When Did Your Child Stop Napping? - Westchester,IL

My son still took naps on weekends till he was almost 7 yrs old. I just woke up from a nap myself. In some places in the world, even grown ups take an afternoon siesta. We love naps.

I really believe everyone is different on that one. My first 2 kids quit napping at 2 years. My almost 4 year old still naps. As long as it doesn't interfere with his sleep at night or makes him wake too early in the am it is okay to still have a nap.

My oldest is three and we're still napping. I had thought about cutting out the naps, but I started reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child to figure out how to help my 4 mo. old sleep better at night. I'm only partially into the book, but I am committed to keeping my daughter napping as long as possible. My husband and I both recall taking naps through kindergarden, so I will get them in when I can. Dr. Weissbluth has me convinced that it is better to nap than to not nap.

My son will be 5 in 5 days and still naps at least an hour every day. My other 2, ages 3 1/2 and 20 months are also great nappers. You know your child. If he can't make it through the day without a nap (and you can't either) then by all means, NAP TIME it is!

Hi T.:

Most kids don't like naps, but the fact that he is still sleeping 3+ hours is a good indication that he still needs them for refueling. My son is 4.5 and in the past couple of months has started only napping 4-6 times per week for 1.5 to 2 hours. Per our pediatrician, hold on to those naps as long as you can.

M.

My daughter stopped at 2 and my son is just now not always napping at 2 1/2. We kept "quiet time" in my daughter's schedule until 3 and plan on doing the same for our son. We give him books to take to bed with him, and right now about 75% of the time a nap happens. Either way, he knows he has to stay in quiet time for 2 hours. If we do let him nap too long, though, it is hard for him to fall asleep at night.

My oldest stopped napping when he started going to school, just before his 3rd birthday. My middle kid will be 3 next week and still naps for about 2 hours every day. He can go without napping but he can get a little cranky in the evening if he doesn't nap. My youngest is 15 months and still napping.

My daughter is required to nap (or at least lie down for 2 hours) at daycare, but she stopped taking naps when she's home with us on the weekends when she was 3. She's 4 1/2 now & this schedule has been working well for us for quite a while.

My kids are still napping and will nap 2-3 hours still and go down at night with little problem. I would say if they fall alseep they need the sleep and if it isn't disturbing nighttime much, continue doing so.

Personally, I am having difficulties because we didn't get in AM for preschool next year and would have to go PM but feel like they could still probably use a nap then so I don't know what to do. Most people say "oh by 4 they won't/shouldn't be napping anyway" and I'm not sure I believe that.

I stopped fighting my son on naps just before he turned 3. I instituted "quiet time" and told him that he had to play quietly in his room until I came to get him (1 hour). His room is completely child-proofed so I wasn't worried about him getting into anything. I would say he falls asleep about 75% of the time, and sleeps for an hour. The rest of the time I get an hour break.

My daughter stopped at 2-1/2. As much as I tried and tried, she just wouldn't want to sleep. We just made her bedtime earlier -I would put her to bed at 6:30 and she would sleep a full 12 hours. We would still do quiet time in the afternoon though. The nurse at her doctor's office recommended setting a timer for about an hour or an hour and a half and then have her make a nest with all her blankets on her bed and she could sit and read books until the timer went off. It worked out great for about a year and a half.

My son stopped at around that time, but sometimes needed one.

My kids quitnapping at about 2-2 and a half. They might fall asleep at 5 ish while I was cooking dinner sometimes but if they took a nap they didn't get tired enough to go to sleep at bedtime.I decided to forgo the nap so they would sleep at night.

both my girls fought naps around that age, but I insisted and they did go back to napping. Almost all of the daycare kids also have a time when they start fighting naps, but if you stick with it not being optional they will go back to napping. This is not a fight you want to lose. ALL my kids (daycare and my own 2) napped every day for at least 2 hours until they were 4.5. Some kept napping long into the 6th year on weekends. Tara (now almost 11) napped every weekend day until she was 8, even though she slept 12 hours every night. Elise (7 1/2) gave up naps the earliest at 4.5 yrs old. But she would sleep 14 hours at night.

Think of naps like oil changes for your car - you know that you should get the oil changed every 3000 miles, but sometimes you go 5000 miles cause life gets busy. If you kept putting it off though your engine would lock up. Same with kids, naps are like oil changes to them, causing their brains and bodies to be refreshed. They need those every day until they are at least 5 in my opinion, from what I have seen in kids. I think close to 90% of the misbehavior and learning issues are really caused by lack of sleep in the average child.

my daughter just turned 3 and she's getting there weekends usually no nap during the week I require quiet time as well and she'll fall asleep most of the time but sometimes she will just stay in her room and play.

my answer is, after kindergarten! certainly not at 2 1/2. i would expect him to at least have quiet time every day, even if he doesn't sleep. not sure a 3 hour nap is wise, is this happening every day? there could be something there, unless he's only getting 6-7 hours at night or something. if he's skipping a day, then the next day sleeping for 3 hours, that sounds pretty normal for this age. my son is 3 and went through it. lately though he's been more consistent again. i personally think my son was going through a growth spurt. just keep insisting on quiet time, and i bet he'll smooth over soon. good luck!

My eldest stopped at 2 , my middle stopped at 3 and have not got there yet with my youngest as she is only 19 months. It may be that he doesn't need one every day , just every other day or so.

its been awhile since my kids were this young. But i do babysit. I would have to say around the age of 4..

My daughter started to refuse naps at 2 1/2. I just put her to bed an hour earlier (6 or 6:30pm) and she slept thru the night. We also had a bit of quiet time in the afternoon. Occasionally she still napped, but on those rare occasions, she woke up MAD and could not get to sleep for hours and hours. Her body just could not adjust, so I didn't push naps, and it has worked out well. A lot of her friends stopped napping around the same time, although we know a few that stopped close to 4. Go with what works in your house and with your kid.

My son is 3 and he still naps, everyday, in the afternoon. He's been napping since birth.

My Daughter is currently 7... she still naps occasionally when she is tired. She was taking naps "everyday" through the 2nd half of 1st Grade. She was also napping since birth.

I don't force them to nap. But, we have a DAILY routine. And if they really really really are not tired... then it is quiet time. They know that.

Here's a link:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-chil...

All the best,
Susan

Both my boys were DONE COMPLETELY with naps right after they turned 2. Which sucked for me but they are 6 and 4 now and never really needed them after that, my MIL says that is exactly how their dad was too!My youngest step son needed and never fought naps till almost 5. My nephews were both done around 3-3 1/2. My daughter is not yet 2 and resists them like no other...I can count on 2 hands the number of naps she has had since X-mas.

I think all kids are different...and that it really depends on what they are like in the late afternoon. Some of them are grumpy butts and others can hang just fine:)