When to Give up Naps?

My youngest son was a "sometimes" napper. We established "quiet time". That meant time to stay in his room, play with books, quiet toys like legos, tape recorder with headphones, etc. Inevitably he would fall asleep on the floor. I always told him quiet time was for me, not for him.

Hi! both of my girls gave up naps soon after they turned 2. they are now 3 & 5. every once in awhile they'll play so hard & take a nap in the afternoon. they just didn't seem as tired in the afternoons anymore & if they did take a nap, it seemed to be closer to dinner, then it would take them until closer to 10 pm to fall asleep. for awhile we would just wake them up after 30 min or so, sometimes an hour, until the naps were gone completely. both girls are in bed at 8 pm (most of the time!) now without a nap anymore & usually sleep until between 7:30 & 8 am.

My kids all stopped taking naps around age 2. I just would rather they sleep good at night than get a break during the day. My husband and I needed to get them to bed and have time to ourselves at night. They have always gone to bed at 9 and woke up at 8 every day. they are 11, 5, and 4 now and we've never had an issue with bedtime. Some crabbiness at first during the day when naps stopped, but could easily be fixed with a snack and a short TV show. We would just give them sippy cups and cheerios and put on Dragon Tales and they would be happy and catch their second wind:_)

My oldest stopped napping a few months after turning 3. We do as others have said - a "quiet time." I also tell him it's for both of us. Sometimes he still does fall asleep but that's the exception for sure.

My daughter stopped napping just before her third birthday. She would never do quiet time on her own - too much to do, too much to see, too much to accomplish! - but I tried to "quieten" her activities for about half an hour in the afternoons. We did puzzles, crafts, read.

My son who is now 4 yrs old gave up naps shortly after turning 3. We would still try to lay down and go to sleep but some days after an hour or so of trying he was still awake and other days he would fall asleep. So I just have let it be up to him now. if he is tired and really cranky then we have quiet time and if he falls a sleep fine if not fine also. But most days he runs and plays from the time he gets up until bedtime. It is really harder on the mom I think to give up that nap time(free time). Good luck.

S.

T.,

My oldest gave up naps about the time she turned 5, second oldest gave up naps just after he turned 6. My third is 4 1/2 and still naps daily for at least 2 hours. They all had a bedtime of 7-7:30 in the winter, 8-8:30 in the summer until they were school aged and sleep until 6:30-7 the next morning. I also worked in a large day care / preschool and never saw a kid who didn't take a nap. They also had a licensed Kindergarten and of the 60 kids, about 2-3 had stopped napping. It's all about the effort you want to put into keeping them on a schedule.

All of my kids went through phases where they would try to stay up or not nap. My two year old is trying it right now because we moved her out of the crib into a toddler bed. We were firm and consistent and eventually they went back to napping. It was time to give it up for good when they consistently layed down and held still for over an hour but could never fall asleep.

If it was me, I would work with my son before giving up the nap. It's summertime and kids just seem to need less sleep, especially with the extra sunlight. With two of my kids, laying down in the room with them and reading a book / magazine silently was enough that they would go to sleep. With my oldest, she did best if she was alone in a room with nothing to do. My other son did best if we left him alone in the room and just put him back when he would try to sneak out. I would make sure they all got plenty of outside time and lots of physical activity. Each kid is a little different and you have to figure out what works best for each.

Good luck,
S.

Maybe just start with no naps for 1-2 days per week and work up to more days with no naps. Just have to work with it and see what works for your son. Every child is different and if you think he is ready, go ahead and give it a try...good luck!

Our 3yr. old doesn't always want them either. If we're home, I'll lay him down. If he doesn't want to sleep, I'll put a movie in just so he can have some down time. I just don't rush home or schedule around his used to be nap times any more. So, even try giving him the down time. Helps them unwind & will still give you some time :)

My younger son gave up naps at the age of 2. Try shortening or skipping the nap to see how it affects bedtime. I'll bet bedtime will come a lot sooner and a lot easier if you stop the nap.

Some kids are just wired to sleep less.

In my opinion, its probably a phase and you should try to tough it out with him. But it is possible he may be ready to drop naps for a quiet time. My son is almost 4 and still naps, but about 2 days a week, he doesn't sleep. He knows the rules (has to stay in bed and not be too loud, but can play with a few toys/books). I refer to his naptime as "quiet-time" and tell him he doesn't have to sleep, but he still falls asleep most days. He doesn't seem to fight "quiet-time" as much as a nap, probably because he knows he doesn't "have" to sleep.

Of course every child is different. I think your best bet is trying some days with quiet time instead of nap-time, and see how much it affects him later in the day. You may be able to switch to a slightly earlier bedtime and have no problems, or maybe he'll be melting down and grumpy (if thats the case, he probably needs a nap).

Good luck!

Hi T.,

Naps at my house are for every age child that comes...this ranges from age 9 down to age 23 mos. right now. Most adults would love to have a nap everyday, so why shouldn't we give our children a nap. It makes them much easier to live with, and us, too. Once they realize you aren't going to give in during naptime, or at bedtime they will quit fighting sleep, too. This is just like when they were small babies, and they went thru a phase of not wanting to sleep. Hang in there, be consistent, and follow-thru. Although, I guess this is really your decision because you are the one with them everyday, and not a daycare provider, so I would say this is your call, and whatever you decide will be fine because you are the one that will be with them except for weekends. What does that person think about no naps???

C.

Hi T.! I am the mother of 4 kids - ages 11, 8, 3, and 4 mo. Each of my kids was different in their napping. My oldest had a hard time giving up naps before kindergarten; my 8 year old started napping every other day when she started preschool at age 3; and my 3 year old hasn't been napping for over a year. It just all depends on the child. My oldest still requires the most sleep of all my kids. One suggestion is to try the every-other-day approach and see if that works. I guess it's a give-and-take...either they nap during the day or they go to bed earlier. Either way it's never enough time to get everything done that we need to do while they sleep! :) Good luck!

I guess I would have to ask first.. how active is your little one. If he is very active and acts like he needs a nap I would continue to let him have one but maybe let it be a little shorter if possible. If not, try having a "quiet time" instead of a nap. Make it time to look at books or do puzzles something that won't make him sleep but still make him wind down a bit. It does sound like he doesn't need a nap anymore if you want him down by 8. Both of my children stopped taking long naps by this time unless they really wore themselves out and then usually I would wake them up after an hour so that they would go to bed at a decent time.

Hi T.. As you can see from the other responses, there's probably no such thing as "normal." My just turned 3 year old gave up naps over 6 months ago. If she does happen to fall asleep in the car, which only happens maybe once a month, we get her up after 30 minutes. Otherwise she's up until 10 pm or later! She typically is asleep for the night at 8:30 pm and gets up between 7 and 8 am. Many of my daughters little friends still take a 2 hour nap however. Just try to look at it from the bright side: if your son naps, you get a break; if your son doesn't nap, you have more flexibility in your schedule!