No day sleep for toddler

[LilsJula]

Just wanting some advice from other mothers on day sleep for toddler.

My son is 26mths and I have just dropped his day sleep. He sleeps 11-12hrs overnight now. I think the recommended amount of sleep for his age is 13hrs - so he is close.

The "having a day sleep" thing became a massive battle and then I would have him up until 9pm at night.

Now he falls asleep by 7pm all on his own (which is important as I have a nearly 3mth old daughter).

However, he is very whingy and wild from 5pm on...I have found that I am giving him dinner at 4-4.30 in the arvie and have just decided to make lunch dinner and dinner lunch (as he is too tired to eat properly). Will he just adapt soon?

I insist on quiet time at noon still and make him lie quietly for 40-60mins (depending on how tired he is) and sometimes he falls asleep but 90% of the time he doesn't.

He has never been a big day sleeper - and when I dropped the sleep he was only have 30-40mins...

When did you drop the sleep?

[hannanat]

My son dropped his day sleep at about the same age. He would get a little unsettled in the late afternoon, but it soon went away. I think there's just some sort of change-over period until they get used to it. If you can, make sure the house is pretty quiet around the time he gets a bit whingy. The less stimulation, the better.

It will get easier.

[LilsJula]

Thanks hannanat - good to hear other kids dropped a sleep around the same age.

[deletedit]

Sounds familiar. Ours is 2.5 and we haven't been able to get her to have an afternoon nap for MONTHS. She goes to bed at about 9-11pm and is up anywhere from 8-9am. She gets horribly crabby if she doesn't nap, which is why we often call her Grumpybum. The best we get is sometimes she just passes out where she is in the afternoon and gets a half hour nap, usually on the floor using her stuffed cat as a pillow. She can even keep awake during a long car trip at 3pm!

Other one didn't drop the afternoon nap until she was 4 and at 2 she was sleeping 14 hours a night plus at least an hour morning and afternoon. I still find it weird that my 9yo goes to bed earlier than my 2yo and sometimes *I* sleep longer than the 2yo.

[lizh]

I couldn't cope if my 3 yo didn't have a day sleep. I put him down at 12 and he's up at 3 - 4pm and bedtime at 7;30pm-8.

Liz

[LilsJula]

Yes...Liz...I am going insane!!!!

[Visitor7]

DD1 dropped her day sleep at 2yrs of age. I tried everything to get her to sleep, she just wasn't interested. Not good timing with a newborn. DD2 still sleeps 4 hours during the day, plus her usualy 12 hours overnight lol. Such different children!