Hello!

My son is 16 months old and has been a little terror during the day! He refuses his naps, smacks and tells me ‘no’. How could I get him back into a good routine? My eyes literally feel lile they’re going to fall out of my head. TIA xx


Want more real mum questions sent to you?

You'll need to check this email to complete your signup.
  • My 14 month old
    Doesn’t sleep during the day and hardly
    At night, she used to but now she doesn’t. She’s happy so the professionals said she doesn’t need the sleep, hearing you @ exhaustion


  • My son was the same, he dropped his day sleep before he was 2 and hasn’t had one since. The only thing that worked for me (sometimes) was getting to watch a dvd as I would get him comfy and he would nod off. The only thing is he would usually wake up in a foul mood :(


  • I used to lay down with my children and read story then pretend to be asleep, it worked not only with my own kids but children toddlers I have cared for. My Mum used to do it with me as a child,careful you might fall asleep too, but who cares you may need the nap too. Time out is the clue. Another thing I did was tape my voice reading stories as they got older would give them the book and tell them on the tape when to turn the page.. brilliant when I had jobs to do. having a lovely time remembering as I write to you


  • its soo hard, but just keep at it and try to get him back into the routine of having a daily nap.


  • Both my kids stopped having naps at about that age, I know it’s exhausting but I think you might need to get to bed earlier yourself, I couldn’t force them back into a napping routine once they were over it, their energy levels are practically limitless.


  • Good luck with that, not easy!


  • My niece went through this with her eldest son, and it drove her round the bend. He would be so tired that he could barely stand up some days, but he refused to go to bed for a nap. She got around it by telling him that every day after lunch, they would watch one of his favourite dvds, instead of having “nap time”. He was happy, and she was over the moon, because within 15 minutes of the dvd going on, he’d be out like a light, every single day. And she got to have an hour or so of quiet time too.


  • Maybe he has grown out of naps, you might need to just push him to have quiet time.where you sit In a darker room and read books


  • I would say it is phase and to be consistent (as hard as that is). IS he having two sleeps? It might be time to try one, putting him down at 11.30 or 12.00 after an early lunch. Mine then had a two hour sleep instead of two one hour naps it was better for everyone :) Good luck!


  • Sometimes, they just seem to go through a stage where they don’t need quite as long naps, and then other times you wonder if they are going to sleep the day away! Definitely increase the amount of physical activity if you can. Mental stimulation can also be tiring too. Guessing you’ve tried winding down by reading books, darkened room, etc.?


  • Fresh air and a big run around the park usually work for my 2yr old boy, but he only goes to sleep in the pram or car of a day. If I was wanting him asleep in his bed I would probably do the same bed time routine I do of an evening, but make sure he’s really tired!!


  • Maybe just take him out for either a drive or a walk in his pram and hope he falls asleep, i remember when my son dropped his day time nap it was awful at first as he would get so tired and really cranky.
    Hopefully things start to settle for you soon.


Post your reply
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your answer and join MoM:

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join