All of the sudden my 30 month old does not want to nap!

[sycorrell]

After using the Baby Whisperer techniques as an infant, my daughter became a strong napper.  Until the past few days, her schedule has looked like this:

6:30-7:30 am  Wake, breakfast
11:30 am-noon  Lunch
1- 3 pm   Nap
6 pm  Dinner
8 pm   Bed

All of the sudden this past week she will not fall asleep for a nap.  She will stay in her room and sing and talk (luckily no crying or outbursts) but she will not sleep.  She is CLEARLY tired - yawning before I put her down, rubbing her eyes, talking about a nap, etc. - but will not sleep.  It is like putting her the crib actually wakes her up more!  A few times, after almost 2 hours of this and when I am about to go get her, she does fall asleep.  But then she sleeps too late and it impacts her bedtime at night.  Our pre-nap routine has not changed.  If I take her anywhere in the car just before her nap or afterwards, when she has not taken one - say 4 pm - she is asleep in a second.  She is also pretty cranky by the end of the day when she doesn't nap.  She was a child who held on to naps for a long time - she did not give up her morning nap until almost 18 months.

She is still in a crib - so far she has made no moves to get out.  We were thinking about transitioning her to a toddler bed but I have a feeling that will destroy any hopes of having her still take an afternoon nap.  I feel like it is too early for her to give up a nap (I know it is too early for me!) and I think she really needs it.  Any help - should I move the time back a bit but limit how long?  Should I just keep to her schedule and hope she gets back on track?

Thanks!

[M and N's Mom]

Will she go into her bed for "quiet time" and play with stuffed animals or anything?  My DD started fighting naps around 2.5yo and we enforced quiet time so that when she needed a sleep she would sleep, and when she didn't she still had quiet time (and mommy got a break  ).  She is 4.5yo and still has quiet time.

Also, are you moving bedtime earlier if she doesn't nap so she doesn't get OT?  Personally, I persisted when she did refuse for a while at that age and it was a stage that passed and she went back to napping.

[sycorrell]

She will stay up in her crib and talk to her stuffed animal, sing, etc.  I have friends who have used the "quiet time" example and I plan to follow it because I think we both need some downtime (I need it to do work as I work part-time from home).  Plus, I feel like she still needs that extra sleep.  She is getting teeth in as well so that may be influencing this change. 

We will put her to bed earlier if she has not had a nap.

[Layla]

I was going to say the same thing.... also if you see that she is falling asleep too late, wake her up after 1 hr to protect bedtime rather than have her go to sleep at night late & then her nights are shortened & she is overtired the next day....

[mari]

Alex is 30 months and resists her nap from time to time, and TBH I waved bye bye to 2 hour naps a while ago!

I find that she won't nap but needs one ever couple of days or she will get sooooo tired.  She has an earlier bedtime now, 6.30-7pm, and I get her to nap for 1 hour every few days just to catch up.  does it affect night time when she doesn't nap?

[sycorrell]

It normally does not impact her nighttime sleeping if she misses a nap.  We will try to put her to bed earlier and she usually falls asleep pretty quickly. 

Today is a perfect example of her frustrating pattern.  Up at 7:15 am, put her down for a nap at 1 pm.  She is yawning, rubbing her eyes...  then she is up in her crib for 2 hours just chatting away - she finally falls asleep just before I am about to go up and get her (around 3 pm).  I let her sleep until 4:30 pm, then got her up.  We put her to bed a little later the normal (8:30 pm) because we were out at the county fair but she is still not asleep (it is 9:06 pm right now). 

[Layla]

To be honest, I wouldn't let her nap that late or as long as that... because then bedtime is pushed too late, she gets less sleep overnight & the whole schedule is messed up. She wakes up the next day tired & fights her naps again or takes forever to fall asleep. So still offer her the nap & if she's not napped by say 2.30pm then rather than letting her fall asleep that late, give her an earlier bedtime. At least she's had some quiet time in the room & she'll more than likely make up for the lost sleep overnight & not carry on the sleep debt into the next day.

Isabella is just now starting to show me signs of needing less sleep overall - her nap has gone down to less than 1.5hrs & I KNOW she is not ready to give up her nap but if I have to, I will cut her nap down later on so its a smoother transition (I hope).  What Mari said makes sence.... they might skip naps a few days in a row & then have one every so many days.... so rather than letting her sleep that late in the afternoon (for having nap sake), keep her up & do earlier bedtime & the next day she might take a nap...

[sycorrell]

I will give that a try.  My husband is putting her down for a nap right now....  See how it goes.  I will give you an update later this week....