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Sometimes getting a toddler to take a nap is a real struggle from the time he starts walking till he starts to preschool and perhaps with a few helpful hints you too can establish a nap routine for your toddler.
First of all learn the tired signals your toddler shows such as rubbing his eyes or even his ears, and sucking his thumb, being a grump also is a good sign that this little guy is just plain tired and needs a little break by taking a nap.
You might want to perhaps set a stage for the nap and do this daily, remove the crib or bed of toys and put them safely in the toy box, a good idea also is if you have one or more children to separate them as this makes nap time quieter and much easier on the toddler and on you as the parent also.
If you have a soft cassette tape, put it on with perhaps soft music or a story and let the toddler relax listening to this and before you know it he will be nodding off to dreamland and you will have a break to relax or perhaps do a few chores that need doing.
When a child reaches one to two years of age he may want to go to just one nap a day and this probably will be right after lunch. If you want to establish two nap times, perhaps make one just a resting routine or a quiet time. Tell him if he doesn't want to go to sleep and nap he does need to have a quiet time and establish this pattern
of a quiet time in the morning and then an actual nap in the afternoon. Some children willingly want that nap time, or quiet time, others just want to play and run until they get too over tired. An over tired child can display hyper behavior also when its time for naptime instead of falling to sleep so perhaps before quiet or nap time you might want to have a storytime for a few minutes and read a favorite story to him.
Try to establish a routine daily at about the same time, say after he has had his lunch and do this daily when time permits. Of course there will be days when you have doctor's appointments, etc. but try to schedule any outside the house engagements away from the daily nap time as you'll have a well rested toddler to tag alone with you.
Sometimes at first you might have to lay down along with the toddler to get him started on this nap routine, even if he doesn't go to sleep, let him know this is a quiet time for both of you. Let me sleep or either just be quiet for about a period of one and one half hours or two hours as this is sufficient.
When you have a quiet time it would be best if you have the child understand that he is to remain in that place the entire time, on his bed, on a blanket or the couch depending on where you establish the quiet time. His room is usually the best place for a pattern to develop for a nap and also quiet time as its usually quieter than in the other busier parts of the home.
Good luck with your todder and nap time, before you know it a routine will be established.
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