Mums with Toddlers.. advice please!

lindsaygalaxy

my little one naps when at nursery when all the other children have theirs, but when shes with me she refuses and gets grumpy in the afternoon! Sometimes if i get her to lie down with me she falls asleep.

tranquil_2

When my eldest (now 4 1/2) dropped her nap, she did the winey, miserable bit. I brought her bedtime forward to 6pm, with a long run-up to it (at that stage I think I gave her her tea at 4.30 so she was upstairs for bath at 5pm and stories and settling down 5.30 so asleep for 6pm). As she couldn't tell the time, when really miserable and obviously overtired, she could be asleep by 5pm.

She sleeps for 12 hours, so when her bedtime was 7pm, she got up at 7am. When I brought it forward, she would get up at 6am, whatever time I put her to bed, the extra half/ hour I put her to bed when over tired didn't make a difference to her wake up time as she obviously needed the extra sleep.

We've now gone back to a 7pm bedtime, and her waking up time is slowly readjusting. I'm not sure what benefit the earlier bedtime had for her, but I needed it! Something to work towards and keep me sane, it worked for us.

My 2 year old has dropped her nap and gone back to it. So there may be hope for you, that your LO will resume nap-time. I like the suggestion of quiet time.

I take my hat off to you with 3 under 2. That's brave!

newmum1

My Daughter was 2 last week and is at nursery fulltime, i find that she will only have an afternoon nap 3 days a week and the rest she wont sleep at all but in the evening she used to go down between 6 and 7 whereas in the last 3 months that is now anytime frorm 8pm onwards to be honest i just try and tire her out as much as possible that usually does the trick.

Woby_Tide

our 2 1/2 year old still has 1-2 housr most day whether at nursery or not. More of a fight at home but we tend to read a story then lie with him a bit and he drops off. If he doesn't have it he turns awful by 6pm. Goes to bed at 7pm nightly, gets up 7am ish during the week but will sleep in till 8/8.30 at weekends

Savvy_Sue

Sometimes I would say that I needed a nap, and we'd have a cuddle in bed together or on the settee: if I lay quiet enough and ignored all the 'mummy's then we'd both drop off ... Does depend whether other children need supervision, but even just lying quietly for a short time can help.

iwanttosave_2

My youngest was 2 in May and he dropped his afternoon naps about the same time as his birthday, which I am glad of as he was starting to get hard to put down for bed in the evening, he would be running round his room till 10pm.

He now has no nap but goes straight to sleep at 7pm within about 10 minutes of being put down for a sleep, he only naps if she is very very tired such as getting up early or he has been swimming, we swim on Fridays and Sundays so often falls asleep on the way home. I think the best bet is letting her decide, if she is tired she will sleep, if not just carry on as you are.

halia

Try moving the nap, DS is 26 months and unless we've done something very tiring/active in the morning he isn't ready for a nap at 12 some days.

He goes to bed at 7pm and wakes about 6am, nap is usually 12.30-1.30pm during the week and a bit longer at weekends - 12.30-2/2.30pm.

misswig

After reading all the above posts, i'm beginnign to think that my DS(3) has been bitten by a tetsis fly:rotfl:

He still has an afternoon nap and will sleep anywhere from 2-3 hours and still goes to bed at 7.30pm at the latest and will still sleep through until about 6.30am (barring toilet trips in the middle of the night).:j

He occasionally will last a full day without a nap but wil be absolutely worn out and grumpy by 4pm and wont eat any dinner hence really early morning due to being hungry:eek:

He even sleeps this long at nursery. Should i be worried or count my blessings?? Apparently i used to sleep loads until i was about 5 so maybe it runs in the family:D

Savvy_Sue

iwanttosave wrote: »

I think the best bet is letting her decide, if she is tired she will sleep, if not just carry on as you are.

If only ... I vividly remember DS1's daytime naps after I'd stopped breastfeeding him during the day. He would pull himself into a standing position in his cot, howling and howling and howling until he fell asleep, then he'd fall over, bang his head on the side of the cot, wake up, pull himself upright and start howling again!

He WAS tired and he DID need that nap and would be unspeakable if he didn't get it. But he was also unspeakable while he got it!

Sometimes (and maybe this is a confession for the Bad Mother's Club) I would gently prevent him from standing up until he fell asleep ...

halia

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Sometimes (and maybe this is a confession for the Bad Mother's Club) I would gently prevent him from standing up until he fell asleep ...

We ended up with a 'safe to sleep' velcro band for just this reason. DS used to try and get up, not be able to get back down, fall over, bang his head, scream etc etc. The safeTsleep kept him lying safely on his back until he fell asleep.