March 9, 2011

Lil Napper

Andrew has started refusing to take naps. He'll lay there forever if I leave him, but he won't fall asleep. There are days when he naps, and days when he won't. The problem is when he doesn't nap, he falls apart by 4:30 in the afternoon and is that way until he goes to bed at 7. He's only 21 months, and I really don't feel like he's ready to skip out on naps, especially since he falls apart so early.

Help...

6 comments:

Natalie said...

You could always drug him...

Jennifer said...

Summer gave up her nap around that age, and Asher did when he was a little bit older than 2. It's possible that Andrew's done, but who knows. I'd stick things out for a little while, though, considering daylight savings time is coming up, and (hopefully) the weather will be nicer soon and he'll be burning off more energy playing outside--so you never know how he's going to adjust to those things. These in-between stages are always really hard. Good luck!

kirsten said...

i was pregnant with #2 when my oldest was this age and tried this. and i was NOT having it. 'falling apart' is a sign that he really NEEDS his nap right now, so don't let him out of it! a couple of things to try: white noise (fan), more of a nap routine if you don't already (books, song, kiss, whatever), background music (this worked well for mine - we used 'the planet sleeps'), and a page that says 'i took a good nap' that he can put stickers on when he is successful. that actually worked well for her, too. good luck!

timpani76 said...

I just shut Vance in his room for an hour when he did this about this age, whether he took a nap or not. He eventually learned that he needed to take a nap, and started taking one again. I think every kid goes through a phase like this. Good luck!

Laura said...

Whatever you try, don't pit your will against his... Baby is learning that you can't MAKE him do anything! Wear him out if you can, and put him to bed. If he doesn't sleep, everyone suffers, but at least he goes to bed at 7!

Jill said...

That is tough. Belle went through that a couple times where I thought, welp, that's end of naps! And then she would pick it up again. Everyday she has quiet time whether she naps or not. I have her go in there and she can read books or whatever. She falls asleep about half the time. I figure either way we both get needed time to ourselves. Good luck!