When Do You Let Them Stop Taking Afternoon Naps?

My son is three and just recently stopped taking naps. If your little one lays there for a period of time that is still considered rest. He is right at that age.

My daycare kids takes naps until they are in kindergarten. They don't have to sleep but they need to lay down and rest. Only a couple times have they not fallen asleep. Kids under the age of 5 need 12-15 hours of sleep per day in order for their brain to develop properly -- so is he getting enough at night? Kids from 5 till high school need 10 hours of sleep and when high school hits they should still get 9 hours of sleep. My daughter (when she was about 4) was having issues sleeping at nap... she is hyperactive just like her dad. I starting giving her the choice to either take a nap (or just rest) or to go to bed earlier. She opted for the earlier... didn't matter to me as long as she got enough sleep for her body. =)

My daughter is 3 1/2 and is still taking naps. Every couple of months she fights them, but eventually takes them without complaint. I make sure she stays active during the day so it will be easier for realize she is tired. I also approach it more of a quiet time. She can play quietly in her room for the hour or so if she is not tired, but she has to start out lying down. There are probably only 4-5 times a month where she stays awake during nap time.

My son stopped taking naps at about 2.5 as well. It became more hassle than it was worth (fighting him about it for 2 hours). Then if he actually took a nap he wouldn't fall asleep until 11pm, so the naps stopped. I think naps should end when the kid doesn't need the sleep anymore (anywhere from 2-6 years old). My son is now 3.5 and only sleeps about 10-11 hours at night (much less than some kids), but I babysit a little girl that's 3 and she takes a 2 hour nap and sleeps 12 hours at night. It really depends on the kid. I hope that helps. :)

If your little guy lays down and is quiet for a while, this is as good as a nap. Resting is important and often little ones do not want to sleep. If you can continue the "quiet time" you've accomplished a whole lot. It varies on when, how long, and how often a toddler will nap. Some children nap past their 5th year, and other stop much, much earlier than 2 1/2 years.

My 4 year old son stopped taking regular naps around almost age 3. Somedays he still will take a nap, but most days he has quiet time. Quiet time involves having to sit on his bed playing a quiet game (like his my first Leap pad) or reading books. We started out doing this for only 30 minutes, now that he is older it's up to 1 hour. There are days he will nap even now and days he won't, all depends on our morning activities. Just make sure he is getting a full night's sleep and enforce some type of quiet time.

My daughters, now 14 and 11, were both great sleepers and required naps until they started preschool. My son who is 3 1/2 stopped taking naps about the time of his bday. He would lay in there wide awake for a very long time as well and then if he did go to sleep in the afternoon he wouldn't go to sleep at night. So, we stopped making him take naps and he has done just fine. I think every child's need for sleep is just different. Hope this helps!:-)

I think it is totally based on the child. My DD will be 4 this month and still takes a nap (aprox 1hr) in the afternoon. On the occassion she doesn't take a nap she goes to bed early or she is really grumpy. My second DD is 20 months and I expect her not to nap as long as her sister, but she still takes a 2 hour nap.

I say if he will stay in his bed and "rest" instead of nap I'd probably try to keep with it -- even in kindergarden they have quiet time.

HTH

I would say if you think that your son needs an afternoon nap - he probably needs it. Sometimes just the quiet time is good for them rather than actually sleeping. That nap is to help them energize their battery per say. Also, I don't know for sure, but rather than having the nap time, make it quiet book time or something. They get so wound up that they need to settle down a bit. It doesn't have to be a two hour nap either. My son takes anywhere to 45 min to 1 1/2 hours sometimes 2 hours of a nap and he is 19mos. It just depends on the child. Good luck.

It really does depend on the child. My 4yo grandson is still taking an afternoon nap of 1-2 hours. His day care provider puts everyone down for a nap and he almost always immediately falls asleep. If he doesn't get a nap he's really cranky in the late afternoon and evening and has a difficult time getting to sleep at bedtime.

My granddaughter was in preschool and everyone took a nap. She didn't sleep but learned how to rest. She could look at books but she had to stay on her cot. She sings to calm herself and that wasn't acceptable either because there were 25 or so kids napping in the same room. This was especially difficult for her to do. On days that she was at home she didn't nap and did OK.

That's about when my daughter stopped taking naps. Especially if he just lays there- and that is great that he still has quiet time so you can have alone time. I've heard to keep up the quiet time and if he choses to sleep he can, and if not, he goes to bed earlier. I wish I would've been consistant and kept the quiet time, cause I could use the break sometimes!