likely OT aren't they??

[sianie]

I think she's just got to be OT, the last few nights she's only had around 9hrs sleep with a 1 hr nap....if I didn't know this tho, you would think was UT as she's awake & happily playing rather than crying etc!?

I think I'll try for a 12.30pm nap & see how that goes, wake her by 2pm is she doesn't wake before then do her usually BT of in bed by 7.30pm.

What's happening with O Laura?

[babybarr]

What's happening with O Laura?

Just the usual cr*p...better not hijack this thread too!!  I have one on TS anyway - feel free to take a peek

[anna*]

Hey ladies, I didn't even realise this thread was here.
Stan's has completely dropped his nap now. Which in one way is good because I'm not guessing all the time. But OMG the days are very long when dealing with an ill/whiny threenager. Also a bit of a pain that he has to go to bed so early. Most of the time I like it but it kind of puts the stop on us eating dinner as a family at the weekends. I'm not convinced he's getting enough sleep. 1.5-112 hrs doesn't seem quite enough - he's much happier when he's had 12.5-13, but won't reliably do it overnight.

[sianie]

Laura, will pop & have a look to see if I can help in anyway!

Anna, as you've BTDT, how did you cut his nap out? The long days are what's worrying me too, M is a challenge at the best of times but adding in no nap could be interesting  !

[anna*]

I really didn't, Sianie, he did it himself. To my surprise! Just about the same week he turned three, he totally stopped being able to go to sleep at night if he had had even so much as 20  mins nap. He will sometimes have some quiet time - lying down in the quiet corner when at nursery, or watching a movie at home. But often this is only 20 mins or so. We do do early bedtimes - 6.30pm or even 6 if he's been really obnoxious. I do miss the break in the day from the day, but on the other hand it is nice to have a long evening and WAY better than trying to get a not-tired three year old to sleep. Oh, also if he is really obviously tired I will lie down on my bed with him. He won't go to sleep but will lie quietly with his lovey for half an hour before announcing 'I finished sleeping now.'

[sherry lynn]

Siane - I agree with Liz. Earlier for longer. Since you are having bedtime resistance I would stick to the 1.5.
Hope it's not too late.

Anna - Lyle has dropped back down to 10.5 during the night as well. We got 12 hours at night for a little while now we are back to the norm. Getting ready to start a new thread on TS myself.

[sianie]

Managed to get her down by 12.30pm & didn't hear a peep out of her so she must have settled straight away. Woke her at 2pm & she is definitely in a better mood this PM!

Will do our normal BT & hope we don't have the last few nights antics! 

Sherry - have you totally dropped Lyle's nap or are you still doing it some days?

[saltyqueen]

Hi there! We may be having the same basic problem that everyone else who has posted on this lengthy thread is having. My 26 month old daughter is resisting her nap, but if I put her down too late in the afternoon, even if I cap the nap, she doesn't want to go to sleep at night until much later than she needs to.

The problem is definitely getting worse. I used to only have to worry about nap resistance if she slept 12 hours or more at night. Now she's starting to resist naps after an 11 hour 15 minute night, and even sometimes after an 11 hour night. I don't have a problem with my dd not napping, per se, but she becomes a nightmare child in the late afternoon when she doesn't.

I perused several pages of the this thread, but it doesn't seem like anyone has solved the problem. Are there any posters who have made it through this without too much trauma? Are there any general recommendations that have come out of everybody's experience? Has anybody tried a half hour nap late in the afternoon to get LO through until bedtime? My fear is that even a short nap like that will push her bedtime much later than is good for her. So what's the solution?? My dd is still so  young (26 months) so I'm very uneasy about the idea of dropping the nap. I just don't know what the right thing is to do.

Thanks for reading!

[babybarr]

We got 12 hours at night for a little while now we are back to the norm.

I know Charli (charlibob) had similar for a while and then her LO started sleeping well at night again...hoping it's just a phase for you!

Saltyqueen - have you tried an earlier nap just in case you are missing the sleep window?  If you have and it didn't work you may find that 30mins later doesn't interfere with bedtime anyway.  We've found this when travelling back from ILs when DS has fallen asleep. 

[*Liz*]

No nap day here today as he fell asleep in the car at 10.45 am for 45 mins after a 9 hr night last night. Put him to bed at 6.30pm, and he was asleep about 6.45 ish.

So we will see, I guess.

Last few days he has done short nights, and I can't decide whether they are UT or OT. I think some are OT.

((hugs)) ladies - these toddlers get grumpy through this one, hey 

[~*Nicole*~]

Hi! I'm "checking" in here as well to see where we stand. We don't get nap refusals all the time. It comes and goes and depends on the day. Our problem seems to be no matter the length of our nap, we get bedtime resistance and ages to settle at night. IF nap is skipped she still takes ages to settle, which is probably b/c she's OT by bedtime at that point (meltdowns by dinnertime clues me in ) Doesn't seem to have much to do with the length of her nap OR the length of time she is up afterward. How do I know if this is nap dropping territory?