2 year old wont go down for naps

penguinbaby

Hi
My daugher has just turned 2 (9th of March) and she wont go for naps anymore. i took her soother off her about 6-8 weeks ago and since then i have trouble getting her down for naps. When i put her down she crys until she falls asleep (if i leave her that long) and then when she wakes a half hour to 45 mins later she starts crying again straight away. this went on for nearly 2 weeks until i stopped putting her down altogether as i didnt like to see her so upset. its just now she is grumpy later in the day every day and cry's over the smallest things. She does be wrecked but wont even fall asleep on the couch for a little while. Any ideas on how to get her to take a nap would be helpful.

shesty

I'd persevere if I were you.Sleep goes haywire at 2.Does she sleep ok at night?Did you replace the soother with anything, a special teddy or anything like that? You could try adjusting when she goes to bed, make sure its round midday/1 (assuming she's up around 6:30/7ish), try and have her luch before hand so she's not hungry.Even better if you can get her out in the fresh air in the morning.
They do go through this phase at 2, but taking the soother maybe didn't help, although I know it has to be done sometime!
You could try her in the buggy round naptime either, see does that help.

ainy

Around that age my little one started the same, there was no way she could actually last the whole day though.(either could i!)
I resorted to going for a drive around nap time, and she fell asleep instantly, would let her sleep for 40 mins or so and then gradually cut it back, shes 3 now, doesn't nap but if she is in the car in the afternoon she will doze!

penguinbaby

I didnt replace the soother with anything but cd try and see if givng her one of her toys going to bed wd help. She sleeps grt during the night, i put her down at 8 and sleeps until 7/7:30 the nxt morn without any hassle. I cd try putting her in the buggie to see would that help 2. And i also cant bring her out for a walk as i have a 5 month old who goes down for his nap at 12:30 until 3.

penguinbaby

I unfortunately cant bring her out in the car as we only have one and my husband has it for work. And i also have a 5 month old who goes down for his nap at 12:30 until 3.

Dardania

shesty and ainy have answered pretty much as I would have so no need to repeat!
One of the children books I read (coincidentally it was about sleep) mentioned that it take 2 days to break a routine, and at least 6 days to make it...

shesty

Ah yeah, I've been there.
We still have the soother, so my advice is based on what I know, but I can't guarantee anything that will work!.....I think the soother was probably her prop for getting to sleep, but it's gone now so she needs to figure out a new way to go to sleep now. Start giving her a favourite teddy or something, incorporate it into her bedtime routine kind of to replace the soother. She's probably so exhausted at night that she just crashes, but I would argue she still probably needs about 1.5 hours in the day (just going by my own pair - the younger is just about 2 and sleeps those hours too). Also - you need her to have that sleep, so she can physically get through the day!! Their sleep goes a bit haywire at 2, my older girl went through a phase of taking AGES to fall asleep for naps at that age. I used to sit upstairs and go into her every ten mins or so and tell her it was time for sleeping. It might sound awful but she needed the sleep so badly, I had to stick with it.

If she's waking round 7/7:30 she mightn't be ready for a nap til maybe 12:30/1. That's what I'm finding with my second. And she has a little routine, she gets her bottle and goes up to her bed with it. My first likes her lunch then to put her pjs on (!!!!) and a story in bed then she goes to sleep. (mind you she's nearly 4 now, so she doesn't really nap any more). The day was very structured for my first, which helped a lot - she was up (at the crack of dawn!) we would try to get out for a walk etc, then home, food at 11:30/12 then she would nap around 12:30/1. The structure helps too, their body knows to look for sleep then.

You kind of have to stick with it, she will take a few weeks to work through this phase but it will come. I know plenty of people do just give up, but then the child is so exhausted by 4pm that everybody's life is miserable for months on end.

penguinbaby

so i put her up for her nap today, and she cried for a few minutes, and then started to play in her cot. she played for about an hour (i went up a few times to try and settle her) and i think she is finally asleep. Im afraid to go up and check incase i wake her but there is no noise coming from her room. :-) Shesty what age is your 2nd? im just wondering coz with my 2yo she just get one bottle (with formula) b4 she goes to bed in the eve, and the health nurse said she is 2 old to have a bottle now and to give it to her in a sippy cup/plastic cup.

shesty

She's two in a week or so.She just gets the bottle out of comfort and habit to be honest for her nap, not really from need!It's just about 150ml of cow's milk.I know what the PHN says, but meh, she's well able to drink from a proper cup and she doesn't require the bottle to fall asleep (ie she drinks it but goes into cot awake, and she doesn't get it if she wakes at night), so I keep going with it for now.The older one was a good one for playing for an hour too though, i just sat her out once she was
happy!Childminder says no.2 played for ages in the bed today and only slept about 45 mins too.Doesn't matter once she sleeps though, anything to get them through the day!!

No.1 used to sleep 2.5-3 hour nap, but no.2 only does maybe 1.5 hours barely, but sleeps much longer in the mornings.Sounds more like your little one.

penguinbaby

She slept for about an hour yest, which was great so her mood was def better yest eve. I give the bottle to mt 2yo for comfort 2, but was tinking of trying to wean her off it sn but wil prob leave it a little longer. :-) if i get her to stay going down for her naps for now i will be happy. :-)

killanena

My daughter turned 2 on the 26th of February, from maybe December up till late February she just wouldn't nap anymore at all, she would only play and sing in the crib but then come the evening she would be very tired and cranky and be looking to go to bed at 6pm!

It was just a phase though and she is back to her normal nap routine now. So it could just be a phase like we experienced

shesty

Exactly, we had it with no.1 for quite a few weeks then she went back to dropping off quite quickly and sleeping even longer!!!So hopefully just a phase.

Small steps especially when you have the two together, it's hard enough as it is!