At What Age Did You Stop Nap Time?

Hi A.,
My son is 5 years old and he has just stopped taking naps. It just depends on the child, my nephew is 3 yrs. and sometimes doesn't take naps. As long as she gets 9 1/2 hrs of sleep at night, I wouldn't worry. Since you are expecting another baby, it might be nice if she still napped, even to give you a little break.
Good luck,K.

My oldest stopped around 4 years old and my second child now 4 1/2 still naps 2-3 times a week. I think between 3 and 4 years old is a good age.

I have a 6 yr old son that takes naps about 3 times a week, I can look at his eyes and listen to his attitude and KNOW if he needs a nap. A 5 yr old daughter that takes naps 4 or 5 days a week, she gets pretty whiney if not. And a 3 yr old son that takes naps every day. Kids need their sleep even if they don't think they do. They go to bed at 8pm and sleep until about 6:30 am as well. If they don't take naps they go to bed at 7pm.

GL,
M.

It depends on the child. They still give naps in kindergarten. My kids never slept during that time just layed still like they were instructed to but there were some that did actually fall asleep during that time. All of my kids quit naps about 4. You can tell when its time when your afternoon is not chaos if they don't. Before age 4 especially my oldest just was no good without a nap, by between 4-6 oclock if she didn't have her nap that day we were all very sorry. When my kids got about 4 yrs old they wouldnt fall asleep and they were okay in the afternoons then I quit giving them a nap time. Just play it by ear.

i think kids need naps until kindergarten, maybe even 1st grade. they are still growing rapidly and need all the sleep they can get. my oldest is 3 1/2 and i still put her down for naps. she doesn't fall asleep every time but i still make her lay there and just read books or play quietly.

We haven't stopped yet! My twins just turned 4 and my youngest is 2 1/2. My boys NEED naps. They don't get cranky for very many reasons but being tired is the #1 reason! I'm not sure when we will stop. Even though our boys are different ages it is much easier to do things all at once. I suspect we will stop within the next year!

Don't stop naps for them- let them stop the naps! My son napped until he was 4 1/2 yrs old, my daughter when she was 2 1/2. My sister still took a nap when she was in Kindergarten!! It just depends on the child when they are ready to stop.

My advise with one on the way, is keep the nap. Even if it comes down to just quite time for an hour in her room. You will need it once the next bundle of joy comes. Good Luck, L.

When they quit needing it!!!
For mine- ranged between 1 1/2 and 3.

My son is 22 yrs old, so i don't remember what age i stopped . But i do remember that i put him down until he stopped falling asleep. It's different for every child. Just like adults not everyone requires the same amount of sleep. My son was one that did require alot of sleep. In fact all through elementary and middle school he had an earlier bedtime than his friends.whenever i tried to let him stay up later he would get grumpy, do poorly in school and end up taking a nap in the middle of the day after just a few nights of staying up later! So leave it up to your child, you can tell if they need that sleep by their mood and how they are acting.

Nap time is NOT OPTIONAL in this family. We had it this way growing up too. Even as "big kids" we had to go and rest in our room for at least an hour while mom and dad napped, and we'll go that route too.

Check out the website www.sleeplady.com

Great tips on sleep amounts. She has a chart that shows how much sleep kids should get at each age, naps, ect.

She says at a 4 is when they give up their daytime naps. That worked with my son. His naps where starting to affect him getting to sleep at night. We cut them out and he was back on schedule and even a little earlier on going to sleep at night.

Good website - I check it out when I have a question, and she even has a book. I have not read it.

Take care!

Well, my son turns 3 at the end of this month and I'd say on the average, he naps 3-4 days a week at this point. I put him down at the same time each day and he has to stay in his bed for at least an hour. If he's going to nap, he falls asleep quickly, if not, he just hangs out in his bed. He's obviously growing out of them. The nice thing is that if he doesn't nap, he falls asleep before 8p. If he does nap, he's asleep after 9p (still in bed by 8, though). We keep a pretty tight schedule around here. Makes kids feel nice and secure- knowing what's coming and when. Course, we're not completely rigid, either, there can be exceptions for special things that come up. Sorry, now I'm babbling!

It all depends on the individual child. They should still take a nap until they go to Kindergarten. Nap frequency and time should decrease each year until age 5. Some kids don't need as much sleep as others, so listen to what your child needs and let that help guide you as well.

Best of luck!

My older 3 all stopped napping between 18 months and 2 yrs.I wasn't given much choice. #4 is 20 months old and some days she will nap without me having to push it on her, but maybe 30-45 minutes and that is about it. I figure by 2, she will not nap at all :(

Good luck..(my birthday is Feb 4 can you hold out til then? :P COngrats!)

I agree with the other moms that it varies for each child. However, kids need sleep and sometimes it just takes some adjusting. When my oldest was about 3, he started resisting naps with all his might. So, I moved naptime from 12:30 to 2:00 and he started taking them again without problems. That's not always possible when older ones are in school, but you can play around with times to see what works best.

Also, I agree with others that even if the don't nap, they should have quiet/rest time. You can provide books and toys, and let them know they have to stay in their room. It will be hard at first, but they will come to enjoy this time. A friend gave me a great tip that really works. She tells her kids that they need to lay in bed and read for 30 minutes, and that she'll set a timer. She tells them that she'll check on them when the timer goes off, and if they're awake they can get up, but if they're asleep, she'll let them sleep. I've used this on my 4 and 5 year olds when they really need a nap, but don't want to take one, and it really works well.

My son just turned 5 and he still naps each day at preschool. He naps at least one day of the weekend and lies in bed reading the other. My daughter is 2.5 and still naps each day. I will enforce an hour of quiet time on the weekends for a long time. We all need it.

Hi, A.

I have two little girls...one just turned 3 and the other is 14 months. They both take a nap at the same time which works well for us ALL (I really need the break as much as they do)! I struggled to get them down at the same time for months as they were so far apart in age, while the older needed more time to feel tired, the younger was ready at least 2 hours before the older. They now both go down for their naps around 2pm and awaken about 2 1/2 hours later (yep, they're good sleepers and what a blessing that is!) So, they both sleep anywhere from 12-14 hrs/day depending on the day and whether or not it's a weekend with church activities, etc.

I've heard over and over again from experienced Mommies that I believe are doing it WELL that the "magic" for most kids is to stop naps when they start kindergarten because logistically it just makes sense since they're not napping at school and when they get home it's too close to dinner and bedtime. If they seem cranky and tired once kindergarten has started and they're not getting their naps put them down earlier in the evening, giving them at least 11 hours of nightly sleep, that should fix the tired grumpies.

Loved all the advice by the way...this is just my take on it all.

Blessings to you,
T.

Believe me, if I could get him to I would still put him down for a nap. My son dropped his nap about a month ago and he just turned 3!! He was such a good napper, and then one day he didn't want to any more. He now goes to bed a bit earlier than before though.

I agree -- let them nap for as long as they will. Institute "quiet time" even if they won't sleep. You need it for your sanity imo.

I let my children determine that. My oldest stopped at age 2, while my middle and youngest napped until they were almost 4. If your little girl is fussy before or during the evening hours, it's a cinch she should have had a nap. If she can make it through until bedtime without becoming a terror, then it's okay to let her skip the nap. Even when stopping the naps, I still made my girls have an hour of quiet time in their rooms with books so I could have a little rest. The naps were for me as much as for my girls. Children nap more when they are growing, so it's not unusual for them to stop napping for a while, but start needing naps again for a period of time.
J. B

i have a daughter that will be 2 in january and she takes at least one nap a day. you really do not need to stop. it will help you with the one on the way. it will give you a break to do things. i have three kids total. you also have to make time for yourself too. hope it helps.

My daughter is 3 1/2 and a couple of months she gave them up herself. It kind of surprised me because I initially thought children took naps until kindergarden, but now I realize each child is different. Hopefully my son will nap until he's 10!!

My three and a half year old still naps daily. He needs it. If your daughter needs it, please still let her have that nap. I have a neighbor who can't be bothered to put her son down for a nap and then they wonder why he has behavior problems. While they might not look tired at nap time, many kids will go to sleep if you put them in a dark room at the same time every day.

I think it depends on the child. My son has pretty much always slept really well at night since he was born. When he was two and a half he started having a really hard time getting to sleep at night. He would be up until 1 or 2 in the morning and then be grumpy in the morning. I went for a week not letting him take a nap during the day and he went back to sleeping great at night. (When he was tired and needed a nap he would just go lay down on his bed and take one.) You really just need to pay attention to each individual child, there is no "right" answer as to when or how long children should nap.

Around five is when kids stop talking naps. But before that you child still need rest to get through the day. the y don't have to take a nap but you should have then atleast lay down for an hour. And it all depend on your child activities.

I'm 48 ... do I have to stop napping now?? Actually, I think you should give them nap time whether they sleep or not - if they're in their rooms for an hour or so, YOU get some rest and we all need that. Maybe nap time could evolve into rest time / quiet time / mommy time.

It's usually about 5 years old....about the time they enter school. My four year old sometimes doesn't nap, but sometimes I can tell she needs one. I hope this helps. But about before age two mine used to take two naps.

M.

As long as they will take one.....put them down. Even if they don't sleep, put them down for quiet time. Enjoy some mommy time. It's a must.