Toddler afternoon nap

[Lulu79]

Hi, I've never posted before but need some advice. My 22mo used to nap for at least two hours from midday every afternoon in his cot. I think this stopped around 17 months or so, I can't remember, but he would start screaming when I walked out, or would appear to be not sleepy, not lying down, laughing, running around the cot. I know he still needs that sleep (rubs eyes, gets stroppy etc), so I ended up giving up on the nap battle (he sleeps well at night) and taking him out in the pram instead, where he drops off and then I come home and park him in the hallway. This worked fine for a while (not ideal but still), but he's started waking after an hour or hour and a half and screaming blue murder for up to 20 minutes, pushing me away and not allowing cuddles or offering of drink, food or toys. I'm convinced he's disorientated/uncomfortable/still tired etc, but whenever I attempt to try putting him in the cot again, he goes mad. At this point I should say he sleeps for at least two hours at nursery three times a week, on a mat with the rest of them, so I have even tried setting up a mat/blanket on the floor, but he won't come and lie down on that or the sofa either. Pram is the only thing he'll nap in and yet he wakes up in it so miserably. Any tips?! It's so stressful for both of us, I just want him to nap in/on a bed so he knows where he is when he wakes up. Sorry for long waffle.

[omama]

What time is his nap now? Still midday? & how is he sleeping at night?

[Lulu79]

omama - nap time is usually around 12.30, both at home and nursery. At nursery he'll sleep till 2.30 or usually closer to 3. Usually at home he'll sleep till around 2. It's not awful, I know those whose kids sleep for less time, but I know he's better with more sleep, and he just seems so miserable when he wakes up that I wish I could make it more restful and gradual for him. Going down at night he's now a dream, actually points to his cot, wanting to go in it. Has a whinge or cry once, sometimes twice a night, between 1 and 5am usually, always instantly settled once I go in, pop dummy back in (shoot me) and leave. He has dummy at home for naps too but doesn't seem to need it at nursery.

[Emski76]

Hi. It could be that your ds doesn't need 2 whole hours now. My ds 2 sleeps for 1.5 hours ish everyday when we're at home and is always grouchy after hisnap. I'm grouchy after a nap too!! Also have you tried putting him to bed a bit later for his nap?

[Lulu79]

Emski, I suppose i just wondered why he naps for so long and so consistently at nursery and wakes up so happy there and was worried it was because he was napping in the pram at home rather than bed/mat. If i take him out for a nap later he's often over tired and wakes up even grumpier. Typically, yesterday he slept for two hours in the pram and wasn't overly miserable when he woke, so maybe it's more about me feeling guilty that i can't get him to nap in his cot...

[debbie1412]

My son is doing EXACTLY the same. He's 26 months . We have to do a 1pm drive. He will not nap in his bed. If I don't drive him to sleep he falls asleep on sofa/floor around 3.30pm then is up all bloody night.
He wakes up hysterical !

[MrsHoarder]

Ds is younger and only does mornings at nursery. I have find he needs a much longer afternoon nap on nursery days than home days because they're much busier there. Worth thinking about.

[SophieLeGiraffe]

Same here. DS a sleepy boy and slept like a charm in his cot at nap time . . . Then we moved him into a bed. Got something wrong with the bed/nap time association and now I have to take him in pram for naps. He sleeps fine as usual at nursery.

Waking up grumpy - he gets grumpy if he wakes Ingram and can't see me so I try to be quick about getting to him when I know he's about to wake up. Bloody knackering though having a busy morning entertaining then having to go out for a walk.

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

dd1 was always terrible on waking from her nap
I used to wordlessly carry her downstairs, put her on the sofa in front of Cbeebies with some milk and a biscuit, and disappear into the other room for 15 minutes while she got over the grumps.

[YellowandGreenandRedandBlue]

Doesn't matter where he naps, he will not be napping in his pram full stop in a couple of years. If a nap in the pram works, do that.

[shoesontheglasslamp]

I've just come out of a similar situation to you!

From mid Nov last year to a couple of weeks ago, DS would only nap in the car. Then he was poorly (and would have slept anywhere!) so took this as the momentum to put him back in his cot.

He now goes off fine BUT he wakes just as previous posters have said - disorientated, not really himself, and he takes a while to come out of it.
I have been trying 'wake to sleep' with varying success in extending his nap (as he tells me he's still tired when he wakes) but have at least stopped him waking up in that weird state.

It seems to be called 'sleep inertia'. The web has info, but little help apart from they'll grow out of it...