2 year old sleep challenges: Nap boycotts

Nap boycotts are very common among the 2 year old crowd.  I actually remember when my daughter was 2 and had just started her 2 year old preschool program.  I believe it was even the first day of school that it happened that she didn’t nap.  I had foolishly thought, “this is great, she will be so worn out from her morning at school that she will take a great nap!”  Not so.  She instead spent the whole nap time in her crib talking and singing and practicing all the things she had learned that morning.  No nap happened.  Another time we went to a huge warehouse one morning and she spent hours climbing and sliding only to come home and not nap.  Sigh.  This is very common.  

Don’t give up on naps

Don’t give up on the nap.  2 year olds still very much need a nap.  Even spending an hour or more in their crib playing and talking can be restorative for them, even if sleep does not happen that day.  Their brains are so busy taking in so many things happening all around them so even if they don’t sleep, that time on their own, without so much external stimuli is still beneficial.  It is very common for 2 year olds to go through periods of days and weeks without a nap and then go back to napping regularly.  As suddenly as your 2 year old stopped napping, he could go back to napping again regularly. If your toddler does not nap, it is always fine to put him to bed very early. With the nap, everyone may be ready for an early bedtime because an undernapped toddler can be exhausting and exasperating. It is okay to put your 2 year old who hasn’t napped to bed as early as 6 or 6:30pm. It is likely that he will catch up on some of that lost nap sleep overnight.