So, “The Creature”, as we fondly call him, has recently deemed afternoon naps passe. He’s only 18 months and, quite honestly, I may need him to nap maybe more than he does. It’s only been two days of no napping, but if there is any way possible for me to get him back into the rhythm of a 1:00 nap I’d like to try it…before this “all day awake” thing becomes a habit. Any advice?
I think depends, how does your little one acts when he doesn’t nap? is he tired grumpy? do you think he needs a nap? or you need him to nap? lol…
My 19 months old naps from 1-3pm. she goes to bed at 9pm and wakes up at 8 am.
But i think some children before turning 3 years old, they need to nap. but some other young toddlers don’t need to, they are in a perfect mood even if they don’t take naps…which I think is not my daughters case, she has to take a nap otherways she becames tired,grumpy and sleepy.
I will suggest you to do lots of activities with your child(gross motor skills in the morning)running,jumping, up and down stairs,dancing, kicking balls, throwing balls…etc. so he burns lots of energy and he will feel tired and sleepy. I think that will help him to go back to naps. But like I said some kids just have lots of energy even if they do all this work out steps won’t go for a nap, the one who will need a nap will be YOU!!!LOL… :biggrin:
It really depends on how much sleep your child is getting at night. If he is getting enough for his age, then he might not need a nap. There is a chart somewhere that says how much sleep a child needs every day…
Ah, here you go http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-child-need_7645.bc (these are just guidelines, of course)
And I’m not saying that if he is getting enough sleep at night that he doesn’t need a nap. I think a nap is good for toddlers. But maybe he feels rested enough if he sleeps for 13 hours at night that he doesn’t feel like he needs one. Like PY said, let him burn some major energy and see what happens.
Here’s a thread from a while ago that may have some helpful info http://forum.brillkids.com/coffee-corner/struggles-with-naps/
Thanks for the link
My DD (almost 2 1/2 yrs old) skips her nap occassionally too. But it’s my fault because we don’t have a nap routine. I let her play until she falls asleep then I carry her to the crib. Sometimes she just doesn’t fall asleep until bedtime around 8:30 pm. When she doesn’t nap she is so cranky. But I feel like I’m punishing her when I put her in the crib while crying. I made another big mistake. The crib is her time-out spot. For some reason bedtime is easy. 8:30 pm is my son’s bedtime too, so I just say “Kids, it’s bedtime.” She grabs her her blankie and happily runs off to bed. She likes bedtime.
Good Luck, Lori
I’ve been worried that my toddler will stop napping too, he sleeps from 7:30pm-7:30am and then naps from 12-2 - I recently switched his nap time to 1-3 and that’s helped a bit. Sometimes I’ll wake him up early from his nap so he will go to bed on time at 7ish. He is in a toddler bed now, not a crib, and his room is very toddler safe so he just plays with his toys and falls asleep, sometimes in bed, sometimes on the floor with 2 cars in his hands. When he wakes up he calls “mommy!” and i come get him, its really cute. I think when he stops taking a nap I will still have him go play in his room for “quiet time” for an hour. I think alone quiet playtime is good for kids. Just my opinion.
Thanks for your advice. It is now very cold where I live but I’m still trying to take him out for a walk regularly. I think the fresh air and activity helps to tire him out. What I will do in minus 40 celcius I don’t know! He’s napped two days in a row now 
My daughter went through a stage of not napping at both 8 months of age (that was awful) and 17 months of age. She does seem to still need a nap now else she gets a bit grumpy at around 18:00 in the evening, but she sleeps very little (often 21:00 til 05:00 with an hour nap in the afternoon) I need her to nap to be honest so when she decides she doesn’t want to nap I will try for a quiet time in the afternoon where she must stay in her room and rest (read or play or whatever, but I need a time out)
Childrens needs seem to change on and off so just keep trying with the nap and try to get into a routine so she expects a nap.