napping

My 2 year old has always been a great napper and even when we wasn't sleeping he would happily play in his crib. He used to nap for 2-3 hours. Starting 1 1/2 weeks ago he has started only sleeping for 30 minutes or so and then waking screaming at the top of his lungs. We occassionally have trucks going by, neighbors shutting car doors etc that may wake him but he does have a white noise machine on in his room. I don't know what to do. Let him scream or go in and end nap each time? I sure hope this is a phase and he isn't done with naps forever.

My dd has never been a great sleeper. But whenever she's having a harder time than usual, I always suspect one of two things: either she's getting new teeth, or she's getting sick. Does your ds have his 2 year molars yet? Can you take him in to see his ped to rule out a possible infection? My dd and I had a cold that was just getting worse after the first week. We had two long nights of her stalling to sleep, not crying, but seemingly uncomfortable for an hour+ before falling to sleep both nights. A check up at the peds found both an EI and a SI. She didn't have a fever either. Within a couple of days of taking her antibiotics, she went back to falling asleep in under half an hour (which is good for her!).

I've read that the last nap usually isn't dropped til after the 3rd birthday. Of course some kids drop it sooner. Yet for your son to go from playing happily in his crib to screaming, I think something else must be going on. I don't think the neighborhood noise is bugging him if it hasn't been an issue before. How have you been handling the short naps? I usually give dd the chance to resettle (10-20 minutes). But if her cry sounds urgent vs the tired cry, I go in right away and rock with her in her room hoping that she'll calm down and maybe snore a few minutes longer. It would be such a bummer to lose such a good napper in your ds! What I would give for 2-3 hour naps over here! lol!

Dawn