Hellobee Boards

Maybe I'm just the resident asshole, but I put a latch on E's room and when she goes in for nap time, she can play or sleep, but girlfriend has to stay in there. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink

I would institute a reward system. Something like if he stays in his room for an hour at nap time he gets a sticker and if he has a sticker for every day at the end of the week he gets to pick from a prize box.

@blackbird: same here. DD1 will USUALLY nap but if she doesn't want to, I don't care, she still needs to have "quiet time" in her room for an hour. We have a doorknob cover on the inside of her door that she hasn't figured out yet and that keeps her in there.

I would either lock LO in or try the playroom... hey, whatever works!

I have a gate on my daughter's door and there is a reward system for her staying in her bed and resting.

I used a baby gate and kept an eye on the video monitor (never needed it until he went to a big boy bed) and yelled at him to get back into bed if he left. I think he still believes I have eyes everywhere.

We stopped naps after 3 because he was staying up until 10pm +. He can still nap if he falls asleep, which happens once a week or so, but he will still go to bed normally now. I think starting school helped him a lot with his sleep, he needs it more now.

Gave up on nap at 34 months. He wouldn't stay in his room and it was a major struggle. Tried tot clock, bribes, rewards, and nothing worked. Couldn't lock him in room because he shares a wall (and adjoining door) with brother and he would just scream or bang on the door and wake brother up. He would always nap in the car but I only did it if he really really really needed it. As in, epic tantrums or sick or something. I read that it takes a few months for their bodies to adjust to no nap before they will start sleeping longer at night. If you keep letting him cat nap or nap occasionally, he may just stay in this bad cycle. I say ditch it altogether unless you have a planned outing where both kids can nap in the car for a decent amount of time. When we are at home, he will play quietly in playroom for a decent amount of time after lunch.

@MamaChin: my kid will nap 2+ hours if I let him, but it definitely messes up his night sleep. So just taking a nap may not be a reliable sign for needing one. But every kid is different. We are very much still adjusting, but in general have gone from 10 hours of night sleep with wakings to 11.5-12 hours. Something to think about.

My son is 4.5 so he doesn't always need or want a nap. Sometimes during the weekend I tell him he can play quietly in his room or the living room while his sister is napping and we get a break (to work or nap or relax). However, I tell him that if he is loud, he has to sleep. It actually works really well and he can occupy himself for an hour or two playing with Legos, looking at books or playing with other toys.

@MamaChin: be forewarned, though. This transition has tremendously helped night sleep, but it's been tricky. He actually asks to nap sometimes, but even a 10-15 minute car nap will mess with his night sleep. Not saying that will be true of your guy, but I gave in and let him go back to napping for a bit, and that just confused the poor kid. I wish I'd pushed through then. There's no going back now, though!