Getting 17 Month Old to Sleep at Nap

[much_lovee]

So I need some advice. I’ve been watching this child since they were about 3 months old. They have ALWAYS slept great for their naps, and have always stayed on a consistent schedule. However, at about 13 months they stopped sleeping the entire nap time. I do nap from 12-2. I feel like I’ve tried everything to keep them to sleep, but no matter what they wake up from 12:30-1. The parents follow the same nap time as me, and they tell me he easily sleeps 2 1/2-3 hours at home. I do believe them because they are open to me when he doesn’t sleep well a day.

I have him in a pack n play in a separate room from everyone else. He normally wakes up and either cries or talks/plays in his pack n play. I used to lay him back down but the parents advised me to just leave him be and he’ll go back to sleep. I’ve been trying that with no results. Now I understand not every child is going to sleep the same amount of time, but there is no getting him to lay quietly. He is VERY loud and will wake up the other kids that would normally sleep for nap, which makes the rest of the day very long with tired kids.

Does anyone have any advice? Normally I would have moved him to a cot by 15 months, but I don’t feel like I can comfortably do that without getting him to sleep and lay quietly in a pack n play. It’s been a very long 4 months, and I haven’t been able to get anything done during nap time!

[gumdrops]

Do you have a sound machine? I have a 2 yr old who would take short naps and once she was awake, there was no falling back to sleep. When I was ready to move her to the "big kid room" I put her mat next to the sound machine. Now I have to wake her when nap time is over. Mom even asked me to shorten her nap...sure Mom, sounds good, wink, wink!::

[LK5kids]

At two different times I had about 16. Mo. old children stop staying asleep in a separate room in a pack n play and both times I moved them to the nap area on a sleeping bag with the rest of the kids and they were fine.

[knoxmomof2]

Are they still taking their AM nap? If so, try dropping it or shortening it if it's very long. Might work, might not but it's worth a try.

Otherwise, find out if DCPs changed something with nap time that maybe the child is used to that is absent from your setup?

[Ariana]

I agree with a loud sound machine. I find all kids sleep better with it.

[hwichlaz]

If he's in a separate room and still waking up others, I'd give the others a sound machine.

[much_lovee]

Sorry for taking so long for a response, I was enjoying my long weekend

I used to use a sound machine, but i ended up taking it away to see if that was the reason he was waking up. But unfortunately he wakes up and stays awake with or without it. Both the parents and I dropped the morning naps around 12 months because he wasn’t sleeping in the afternoon. He then slept great in the afternoon for a little while after dropping it.

I’ve talked to the parents and we both do everything the same, including the times. It has to be something I’m doing here, but I just can’t seem to figure it out. It sounds like I should just give the cot a try and see if maybe that will help keep him asleep/quiet. I have a low day coming up, may be a good time to try it!