Hi Moms,
I have a two year old who struggles with going to bed at night. He doesn't really fight it much when getting ready, but once I put him in his crib and leave, it takes him sometimes over an hour to fall asleep. Sometimes if he takes a longer nap during the day, he plays for a long time and then finally settles down and falls asleep. If he takes a shorter nap, he seems tired but can't fall asleep and gets frustrated. He usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8am, and I put him down between 7:30 and 8pm. He takes a nap around 1pm for one to 2.5 hours. He is very active during the day whether jumping off the couch or playing at the park or outside. A couple times he didn't take a nap...once we were out and didn't get home til 6pm (he almost fell asleep in the car on the way home but I wanted to put him to bed when we got here so kept him up) and once because he would not fall asleep for his nap. Both times he seems very tired around 2pm. Both times he seemed exhausted by 5pm. And both times he fell asleep immediately when I put him to bed and slept about 12.5 hours. My questions is, is it possible that he's ready to drop his naps at 25 months? Or is there anything else I can do to help him sleep? I've tried putting hm to bed later and I've tried putting him to bed earlier but it's always the same thing.
Thanks!
Little bit more info:
I don't think he's overtired. He sleeps about 11 hours at night and then an hour to 2 hour nap. He never falls asleep in the car or exhibits any other signs of over tiredness.
The last few days he's only been napping for about an hour and is doing the same thing.
Also, when I say he's exhausted by 5pm, I just mean he seems tired. He's not falling asleep on the floor or in his food. Just can tell he's getting there which was the same way when we were transitioning from two to one naps. He still seemed really tired around 10am, but if I let him sleep he wouldn't take an afternoon nap. Once he got used to it, he was fine.
Oh yes...very possible. Sounds like naps need to go...and it doesn't happen overnight by that I mean he needs to drop them but he may not make it till 6 without being cranky for a few days to weeks. 5will come around and he will probably be cranky but that is part of the transition. Good luck if you choose to drop them.
My daughter is 2 1/2 and takes forever to fall asleep at night when she has a nap. I have given up on the napping. So in my opinion, it's very possible that your son might not need them anymore. However this is new to me as well. My older daughter took naps for 4 years. I suppose it just depends on the child.
Yep, some kids are done at that age. My 3rd was like that. I think she was almost the exact same age too. Similar story as yours. I dropped the naps, but she still needed some quiet time where she laid down for about 30 minutes. Usually I put a movie on and made a special bed on the floor and she'd lay there for a little while. It helped. She would get pretty tired later in the evening, but overall she finally slept better.
kids who have trouble falling asleep at night are usually overtired.
In our school district, KG classes have "quiet time" for the 1st semester. It is a requirement for all children. With my daycare, I make sure the kids are still in nap mode when they leave me for KG. It just makes for a much smoother day for them at school.
The fact that he's exhausted by 5pm means that he's not ready to quit the nap....it just needs to be shortened. My recommendation would be: get him playing/interacting with other children in the morning hours. Naptime will come earlier....allowing for a decent bedtime. Good Luck!
YEPPERS!!! Some kids give them up at 2 - I know it sucks!!! But unfortunately - it happens - thank God - mine didn't stop napping until 6 (yay for us!! as we napped too!!)
I had a friends son who stopped napping at 2 - when he was with us - I asked him to read or play quietly while my boys napped...
I know my son could go all day without a nap, but just because he can doesn't mean we don't do naps. He's a much happier little boy (28 months old) if he takes a nap. He wakes up at 9am, takes a 2-3 hour nap usually around 2pm and doesn't go to sleep til about 10:30-11pm. Without a nap he still stays up til at least 10pm. He is so GO GO GO, he would probably stay up 24 hours if we let him haha I say try a few days consecutively without naps. You will definitely have your answer based off of your son's behavior ;) You know him better than we do. I was suggested to let my son have some quiet time with books in his room with the window shades closed. If your son is anything like mine... there is no such thing as quiet time lol Good Luck Mama!
Both my older boys quit taking naps at 2 but we still had quiet time
My daughter has given up naps for a few months and she is 2.5. My older one gave them up at 3. I'd try shortening the nap 20-30 minutes at a time until you find a good balance.
My daughter dropped naps at 25 months. It was taking her more than an hour to fall asleep and it was a constant struggle. At night, she wouldn't sleep. She'd get tired between 3 and 5pm and occasionally fall asleep but then wouldn't sleep at night. Our solution was to stop naps. The first week was tough and she was cranky around 3-6 pm but when we put her to bed at night she went to sleep right away and slept all night (10-12 hours). Sometimes we have to try to keep her up but for the most part she doesn't even want to nap.
It was a tougher transition for me than it was for her! Good luck!
My now 22 yo gave up naps at 15 months. He did sleep longer at night, he went to bed at 7ish, then was up at 7ish the next morning.
We still had quiet time.
You could try shortening his nap to 1.5 - 2 hours to see if that helps with his falling asleep at night.
Try waking him from his nap at one hour and pushing his bedtime to 6:30 or 7pm. We had to do this with both of my kids and it worked like a charm. Good luck!
If he is exhausted by 5 pm, I don't think giving up the naps are a good idea. Just my opinion. My son is 3.5 and can take a 3-4 hour nap if I let him and still go to bed at 8:30 pm. However, I only let him sleep 1 hour during nap to stay consistent with his school program. Perhaps making a 30 - 45 rest time?
All of my kids (4) gave up their naps at age 2. If they slept, they would be up until 10pm. Initially we had the "witching hour" around 5pm, but once we got over the hump, we had dinner around 6 then bath and bed routine. It was easier for me to deal with the 5pm fussiness then the 10pm bedtime. It got easier over time and the 5pm thing went away. We could not have gotten in the car though in the afternoon because they would have definitely fallen asleep. Good luck!
