UCB Parents Advice about Sleep
20-month-old Giving Up Nap?
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Giving up Naps
Sept 2002
When do most kids give up on napping? My 20 month old daughter
frequently will not nap. I do everything possible to encourage her
to nap: I nurse her, drive her around endlessly (this used to be
foolproof), make sure she doesn't oversleep in the morning, and
give her filling snacks. There is no obvious physical reason for
her not napping, though there have been some changes in our
routine. We moved her into her own crib and room a month ago and
I've had a (seemingly) drastic decrease in my milk supply. She
does, frequently, seem tired and gets really cranky and tries to
fall asleep a couple of hours before bedtime.
Has this happened to anyone? What did you do? Could she be giving
up on napping at this age? I'm really going crazy. Her nap time
is one of the few times I get to rest.
Molly G
Your daughter still needs and wants a nap. I think what is going
on is that the foolproof methods of inducing sleep in an infant,
such as the soothing motion of the car, stop working for a
toddler/preschooler. Start thinking more about helping her fall
asleep the way you fall asleep. After a meal, have a quiet
activity, darken the room, read a book or two, put her in bed,
rub her back, talk to her or sing a little, tell her what you
will do after she has a nap. Tell her she doesn't have to
sleep, but she needs to close her eyes and rest. Good luck. My
42-month old is still napping, so it can be done!
Fran
You might want to review the sleep book, Healthy Sleep Habits,
Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It has been recommended here
before and is my favorite resource for sleep questions regarding
babies through teens. I am sure he can give you guidance on
this issue and others as they arise.
Laura Yerkovich
My daughter gave up her nap quite early. We made her bedtime
earlier. Also, we have a quiet time for at least half an hour
in the afternoon, which means reading or drawing, no running,
etc.
Joan
My 18 month old boy frequently doesn't nap either, which seems
crazy to me, but he also doesn't seem too adversely affected by
it. He's never been real positive about the whole sleep thing -
he's way too excited about what he might be missing. The
trade-off is that on the days he skips his nap he's more likely
to go to sleep easily in the evenings, like 7:30 or 8:00 instead
of 8:30 or 9:00. And he's up by 7:30 or 8:00 usually. His doc
says he's ''active'' and just doesn't need as much sleep.
We definitely try for a quiet time, like right now, for instance,
when he sits in his crib reading books or playing with small toys
while I get some chores done [I'll be paying my bills in a
minute!]. It resolves a little of my dilemna regarding when else
to do that kind of stuff.
Jean
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