2 Yr Old Outgrowing Nap??

She is trying to gain her independence and push boundaries...so take the power away from her. Let her know that its fine if she doesn't want to nap but tell her she has to play quietly on her bed with a couple of books. Chances are she is tired and once she realizes that you "don't care" if she naps or not she will give in and go to sleep.

Every kid is different and even the same kid is going to be different from time to time. Just like you, sometimes she will need a nap and sometimes she won't. You gotta be flexible.

Hi A.,

My son was also born in October 2005 and I have read recently that if your child cannot make it to bedtime without getting cranky, then they are not ready to give up their nap. I go by that advice with my son. He probably naps around 5 days a week right now and he will nap for several hours at a clip. There are weeks when he doesn't want to nap at all but then the following week he'll nap every day. Yesterday, however, he did not nap and he was so tired and cranky by 6 PM that he was practically running into his room to go to bed (he normally goes to bed around 8 PM). He slept until 7 this morning. In answer to your question, he will usually sleep 2-3 hours longer at night on the days he doesn't nap but since he will get cranky early on I know that he is not ready to give up his nap yet and so I always put him in his room and try every day, even if he just plays quietly like your daughter has been doing. The quiet time is good for both your daughter and yourself! Good luck!

Children are all different. One of mine would have nothing to do with naps by one. As long as she is giving herself quiet time she should be fine. She may wear herself out more when she is in preschool and running around with other children and be more tired. I had a bedtime of 7:00 until about 5 then 7:30 until about 8, then 8:00 until about 11. Middle school was 9:00 and I would have preferred 10:00 for High School, but sometimes homework took longer. She needs 10-12 hours sleep at night and I have no idea what time you put her down and get up in the morning. That should give you an idea how long she should sleep. I would let her determine if she needs a nap and make bedtime a consistent early hour.

At about 19 months my daughter was hit or miss with her naps. She would take them if I cuddled her to sleep. Unfortunatly since I was pregnant and getting huge I just couldn't keep it up. She is now almost three and a half. Occasionally she'll take a nap at about five for five to thirty minutes. I often have a quiet play time at about lunch time. This helps her avoid the no nap break down. Your daughter may be going through the transition of eliminating her naps. The routine and activity at school probably helps her take her nap. You might try to wear her out prior to nap time at home or just allow her to substitue with some quiet play time. This is a tough transition. I wish you loads of patience. Good luck finding what works for you.

Our son started skipping naps at home around this time. Even now he will occasionally take one at home but I never plan for it because it's rare. I have noticed since then that he napped more in daycare than at home but I think that was because the day consists of kid associated things that require interaction on his part and that he is required to at least lay down at nap time and not allowed to play. There are more boundaries in daycare than at home and since all the kids are required to abide by the schedule there is no chance of a kid getting up and playing during naptime like they can at home. We have a separate playroom and our son will still read his books that we keep in his room instead of napping if he isn't tired.

Hi A.:
Toddlers around the age of two begin fighting naps,because they are becoming far to active. Their little bodys as well as their minds are racing,and its just to difficult to lay there still,while they can still see daylight. Your fortunate, that she would volunteer to lay in her room,alone, and just talk and play by herself. She doesn't have to really be in a state of sleep,as long as she takes a little time to rest her body.I know, that preschools have the toddlers lay down on mats, and nap for a little while, but the majority of them do not sleep.They rest. I wish you and your growing daughter the best.

A.: I have to say that all three of my children took and didn't take naps according to their own style. I really believe it is based on the need for sleep for each child and how active they are during the day. My oldest always took naps throughout her preschool years but my youngest would either just look at books and fall asleep for ten or 15 minutes. I would just give your child a quiet time every day. maybe 45 minutes. Allow her to look at books in bed no toys. If she falls asleep great if not she had a little rest. Every child is so different and usually they all need enough sleep and rest time.

Both of my kids had outgrown their naps before two and it was a struggle to get them to two. Once they gave up their naps, they needed an earlier bed time to get their 12 hours. My daughter fought naps terribly and if she had one, was impossible to put to sleep at night. (Guess what? At 13 she still is! LOL) What I think is a great about your daughter is that she recognizes that she needs some down time, even if it isn't sleeping. THIS is what you need to keep in her schedule and not worry about the sleeping as long as she is managing the day well enough. You're doing great, mom!

my son turned two and stopped taking a nap. now we just have him play quietly for at least half an hour. this helps make him last until bed time.

Kids need a rest period throughout the day. so givbe her a set time that she has to stay in her room and has to play quitley. this should help.

We kept our daughter's nap for at least 6 months past the time when she needed it (We didn't do away with it until she was about 3 1/2yo). Unlike your daughter, she would sleep for a couple hours during naptime, but then be awake for an hour or more at bedtime, playing quietly, looking at books, or talking to herself. Although she never seemed to mind, we finally decided to let her stay up during nap. (As a side note, she is amazing how she still goes off to nap with her little sister and brother, and then as soon as they fall asleep, she comes out. This helps them fall asleep.) Anyway, since she stopped napping, she now falls asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed. She doesn't go to sleep any earlier than usual, but she gets more nighttime sleep, since she doesn't stay up anymore. I'm sure if we put her down a bit earlier, she'd probably go to sleep right away, too. We don't, because of th routine with our other children.

Hope this helps!

I am having the same problem with my daughter right now. My husband has never been a fan of the nap because it kind of interupts the day. my daughter seems to get so tired around dinner time on the weekend because 5 days a week at school she gets her nap. Let me know what happens with your family. I am still trying to figure out what to do myself. My daughter turns 3 in oct too. She will play in her room for up to 3 hours with out taking a nap and she never gets out of her bed like we tell her, but she can reach her sock drawer so one day i caught her trying on socks another day she was standing up pretending to be a ghost with her blanket over her head, etc.
She is a really good girl but very demanding of my time. She wants mommy to do everything for her not daddy or anyone else. I guess i am thinking if she at least gives me those two hours to get work done and have a little time to myself then if she doesn't have a nap i can live with it.

My daughter will be 3 in September and we have been going thru the same thing for a few months. Because I have another daughter 13 months younger, I lay them both down at the same time. If my oldest plays quietly during nap time then she goes to bed earlier that evening. If she naps, she gets to stay up till regular bed time, it's only an hour difference. I think they still need that quiet time, even if they use it to play. If she doesn't nap she is definately crabbier towards dinner time, but we just manage things till bed.

When all three of my kids started getting ready to drop their naps, they would tend to sleep longer at night time (but not 12 hours). It does get a bit hard when they get so cranky. But it got to be the point that if they would take a nap, it would tend to be long- like 2/1 to 3 hours- then they wouldn't be ready to go to sleep til about 11 at night. I just couldn't stay up that long- especially since I had a baby at that time too. I think all kids are different. My sisters kids would take a good nap, but still go down about the same time in the evening (kind of early too- around 8 or 8:30). My kids never have slept like that. When my sis & I were growing up- at about 5 til 8 years of age- my mom would put us to bed at 7 and we wouldn't get up til 7 the next morning. That has NEVER happened in my house.

My daughter stopped taking naps shortly after she turned 2. She did not seem cranky though and I was nursing her down for naps. I'd spend an hour just trying to get her to fall asleep. Finally I gave up. She did start sleeping for longer times ( she'd still wake up to nurse in the night) but generally slept 12 hours at that age for the next 2 years. If your daughter is happy to play quietly for a couple of hours, that's great! She may even surprise you and fall asleep! I also wonder if she's actually sleeping during naptime at school or just playing quietly!! Good Luck, H.

Hi A., she naps at preschool because it is mandatory, just like in my daycare. But kids do grow out of nap times, after 2 I didn't inforce naps on my kids anymore, and it worked out fine. If your daughter plays on her own during nap time, thats great. Little girls are more independent than litle boys, well in my family anyway, and she may from time to time lay herself down if she is tired. J.

My son was 2 1/2 when he phased out naps. If we gave him one, either he wouldn't sleep, or if he did nap, he wouldn't be tired for bed until 11pm. So we got rid of the nap. He would be cranky between the hours of 5-8pm, and if we were driving during those times, he'd fall asleep. But we had to take the nap out, because he wouldn't sleep at night if he had one.

The mourning of the loss of naps. Been there!!!!

My son stopped napping at about 2.5 years. He still went to bed at the same time and slept the same amount of hours. He was super grumpy by 5om for a while, and now seems to have adjusted.

If we noticed that he is super tired we try to put him down a little earlier in the evening. But he still usually gets up at the same time.

His teacher reported that he was still occassionally napping at school, but I think only because all the other kids were too.

Good luck

Hi A.,

I had 4 kids and they all stopped napping at 2 years old! The only time they would nap is if they were sick! I thought it was good because they would sleep a little earlier and sleep through the night - I finally got a good sound sleep! During the day, they would just play. Try to prepare your daughter to sleep a bit earlier so she does not get too fussy. If she does fuss, take her for a ride (this works for my 2 yr old grandson).

I am also a 34 year old mother (married 14 years) with a little girl who will turn 3 in October. She has recently stopped napping too. The only way she will take a nap is in the car. Otherwise, she sits in her room and plays. She is trying to grow out of a nap, but like your little one, will sleep longer at night to make up some of her missed daytime nap. My older daughter (now 4 1/2) did pretty much the same thing.

My daughter is also 2 years old (will be 3 in November) and she has not really taken a nap in about 5 months. If she does nap it will be for 30 minutes at the most. When this first started she would be overtired at night and have a tantrum, but she out grew it. She does not nap at preschool, but she will at least lay down and rest(it is not a choice, she does not have to sleep but she does have to lay down). What we started doing to offset her not taking a nap is a strict bedtime routine that even carries through to the weekend when she does not have to get up early, just to make sure she is getting enough sleep and is well rested. I will also put her on the couch for time out if she starts to misbehave during the day and sometimes she will lay down and rest for awhile. If she is tired she will sleep, so I don't think you should be worried.

If she is happily doing quiet time and not sleeping, be happy. Not only do both of you get that time to unwind from your day, but she goes to bed earlier and gives you a relaxing evening. My 3 1/2 year old gave up his naps about 8 months ago. He fought with us for months and I finally gave in and give him quiet time for 1.5 hours. He went from fighting nighttime sleep, to happily jumping into bed at 7:00, even though it is bright out. He took a few weeks of physically adjusting to not having the nap, but now he is fully functional until bedtime. Of my friends that still are doing naps, a lot take a 2-3 hour nap during the day, but then are up until 9 or 10. Kind of a matter of when sleep works for all of you. Hope this helps.

My son started doing something very similar a few months before his third birthday. Several days he would sit in his bed and play for the entire nap period. On those days he would fall asleep at nighttime earlier than usual, but not significantly. This was during the same period of time that he attended preschool in the mornings for a short time. On the days that he had preschool, he had trouble napping when we got home, and on some other days, too. He is now back to sleeping regularly at naptime and has even extended the amount of time he sleeps (he is 3 yrs 4 mos). I have a couple of theories about the irregular naptime behavior.
On the preschool days, I have a feeling that he might have been "overstimulated" or something like that. I picked him up from preschool just as he was finishing lunch, then we would go straight home and down for nap (that was our usual routine to have naptime right after lunch). On other days, if we were out and about and arrived home just before naptime, he also had trouble sleeping. I think he needed to have a little down time at home before taking his nap. A peaceful lunch at home, then nap. When I made an effort to be sure we were home for lunch, maybe that helped him to prepare mentally for the next step - naptime - because he would go right to sleep.
On other days, if we had an inactive morning, he would also have trouble sleeping and just play for his entire nap period. For those occassions, I felt he was not getting enough activity and therefore was not tired enough. He is an active, energetic little boy, so I don't have to make too much effort to be sure he gets enough activity. But I found that if he has some good activity in the morning, then we settle down for lunch, he naps well.
These seemed to be the issues for my boy. If there is something that is actually hindering your daughter's naps, it may be different. I can remember taking naps in Kindergarten, so I always expected that I would be sure my children had naps until they were in school. If they outgrow the need for a nap before then, I still plan to have "quiet time" (we'll see how my "plan" works!). I do think that having a period of quiet rest during the day is beneficial at any age. If they don't actually need to sleep, that is fine, but they do need to take a break (and mom needs it too!)

My three children all stopped napping around 2 1/2. They all stopped of their own will. I just made sure that they had a quiet time each day(not a nap) looking at books or something in their rooms and put them to bed a bit earilier each night for the next few months until they got uysed to the schedule change. Don't worry, it will get easier soon.

My 2nd cut out naps really young. Way before 3. But our issue was when he napped he would stay up until past MY bedtime. and I needed the break.