I feel so stupid to be just dealing with this problem when my son's 18 months old. He goes to sleep at night with no problem, but we've always had a hard time getting him to take a nap. He'll sleep at daycare for up to 3 hours, right on cue, and sometimes even before it's time. But he won't sleep at home no matter how closely we mimic the daycare routine.

So weekends, and other days he's home, he just gets fussier as the day goes on, and most of the time I break down and go for a drive-- he WILL sleep in the car for about an hour, but if I try to take him out, he'll wake up and be grouchy. I just can't keep driving him around to sleep!!

We've tried pulling shades and reading stories and music and even putting him in the crib to let him cry it out, but nothing works. He cried for a full hour once, and then he passed out in my arms when I lifted him out of the crib. Does anyone have a better way? He needs his sleep, and I'm at the end of my rope.

By Kaye on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 08:39 am:

What does the day care do at nap time? I think I would probably push his nap time at home back about 15-20 minutes (or maybe even earlier before he gets too tired) see if just adjusting that will help. If not go into the day care right before nap and watch the environment. What is different? Could you put your son for nap in a port a crib in a different room, maybe a change from nighttime would help. I don't recommend letting him cry for an hour, but if you know he still needs his nap then you need to commit to rocking him, holding him, or laying him down and "making" him nap. Transistions are always hard for little ones at this age. You may be doing too much, the bed is too nice, too many things/distractions, etc.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 11:13 am:

Does he have a blankie at the daycare? If so, maybe you need to bring it home on Fridays.

By Mrsheidi on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 11:42 am:

Do they feed him anything different? More/less? I agree that a blankee might help. Sorry this is happening! Must be so frustrating!

By Clarabel on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 12:05 pm:

Could it be that after being in daycare all week
he just doesn't want to miss out on anytime with you? Maybe you could let him play all day on the weekends and go to bed early.Just a thought.
He has already established his daycare routine so that would probably continue no matter what.Different environment,different routine.

By Bclifton on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 08:48 pm:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've asked about the daycare routine, and have tried to copy it (including buying the same cot and blanket) to no avail. They told me sometimes he just walks over to his nap cot and says night-night. He eats food from home at school.

The different daily routine is definitely a factor, I think, so I try to watch him for cues of sleepiness. Maybe he does get too tired. I'll try an earlier nap.

I guess my big question is how long I should try one method before determining if it works? I usually only have 2 or 3 days in a row to experiment, and since nothing has worked yet, I don't know if what I'm doing is wrong, or whether it just takes time. How did you guys establish the nap routine? Whenever anyone talks about putting a child down for a nap while still awake, I'm in complete awe.

By Kellyj on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 10:13 pm:

We had been having huge bedtime issues lately and what solved it for us was to let dd (2 years)keep a story book in bed with her. After we read it she looks at it until her nightlight goes out (2-3 mins). Sometimes I can hear her talking to her bears but she isn't upset anymore and is usually asleep within 10-15 minutes. I think that it helps her forget that she doesn't want to go to bed and the quiet activity helps her give in to sleepiness.

Maybe letting him read/do a puzzle in the crib will help him settle down enough to fall asleep? Good luck...nothing is worse than the wrath of an overtired toddler!

By Lauram on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 01:44 pm:

I have the same problem. My son sleeps like a champ at daycare and not at home. Honestly, I think daycare tires him out with all the activity and I just am not as stimulating at home. He's three and just one month ago he started going to sleep by lying down awake. He's really tough. If you figure anything out, let me know!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 04:38 am:

When my oldest daughter was a baby, she hardly slept at the daycare and took 3-hour naps when she was home! LOL! I think there was too much going on and she didn't want to miss anything.

It allowed me to take a nap, or get stuff done. Sometimes, I would be hovering by her crib, waiting for her to wake up!

By Bclifton on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 12:20 pm:

Ugh, he's in his crib right now crying his heart out. We tried doing the daycare routine-- closing the shades and putting on music. He insisted on having daddy there, too, but cried to get out of the room as soon as he saw the nap cot. We played quietly with his trains, and his mood got worse and worse. We both even tried lying down on the floor, but he screamed and pulled at our hands. After a half hour of this, DH put him in his crib and is sitting quietly next to him, letting him cry, but not leaving. I can't stand hearing it, so I had to leave the room.

Lauram, I used to think it was the stimulation at daycare, too, but we've been making sure to play extra hard with him, and that doesn't help. It's probably what Clarabel says, they don't want to miss any time with us. I've got to figure something out, the concept of waiting for him to wake up is completely alien to me. I'll let you know if anything comes of this latest effort.

(He's quiet now, and it sounds on the monitor like DH picked him up and plans to hold him through the nap. Doesn't work long, because DH falls asleep and SNORES!)