HI,

I need the insight of parents with older children. My son is 22 months old and of late we are getting a lot of day nap refusal. I don't want to give up on day sleeps just yet, for my sake and for his. Is this just a stage, part of his enthusiasm to say "No" to everything right now? Do they grow out of this and go back to sleepign? How should I work through this?

If it is just a stage, what do you do if they protest intensely. Our usual approach is to walk in and reinforce that it is sleep time now and then leave. I go back in every so often. but DS has just started climbing out of the cot (twice now) so the cot has to go for safety but I am still left with the same problem. Clearly this approach is no longer working.

I think we need to do something though, as he does still need a sleep as he is sleeping 1.5-2 hrs at childcare. I don't want to just throw in the towel but I need a plan of action. I fear that if I just let him do what he wants in terms of sleep then we will never get back into the routine.

I have also tried suggesting he just play in the cot, but that didn't work either.

Any ideas. Thanks.

When DS was 2-ish we went through the same thing. I ended up letting him have a nap every other day for a while. He seemed to get over it pretty quickly, and went back to an everyday sleep again. I guess my advice it don't enter into a power struggle with him over it.

How often is he at daycare? It maybe as simple as him wanting the time with you when he is at home.

Try "quiet time", and get him to lie on the couch, I used to put a DVD on and tell DS that if he was lying quietly he could stay up. He often fell asleep in that time, and if he didn't, he still had some "down" time.

DS is now 4.5 and still has a day sleep most days.At home and daycare (4 days)

YOu are lucky to have got to 2! My almost 8 month old hasn't had a day sleep except on my boob or in the car for about 2 weeks. It is killing me. I hope she snaps out of it soon it is really doing my head in.

My two eldest gave up their day sleeps just after they turned two.

Good luck.

Mine gave up naps at 2years 10 months. I think I cried. lol.

I have been struggling since she was 3 - some days she refuses and some days she just falls asleep... the hardest part is when she crashes at around 5pm - that means she wakes up at around 8pm wanting dinner - just when she normally goes to bed...urrrggghhh.... She is certainly a happier child when she does have a sleep but sometimes the battles are just not worth it.