# HELP! My 20 month-old won't nap!



## rimajohn (Mar 19, 2002)

Is this normal? If he does end up falling asleep, it's generally after a 2 hour ordeal and it doesn't happen until 2:30-3:30 (which in my opinion is too late for a nap). He doesn't sleep late (usually gets up anywhere from 7am-8:30am). A few times when he's missed his nap, he's almost fallen asleep while eating his dinner (around 7pm). And then I'll get his teeth brushed and PJs on and he'll be bouncing off the wall (the nighttime sleep ordeal is fodder for a whole new thread). When do you moms know when it's time for taking away the nap? I know this generally happens around 3 years old.

HELP!

rima, mom to Justus
expecting her 2nd hellion on May 18!


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## Embee (May 3, 2002)

My DS who is now 23 months went through the very same thing at 20 months (among other times). I think he was just going through a particularly busy phase and didn't want to be bothered with daytime sleep. I did what I could to get him down but if it was too much of a battle, I'd allow him stay up and opt for the earlier bedtime instead (say, 6-7pm). Being that tired however, he didn't sleep well at night. A week or two in, his body gave him no choice but to start napping again and so far, we haven't looked back.

With that, I imagine it's precisely because he's overtired that you're dealing with nighttime sleep issues. My DS has a tendency to keep taking it to the next level of activity if he gets overtired and as I said earlier won't sleep well as a result. If he doesn't go down in the afternoon, I suggest changing the evening routine for awhile to accomodate--aka, get him to bed before he starts losing his mind... I've put DS to bed as early as 5:30. And no, I haven't had too many issues with early waking as a result--he's usually so beyond tired by then that he needs the extra sleep and because he gets to sleep before he's overtired, he sleep better in general.

In a way, I was strangely hoping that he wouldn't go back to napping--I admit, I'm a big fan of the early bedtime!







Alas, what's better for DS physically, mentally, is best for our family!

Best of luck and hang in there!


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## Mommiska (Jan 3, 2002)

As Embee said, if your ds is having bedtime troubles with no nap, he probalby does still need his nap. Her advice sounds great, in that case!

But my 19 month old doesn't nap anymore. She stopped napping about a month ago. And she doesn't seem to miss it. It was the same story you are describing - I'd try to put her down for a nap, but she'd only fall asleep around 3-4. And then, even if I got her up after an hour, she would NOT go to sleep that night until 9:30-10:30 pm.

I just decided I'd rather skip the nap and have a slightly earlier bedtime.

So...dd2 is usually in bed by 7:45 or so, and gets up around 7:30-8 the following morning. Before dropping her nap, she was about 30 minutes later getting to bed, so she has upped her night-time sleep slightly...

So...it can happen that they give up naps that early. In a way, I quite like it. My 3 year old doesnt' nap anyway (hasn't in well over a year), so I might as well have both of them up...it means we can actually get out and about in the afternoon, you know?

Hope things get better,
Carolyn


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