It is really common for toddlers at around 2 years old to show signs that they want to drop their nap, but developmentally they are generally not ready – some keep consistently napping until they are 3 or older!
Signs include starting to refuse to go down for a nap or staying awake, chatting or playing in their cot for the duration of their naptime.
The best thing to do is to keep the routine of a daytime sleep and keep trying to put them down each day. Keep your responses consistent and stay calm whilst attempting the nap, regardless of how little one is reacting. Do this for a minimum of 2 weeks and there is every chance that naps will return. You can also revert back to a previous sleep approach you have used in order to help your response be consistent.
It’s also important to consider other factors when the nap refusal starts – for example, the timing of the nap (does it need to be pushed back 30 minutes?), any other behavioural changes you have seen during the day which could impact sleep e.g. change of childcare setting, developmental leaps (emotional, physical and speech), and the time you are able to spend with your toddler due to work commitments etc.
You might find that night-time sleep is slightly disrupted and early morning wakes start to appear whilst your toddler is refusing the nap as they will be overtired. There may be a delay before early wakings kick in as tiredness will build up and then start to impact sleep. To combat this, on the days that they do not have a nap, you can put them down to bed at night earlier (e.g. 6pm). Again – keep your response consistent to prevent a new habit forming, you can even go back to a previously used sleep approach to help.
If after 2 weeks, your child is still refusing naps and you have ruled out all the other aspects that could be affecting their sleep, then it could be that they are ready to drop the nap completely. However, for a while, your toddler will really benefit from an earlier bedtime (as early as 6pm) as they will naturally be overtired without the nap.
It is perfectly okay to give your little one a nap on some days and not on others so that they do not go straight to napping every day to not at all. Sometimes toddlers at childcare will drop their daytime nap earlier on their childcare days and then still want and need a nap on days when they are home. On those days that they miss naps, then again - put them down to bed earlier so that they are not too overtired.
If you need any help finding your way through the nap-dropping phase then ping me a message!