At What Age Did Your Kiddos Stop Napping?

All 3 of my kids stopped napping @ 2 yrs old (so did their father) and they function just fine. My oldest stepson napped til he was 3 and my youngest stepson napped all the way till 6, he really needed extra sleep and would just lay himself down after Kindergarten and some lunch and if he missed it he was a whiney/crying mess :)

My sister and myself grew up w/my grandma and she made us nap all the way til 4th grade...although we mostly just talked quietly!

My only suggestion would be to maybe move his nap time up so he is sleeping earlier in the day? Some kids get tired in the early morning and can take a quick nap either before or after lunch?

My 3.5-year old takes a nap 5-6 out of 7 days a week. He does ok if he doesn't have one, but he's pretty cranky by bedtime and it can lead to meltdowns. My 28-month-old occasionally doesn't sleep, but almost always takes a nap. I don't really care if they sleep or not. But they have to stay in their rooms, not run around, and be relatively quiet until 3:00. At least then they get some quiet time and I get some me time:)
My kids go down between 1 and 1:30 and go to bed at 8.

I was lucky and my youngest stopped at 5 :) She would nap with me before pm kindergarten. The only reason she stopped is the summer. It is true that each child is different. If he does not want to sleep you can still put him down for a nap. You just tell him that it is quiet time. He can read a book or quietly play with a toy. Most likely he will fall asleep :) Good luck!

My son will be 4 in October and still "needs" naps or he's grumpy by the evening... If he's in school he naps only for about 45 minutes and goes down at noon.. When he's home with me, he goes down about 1:30ish and will sleep for about 2 hours....
His bedtime the days he goes to school is 7:45ish, the days he's home from school he will go to bed about 8:30ish...
I have friends that there kids stopped napping by 18 months.. I am very lucky and DREAD the day he stops napping! It's "me" time when he naps...

All my children had a nap time or at least a rest time until they were 5 years old. Most kids require a rest period. Without it, they get over stimulated, over tired and they are a handful to deal with.

I would continue to put your son down, maybe right after lunch. Even if he doesn't fall asleep, let him lay there. If he is falling asleep later, you may want to wake him up after an hour so it does not ruin his bedtime.

Good luck!

that is not selfish at all. My son is 8 months and I put him to bed at 6 for two reasons. I need me time at night (I work at home and I have online school, so I like an extra hour for me) and then we get up early in the morning so I can go to classes on campus and eventually get another job.
What my sister did with my niece when she was growing out of naps, but still was grumpy is that she had a quiet hour or so. She would go and lay down in bed and read books. Maybe that would work.

It varies by kid. My oldest started to not need one every day at 2.5 and hardley needs one now 3.5. I do make her take quite time - video, resting in bed w/ books for an hour each day - and she rarely sleeps, but at least she "rests". Try the resting time technique and see if it helps.

I was going to ask this question yesterday.

My daughter is 2 1/2.

Tuesday she skipped nap. I put her to bed at 7:30. She woke up at 9, and was up until 11. It was like she napped was from 7:30 to 9.

Wed. & Thurs. She had late naps and was up until 10, just like you.

I am at fault for not doing her naps at a consist time. Now summer is here and we are out playing with my old daughter. It is hard to get us back home from 1 to 3 to nap. When school was in a schedule was easy, not now. I am afraid I will stick with the terrible sleep schedule to have summer fun. Get naps when we can. That's just me.

my first daughter never napped after her infancy stage, after she stood up, no more napping, and hasnt since. she does like to sleep 10 hours at night though.

my second daughter takes one nap a day, shes almost two. im wondering if this will continue, i like the "me" time.

my daughter stopped nappin at 2 1/2 and now a year later, she usually conks out btwn 830 n 9pm. in time he'll get his rhythm and sleep at an earliuer set time. good luck!

my 2.5 yr old daughter still naps roughly 5 days a week. Maybe 3 of those days are naps in bed at home, the others are car naps while we are out doing errands (we live in a rural area and it's a 30 or 40 min drive "into town" so she has a chance to nap then). I just park in the Target parking lot or wherever and read while she finishes her car naps, usually an hour or so total. On days when she just isn't going to sleep I let her turn on her light and read books for quiet time. This works well and as her naps become more sporadic I will continue to have quiet time when we are home.

You are sooooo not selfish. We have a mandatory quiet/nap time at our house. My 2 year old sleeps every day, 4 year old 3-4 days a week and 5 year old, 1-2 days a week. Everyone lays down right after lunch for AT LEAST an hour...the 2 year old sleeps for nearly 3. Even if the older kids do not fall asleep they have to either play quietly or read books in thier rooms.

My 11 yr old came home from day camp and took a 2 hr nap before supper. I think he's having another growth spurt. He's not a regular napper any more (he still took naps on weekends through 1st and part of 2nd grade), but when he's tired he'll lay down and siesta for awhile. An occasional nap makes me feel better, too. Some people never out grow them completely.

I have a 5 yr old and almost 3 yr old and they both still nap. My 5 yr old always goes to his room for a nap and/or down time for about an hour. My 3 yr old naps from 12:30-2:30 everyday. They are both in bed by 8pm. I too need some "non kid" time and I think every parent needs this. Best of luck with your little one!! :)

I have two boys, almost 4 and 18 months, both still take 2 hour naps during the day. They also go to bed between 7:45-8pm. My oldest, like you had mentioned can go the whole day without a nap some days, and others has complete melt downs. I will enforce nap time, or even quiet time for my oldest, every day until he goes to Kindergarten. I agree, we all need some "me time".

My older one stopped napping right around the time she turned three, which was great for me! The younger one stopped when he turned four, and I wished I could have gotten just a couple more months.
Your son shouldn't be napping so late. If he needs a nap, then I'd say early lunch and in for the nap before 1:00. He may function fine without it, but if the early nap does not cause him to be up later and he does go to sleep or at least rests during the nap, there is no reason to do without it. If he doesn't take the nap at all, I'd keep him up during the rest of the afternoon and see what happens if he goes to bed at 7:00-7:30 in the evening
Good luck

My daughter just turned 16 months and she only naps about 3 days a week. She has never been much of a sleeper, and our doctor told us she would probably quit napping all together at 18 months. She is starting to sleep a little better at night now though, so it does make a difference. She gets fussy toward evenings when she doesn't nap, but on days she does, she is up until 11-12!

And it isn't selfish to want some non-kid time! It is essential to a happy mommy. Good luck!

my kids are: 3 (almost 4) and 7... they both still nap.
My youngest still naps everyday. In the afternoon like about 2:00. Or sometimes he will nap in the morning... depending. I go by his cues. He naps for 2 hours. Sometimes 3.
My oldest, will nap when she is tired.

Whether or not my kids nap.... they still are able to go to bed at a reasonable time, like 8:30. It does not interfere with their bedtime.
And they both sleep well at night.

all the best,
Susan

Well, my daughter was 2.5 when she started trying to give up nap, it was winter time and maybe she wasn't getting enough physical activity in her day. I forced the issue and still made her stay in her room, in her crib still at the time, for at least one hour for quiet time. She had music playing, stuffed animals and a few quiet toys to play with. Sometimes she would sleep and sometimes she would not. I would say that she stopped napping completly right after age 3. My son napped till 5. At age 2, I would still try to enforce the quiet time in the afternoon and try to make sure she gets enough physical activity to actually warrant taking a nap.

My daughter turned two in March and we are experiencing the same exact thing. She can now go with or without the nap which I am starting to find is actually quite convenient depending on what our plans are for the day/night. But you are right, it can be a tricky call with potential meltdowns. If she naps anytime after 2 whether she sleeps for 2 hours or 20 minutes she's up til 9:30 - 10:00pm which is too late for me...I am pooped by then. Though if she doesn't nap she's asleep by 8pm which is nice too. I am a teacher and I am off for the summer so I am taking it day by day.The only thing I can suggest is to wake your son up earlier in the morning so he is ready and needing a nap by the 12-1pm time. You didn't mention what time your son wakes up so I'm not sure whether that's an option. My husband has a somewhat flexible schedule so during the school year my daughter does not have to get up at a certain time so she is used to sleeping late in the morning (til around 8am). That's a hard habit to break for the whole family...it's nice to sleep in or sometimes I grab my quiet time then. As far as the "non kid" time goes...we all need it. It's so important for parents to have time for themselves and for husbands and wives to have time together. The nights my daughter goes to bed by 8, my husband and I feel like its a date night that we can sit and talk or watch a tv show together! Best of luck to you!