When Did Your Child Stop Napping?

They go through stages of fighting it, DO NOT GIVE UP. I have had weeks where my kids would not nap, and I have still put them down everyday. Finally they get the idea that you aren't going to give up on the nap and will start sleeping again. My 6 year old is still napping on occasion (and has quiet time in her room on the other days), and my 2 1/2 year old is also napping. He fights it more than she does and may give it up earlier, but he will still go to his room for quiet time....Mom needs some time with out them. Don't even think about giving it up or you will have one crabby kid at 4:00 in the afternoon. :0)

Well my boy is almost 3.5 years old and is just now starting to refuse to take a nap. If he isn't kept very busy in the morning then the nap doesn't happen and this is just in the last 2 to 3 weeks. If we're in the car he will still take that nap or even a power nap if it's around or passed naptime. I guess I should count my blessings it lasted this long.

Hi A.,
I think that you are doing the right thing. My daughter is 26 months old and has totally stopped napping for the last 2 weeks. I do try to make her lay down and we read, but she won't fall to sleep. I make her just lay down to "recharge her batteries" and it seems to be working out fine. She gets about 12 hours of night sleep, and she isn't crabby, so I guess it varies with each child.

Hello A., Your are doing it correctly. The days that she is tired she will fall asleep during the quiet time. The other days she won't, but keeping the scedule the same gives a sence of security and comfort. Not to mention allowing the rules to be the same with multiple children. The rivalry can't apply when all of the children follow the same sceduale. Good luck.

every child is different.

My daughter took 2 naps a day until 19 months. My son went to 1 nap aday at 9 months.

My daughter falls apart if she is late for a nap. My son will suck his thumb and lay down anywhere.

It may be time to move the kids naps to later in the day.

My daughter will be 3 in November. If we're out and about during the day, she'll always nap in the car. At home we still do quiet time on mommy's 'big bed' with books. And if she seems crabby or we've had an especially busy day, she still gets a regular nap in her crib. She takes a nap about every other day. Trouble is, when she does nap, she won't fall asleep in bed at night until 10:30-11pm. Oh, we put her to bed at 9:30... but she stays up singing and talking to herself. Then she sleeps in until almost 10am. Since I'm home w/her during the day, this is no problem, but this will not work when she starts school.

My thought is once we transition her to a toddler bed (which we plan to do this summer since she is almost potty trained) it's going to be harder to keep her in bed when she isn't tired yet. So, nap time may be phased out completely in hopes of a regular, successsful bedtime.

My oldest and youngest never seemed to nap as much as I thought they should, but my middle was a good napper. I made sure they went to bed early and they did sleep long nights (longer than the good napper) so I figured it was okay so long as the total sleep was enough. And yes, an period of quiet, alone time was mandatory. Those 2 would stay awake forever if we let them. Books were our salvation. They would read before bed and at rest time, with us at 1st, then alone. Funny, the middle one didn't pick up the book habit until naps were long gone.

I think they still need there rest but my daughter is 29 months and now fights her naps. I try to have her have one everyday. Some days she doesn't and others she falls asleep on her own. I think it is a phase they go through because they would rather stay up and play. It helps to read to them before nap time.

My daughter gave up her nap at 22 months. I was at home with her and she was able to sleep in later, I think that made it easier for her. She sleeps 12-14 hours a night so I think she is doing great without a nap.

Maybe talk to the child's parents about her bedtime. She might be getting so much sleep at night and then is not tired when it comes to naptime. My daughter is 21 months old and she when through this same phase a few months ago. I pushed her bedtime to an hour later (and we pushed nap time to 12-12:30 instead of 11:30am) and now she naps just fine in the afternoon. It seemed like she was getting too much sleep at night, then she didn't want to take a nap, well by 5pm she was so cranky and tired! Hope this helps you!

My 4 year old still naps...if we skip naptime, he's asleep on the couch by 5, which doesn't jive well with bedtime! :) My 18 month old can't go more than 2 hours without a nap.

Hi A.,
My oldest son was 3 when he stopped taking his nap and my youngest son is 2 and a half and still takes his nap and will be for awile. I would do what you are doing and still require a "quiet" time. I would still lay her down for a nap and even if she doesn't sleep she can still rest and play quietly. I think personally it may be just a phase. 20 months seems pretty early to stop taking naps. What could help is letting them run around outside before her nap. My kids are so tired at bedtime because of all the outside play. Good luck.
Chris

my daughter was 3 1/2 when she stopped taking her naps. she took two naps morning and night untill just about 1 1/2 and some days it was a struggle when she got older to take her afternoon nap but she needed it. and she would sleep for about an hour and a half.

I think it is just a phase. Keep consistent. I personally think naps should end at the EARLIEST at 3 years old. Some kids will nap til 4 or 5.

What time is she napping? Maybe the time needs to change. I'd first try laying her down an half hour early for one week. See how it goes. You may be missing her window of sleepiness. If that doesn't help - try it a little later.

Hope that helps

Each kid is different and it also depends a lot on how much sleep they are getting at night. To a certain extent you can choose - do you want them to nap during the day or go to bed earlier at night? It won't take long to adjust to a new routine as long as they are getting enough total sleep in a day. My first gave his nap up by two (being my first, I fought with him a long time to take a nap before I realized he just didn't need it and we would all be much happier if he just went to bed a little earlier). We had a harder time getting the third one to bed early enough with all of the older kids activities, so he took a nap 'til he was about 3.

It just kind of depends on the age. My mom works at a day care and says that they have had toddlers not take naps. They try to at least make them stay on their cots for quiet time. My oldest is 4 1/2 and just recently stopped taking naps. There are days where we can tell she needs a nap and what we do is convince her to lay down in bed and rest. She's allowed only her normal sleep toys (a doll and her ducky). Usually she's out within 20 minutes. We do the same thing with our 3 year old who does still take naps. We've been doing it with her on occasion for about a year, just because we feel she still needs that nap. Maybe try to just suggest that she rests in her bed and see what happens. She may surprise herself and go to sleep.

When they started going to school.

20 months seems young to give up naps but every child is different. My son is almost 3 and I thought he was going to give up his naps last winter. I kept putting him in his room for "quiet time" anyway and and then putting him to bed a little earlier. This is how it went for a while and then he started taking naps again and still does. I think quiet time is fine for them, especially at that age. You can't make them sleep but giving them a break from activities certainly couldn't hurt!