Hot on the heels of the “honest toddlers” post on how to get away with not napping comes this gorgeous clip of two toddlers doing anything bar napping in their cots!

It is gorgeous to watch, especially the part where the boy shows empathy after hurting the girl with his bottle. I also love it when he jumps from his bed! Toddlers are so resourceful and strong!!!!

All jokes aside their are probably 5 key reasons your toddler is fighting their nap or refusing their nap.

1. The timing is off, yes the honest toddler had it right! Ideally your toddler’s nap will start between 12-2pm to fall within their biological sleep window and will be over by 3pm at the latest unless you want a super late bed time on your hands!

2. Their sleep environment is not conducive to sleep. Look at this video for example! Someone turn out the light or install a black out shade, that is way to bright for sleep. Biologically that kind of light room makes sleep very hard to come by, and look at all the interesting mischief you can get up to when you can see perfectly!

3. Inappropriate sleep associations. Your toddlers shouldn’t still be going to bed with a bottle of milk for their naps, not only will your dentist have a heart attack, but a big bottle of milk at this age might actually serve to “wake them up” right when you want them drowsy.

4. They have no positive sleep associations. These toddlers in the video – its clearly summer but a great light weight sleeping bag would go a long way as a sleep cue for these guys, as it does for all toddlers. Lovies and cuddlies are a another great positive sleep association.

5. Moved to a big bed too soon. As you can see in this clip for that little boy the temptation to climb from his porta cot is too much! He has climbed out within 60 seconds, imagine if he was in a big bed? Mum would have only just reached the door before he leapt out of bed. Toddler’s have very little self control and do not cope well with delayed gratification such as “stay in bed now and when you wake up we will go to the zoo”. So moving them much before 2.5 years into a big bed can spell disaster especially for naps!

If you need more help with your toddlers sleep, day or night.

We have a unique approach to toddlers which involves a lot of positive changes to guarantee successful sleep without being soul destroying to lots of stubborn and strong willed toddlers.