My 3 y.o. has been fighting me on taking a nap for a few weeks now. He'll willingly go and then not want to nap when we're done reading and then sometimes just stay up standing in his crib. Today, he stood there for 20 minutes saying he didn't want to nap. "I don't want to, Mommy" is what he kept saying. Over and over again. Then when I was on the phone I saw him through the video monitor trying to climb out with his sleep sack on. I stopped him 3x. Then told him to take a nap; otherwise, he won't get his favorite vanilla Oreos when he wakes up. I totally threaten him all the time. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing but it works most of the time. After 20 minutes of whining he finally stopped and it was quiet. He was asleep.

I would have went to get him except that I know he's tired and needs a nap to recharge. When he doesn't nap he's super whiny and cranky and cries over everything. And nothing I say will help and then I will have to time him out and that's when the screaming and stomping starts. It's a lot of work. So I do force him to nap by not getting him every time he whines to get out of his crib. I'm worried that when we transition him to his big boy bed soon he won't have a crib to contain him. Maybe he'll just fall sleep on the floor then. I think I'll be okay with that as long as he naps.

What do you do when your toddler doesn't want to nap? Do you force him/her to nap like I do or do you let them stay up and do quiet time (which I sometimes do if we come home too late to nap)? The 3s are super challenging!