2 Year Old Stopped Napping- Help!

I meant bathroom light off. the less light, the less conversation, the less excitement, will slow her down..

I think she is still hopped up from day care. Excited from the day. Consider picking her up have a quiet lunch, then a silent wipe her down with no bathroom light on.. really strong strokes with a warm wash cloth.. like a massage.. or give her a quiet bath or have a quiet activity, puzzles, books, coloring .. then a nap.. See if the wipe down or quiet activity will slow her down.

Also a good time to make sure her room is darkened for nap.

She is just excited and it changed her routine.. She needs that nap.

At this age, they commonly get sleep/nap tweaks.
But they are, tired.
Hence as you say, your daughter is Cranky.
This means she is over-tired.
But being over-tired, a child has a harder time sleeping/falling asleep and staying asleep.
And like my son, when over-tired, some kids just get more "hyper" and "rougher." But it is a symptom of them FORCING themselves awake. Even if they are, tired.

Have a "quiet" time, in the afternoons.
This would be the alternative.
Make EVERYTHING QUIET when she is home.
Make it boring.
Let her have a snack and 'de-flate' after school. Kids often need that. After school.

Yes, she needs to get used to the new school routine.
She only started 2 weeks ago.
Just have the SAME routine, everyday, after school.
Or put her to bed earlier. And, have dinner earlier.
Often, when kids are tired/over-tired, they can't even eat dinner... even if they are hungry.
Both my kids are like that.
It means, they are too, tired by then.
So have dinner earlier for her.

She is at a new age now. At any age change cusp...a child gets tweaked. It is developmental growing pains.
It passes.

At that age, they are changing SO much... all around. Physically and cognitively and their emotions are NOT even fully developed yet, nor their communication ability. Its hard for them.
And the 'expectations' upon them, are also changing and increased. Even if they are not ready for that, age wise.

Explain to her, the routine... ahead of time. A child/Toddler, needs to be 'cued' as to what is coming up.
ie: "After school, we go home and unwind. Then we make quiet and nap.... it helps your body to stay strong and so you will be rested. Even Mommy needs that..."
With my kids, I told them it was NAP time for MOMMY TOO.... and quiet time. Then I WOULD... lay on the sofa, after putting them in their bed.
If the child knows, what is coming up and that YOU are doing it too... sometimes that helps.
It does for my kids.
My kids are 5 and 8 and will still nap when tired.
My son is napping now.

With my daughter, massaging her feet... really calms her down and she will fall asleep. Her mind is so active... so by massaging her feet, it makes her mind, stop. Calms it down. Then she can fall asleep. It only takes like 5 minutes. And she passes out.

A child, needs to KEY down first... before any nap or bedtime.
Just like an adult.
Nothing hyper or no horse-play, before nap or bedtime. That just gets them too keyed up and defeats their ability to, ramp down.

Your daughter's crankiness and roughness/kicking/hitting.. is BECAUSE she is tired.... over-tired.
My son gets like that whenever he is tired... and then, they have nil, ability to calm themselves down.
Punishments won't help that.
They need sleep.
EXPLAIN... to your child. In a calm manner....
I have always explained to my kids... that naps are good, not bad. That it helps their body stay strong and their brain and that is when a body, takes care of itself.

Give her an INCENTIVE... to nap.
That AFTER her nap.... you/Daddy will go for a walk, or play with her something. That YOU will be resting, too.

My son was 16.5 months old when we brought his little sister home. He always napped regularly in the afternoon, but when she came along that routine was interrupted for awhile. What I decided to do was sufficiently wear him out in the morning by letting him help with appropriate chores, taking a stroller ride/walk, playing in the yard, doing a craft, listening to music,reading or playing with toys, etc. if we were at home. Other days we would have play dates or go to places like Gymboree, Mom's Day Out or P.E. 101. After lunch I would give him his bath and then a cup of milk afterward. The warmth of the tub and the milk was soothing enough for him that he eventually got back into his nap schedule. He is now 3.5 and rarely naps anymore, but he needed those naps up to at least the age of three and this usually worked great for us. If it didn't, I would put the kids in the car and we would take an afternoon drive! Good luck!
A.

Why don't you put a gate on her door and let her play in her room during nap time? I would do that when mine would start something like this, and most of the time they ended up asleep on the floor. Not ideal, but it works! PS Don't move her! She probably will wake up and nap time will be done for the day then!

I would assume it's because of the change in her life. When my 2 year old started going to daycare, she started throwing more fits and tantrums. When a kid is tired, they will crash. My now 3 year old doesn't take naps at all for me anymore, but yet she will crash for 2 hrs at the sitters house....go figure!

I know you feel like you're going nuts, but here's a question.......is she sleeping all night long? If she isn't, then she is probably sleep deprived. Eventually if she is tired enough, she will fall asleep. When my oldest would throw a huge fit b/c she was tired, she would end up throwing a tantrum to get our attention and we would ignore her b/c we knew what she was doing. As long as she wasn't inflicting pain on herself or others, we just let her go. Finally after about 10 mins of screaming, she would fall asleep and she'd nap for 2 hours or so.

You have to realize that 2 year olds are in their "terrible 2" stage of life. They can only express their feelings by throwing tantrums. If you have to continue the time outs, it's just something you have to continue. But do remember that once she gets used to her new schedule, she will start to calm down and relax more. It has only been the 1st week so give it another few weeks and see how she adjusts. The biggest downfall is probably the amount of time you spent with her prior to her going to preschool.....is it a bad thing???.......absolutely not!!!!! You just have to remember that when you are with your kid several hours a day and then yu all of a sudden change it, there are going to be fits b/c she doesn't understand why mommy is making her go somewhere for a few hours and not see her.

Toddlers are definitely trying sometimes but eventually, they are so worth the extra work. Eventually remember they will be all grown up and ready for college. I'm dreading the day my oldest goes to kindergarden.

Good luck.

Earlier bedtime and keep putting her in for nap, I think it will come back. If she were fine without it (not cranky) she might be done. I try to get my kids to nap until age 3. Good luck!

My boys stopped napping when they were 2, when I desperately needed them to continue! I wish I had done what a friend did, which was insist her daughter at least spend "quiet time" in her room for an hour, whether it was reading or just playing quietly in her crib. She kept that up until she was 5! What a fantastic break for her! See if you can just give her a few books & set the timer - when the timer goes off, you'll come & get her, but if you set the rule down & stick to it, eventually she will get it. Good luck to you -