Day naps - when do they end?

Last Friday DD (20 months) had a terrible day where I put her in bed for her nap (She has 1 nap during the day now) and she sounded like she'd settled and was asleep but after about 20 minutes she was singing and dancing in her room, or it sounded like it.

I tried all my tricks like a bottle, tried settling her myself but she was determined to just play. Well this lasted 2 hours! By 1pm I gave up and got her out of bed and gave her lunch. She went the rest of the day without a sleep and crashed promptly at 7pm.

Saturday she went back to her normal routine, had her 2 hour nap during the day, same for Sunday and Monday but today again it happened. We were out this morning and she fell asleep in the car around 11.30am and we were about 10 mins from home. When we got home i put her into bed no problems. About 15 mins later she was up and chatting away to herself. When i went in she had done #2 so i changed her and tried putting her back down but she was having none of it. By almost 1pm i gave up and got her up again.

Is this just a phase or coincidence?? Is it that she might be trying to change the timing of her sleep, she is normally a morning napper at about 10-10.30am till just after noon.

Please please someone tell me she is too young to drop her final day sleep!!!!!

Um she could be dropping it? Mine is the same age, and she has begun playing up on her day naps too - she'll be chatting and singing and playing with her dolls when I think she has gone to sleep. She goes down at 11.00 and has only been getting to sleep around 12. I'm not going to change her time though, cos she's not upset or anything, and its good to have time out to do stuff with the other kids.

You could try moving her nap time a bit, see if that helps.

DS wasn't quite 2 when he dropped his though.

DD is doing the same, and has been for the last couple of weeks. Some days she will not sleep at all or have a 20min catnap and go until bed time.

I was really hoping that it was going to signal the ending of the day sleep was approaching, especially with another on the way, I was hoping she would do it a bit longer.

Not sure how long the weaning off her sleep will take as she has some days she will still sleep for 2-3 hours (especially after swimming), and a few days a week the others is a nap or not at all.

:cry: so much for mummy time on those days she doesn't sleep anymore :(

I find that DD refuses day naps on occassions where I have her out and about in the car and doing little exercise. If I take her to the park and run her ragged, she will easily sleep for 2.5 hours. She is 20.5 months (a week older than Arimeh's DD1)

I know my DS is a fair bit older than your DD but mine still has a day sleep (2 hours give or take) but goes to sleep after lunch......so around 1 or 1:30pm.

Maybe she's not quite tired when you're putting her down, hence her chatting away to herself for longer. Maybe see if you keep her up a little longer and then put her down, if she actually goes down. If she doesn't go down later, then perhaps it is phasing out.....eeeek!

My 20 month old is having anywhere between 1 hr - 3.5 hr sleep in the day. He goes down when he is tired, rather than by routine. Sometimes it is before lunch (about 11.30) sometimes after lunch anywhere up to 3pm. But he also doesn't go to bed until 9ish at night, so I know we aren't typical. He doesn't wake up until 7.30ish in the morning so having a nap any earlier really wouldn't achieve anything for him.

But I would try watching her and seeing when she is naturally getting tired (if it all) and see how she goes if you put her down for a sleep at that time. What time does she get up? What time does she go to bed at night?

DS1 is 21 months and he gets up between 0800 and 0900 and then goes to sleep at 1330 - 1400 for 1 - 4 hrs depending on day. He goes to bed at 2030.

We have had occasional day he will not nap and he is FERAL by 1700 and doesnt eat much dinner.

Good luck I hope she keeps sleeping for u!!

DD was 2.5 when she stopped, I was gutted.

Mine was about 20 months when she started to drop her nap. I was mortified because I had a 5 week old. What I noticed though when I did get her to sleep during the day for a reasonable time, she would be difficult to get to sleep at night and wasnt going to bed until 1030- 11pm. Once she stopped the day naps she regularly goes to bed at 8pm. I just found at the start she would get to dinner time and fall asleep at the table. Took a few months to work out how to get past it!

All the best x o

Thank you for the fast replies ladies....

DD goes to bed at night between 7pm and 7.30pm but can power through till anytime if we are out. She wakes in the morning between 7am and 8am. I normally only put her to bed when she shows me she is tired which has just always been around the same time and when i have put her down those two days she was rubbing her eyes and then lays on my shoulder when i take her to her room which is her "I'm going to bed sign" but then it's like she gets a new wind of energy and after about 20 mins is revitalised. :(

I'm more concerned as I work from home and her nap times is when I get the majority of my work done during the day until DH gets home from work so I've struggled these two days.

I might try holding her over till after lunch for her nap and see how that goes. She has playgroup today and that finishes at noon so that should time it out ok but I might try to keep her up on the way home to give her quick lunch before i put her down.

I don't know how i'll manage work wise when she drops her sleeps completely. :(

Just a quick update, we had playgroup today from 10am till noon. On the way home DD was grizzling and whinging like she normally does when she is over tired. I sang songs, i tickled her leg while she sat in her car seat all to try and keep her awake till we got home. Then i changed her, gave her a bottle and off to sleep she went for 1.5 hours. Not an overly long sleep but better than nothing. She ended up getting to bed around 12.30pm so i might try for that time again tomorrow although i think it'll be harder keeping her awake that long when we don't go anywhere to entertain her in the morning.

She has played a little going to bed tonight, i put her in bed about 7:40pm and at 8.00pm i could hear her playing in there but i haven't heard anything since so i hope she has gone to sleep.

See how we go tomorrow. :)

Both my 18month old and 3.5 year old nap EVERYDAY from 1-3or 4.. they get tired at that age.. and I feel we do so much activity in the mornings I want them well rested rather then little brats before dinner time..

Then they go to bed at 730 and wake at 730..
3.5 year old goes to bed on his own and asks to be tucked in.. Its a habbit.. A friend of mine has 5 kids under 5 and they all nap everyday from 2-4... its how bad you want them to nap to lay them down.

my 2.5 yo sometimes sleeps in the afternoon, however I have found latley that if I skip this nap and have an early tea, he goes to bed at a respectible hour and gets a better quality sleep.

If he has the nap, he won't go to bed at night until after 8.30 and still wakes at 6. it doesn't seem to matter if he has a nap or goes to bed early he will still only sleep for a maximum of 11 hours a day.

If he has a sleep I have a less feral kid at tea time, but he might be awake until 9pm, but if he doesn't i have peace and quite by 7.30, and my sanity is restored.

they are all different, I think we just need to watch for their individual cues.

DD1 dropped her day sleep at 2. She never sleeps during the day now, regardless of what I do with her.
DD2 is still sleeping 4 hours during the day. She's showing no signs of letting go of her day sleep (thank goodness!).
They're all so different. Kids don't all need day sleeps, just like they don't all need to sleep 12 hours overnight.