Napping Stopped at What Age? Poll - Page 2

[~ATenthMuse~]

Dd, 4, stopped napping last spring. We have had occasional naps here and there, but not many. She seemed so tired, so we started resting sometimes in the afternoon. No sleeping, just quiet time. Now, (most of the time) she's going to bed earlier. If she stays up too late, she gets cranky... if she gets up too early, same thing. She needs a full twelve hours.

[mommy2AandZ]

My son 3 years old, is just stopping napping. It's so frusterating cause he is cranky at 5pm, and does back talk and is not so nice. But he just won't sleep when I put him in his bed, he plays and talks. and if he DOES nap he won't sleep till 11pm. With not napping I have him in bed at 7pm, and he'll sleep till almost 8am.

[LauraLoo]

DS stopped taking naps about 2 months after he turned 3, but once in awhile he still takes naps.

DD will be 3 in May, she does much better with naps, but we can miss one here and there and she does alright.

I, however, LOVE naps and would take them every day if I could!

[bc1995]

DS1 4 1/2 years
DS2 3 years (they gave them up at the same time)

[pixiexto]

Both of our daughters gradually began to drop their naps at about 20 months or so. DD #2 is now 25 months, and she'll nap maybe once or twice a week.

I don't mind it at all - keeps the afternoons busy & interesting, and makes for smooth bedtimes!

[LeftField]

Both my kids dropped their naps around age 2 1/2. Like your child, it would take them at least an hour to fall asleep at night. What I found is that there was a long, difficult transitional period to no naps. Basically, we stopped putting them down for naps because it shouldn't take a kid 2 hrs to fall asleep. But they were tired and grouchy during the day until their bodies adapted. On many days, they would pass out in the car or on the couch. But it gradually got better and they got used to staying awake without the nap. Once they made that transition, falling asleep went from a 1-2 hr ordeal to an easy 5-15 minute period.

[lisap]

DD is 3 1/2 now, but she stpooed napping around 2 1/2 years old. She will occassionally take a nap, but it's not the norm. She aslo goes to bed between 6-7pm and wakes up around 7am.

[Mary]

My sons both quit napping between ages 2 and 2 1/2. I figured it was time when bedtime was getting more and more frustrating and later than normal. They simply weren't tired at their normal bedtime and I need that alone time between their bedtime and mine.

For both of them, we quit naps and started very early bedtimes (ie: 6:30) and they started getting about 12 hours of sleep per night. By 6:30 they were ready for bed if they hadn't had a nap. Early bedtimes can be difficult. It makes it hard to go out to eat, BUT I found the benefits outweighed the troubles. Then as they get older the bedtime moved back a bit.

My oldest goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 on school nights and still sleeps about 11 hours. He would still sleep till 8 if I didn't wake him and on weekends he does. My 3 1/2 year old goes to bed around 7 and wakes at 7. HTH!

[jaidymama]

is teething a key factor?

I just realized something and wanted to share....

the statistics here say that a lot of kids stop napping between the ages of 2 and three... well why is that?? Well in an unscientific guess... I wonder if it has to do with teething.

I had no idea when my ds' next set of molars would be coming in. He has the first 4, and got the 5th one last month, and is now getting the 6th one. Maybe that's the culprit? I mean who wants to struggle with a writhing teething toddler? I know there are other factors, but perhaps that is something that gets the ball rolling and before you know it... blammo no more naps ?? Ok, well enough guessing for one day.

Rest assured once these molars come in, I'm hoping naps will come back more easily.

[jake&zaxmom]

Oh, dear! I think we might be nap freaks


We homeschool and we are on a pretty relaxed schedule. Bedtime is whenever. We wake up naturally, no alarms.

We have a three hour nap/rest time every day. :

My 6½ year old reads, builds with K'nex or Lego, draws, etc. but he ends up sleeping 3 or 4 days per week.

My 3½ year old takes a 2½-3 hour nap every day. At night they stay up until they are sleepy.

Yep, they are sometimes up late. (11:00-11:30) but I don't mind, DH doesn't mind, they are happy, getting enough rest, they don't have to be up for school at any certain time, it works for us and we are happy:

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

dd stoped taking naps when she was right at 1.5 other than the rare nap. My ds has started to skip naps more and more and he is 2.5 I expect he will stop by the time he is 3.

[Calypso Lady]

For the most part DS had given naps up totally by 2.5 yrs., but would take one on occassion after that.

You'll know...if your child doesn't sleep, s/he doesn't need naps.
If s/he seems sleepy, put him/her down.

[gret the great]

Ds stopped at 18 mos. Occasuionally fell asleep in the car, but rarely.

DD1 stopped napping regularly this fall at 3.5

DD2 still a napper at 18 mos & I hope she continues!

[ScotiaSky]

WOW DS is almost three and still needs 2-3 hours of a nap a day sometimes 4 if we let him.
Bedtime is at 730pm besides the small protest of just a little more play he is pretty much asleep at that time too and he is up at 7am to 730am.

The kid really needs his sleep. I love that he still naps as it gives us all a little break but it means we are pretty much trapped at home because if he misses his nap or has only a short one its total hell.Any activity that happens during nap time usually ends up badly.

DD (13 months) on the other hand naps about 25 minutes a day..if we get 2 hours I am so happy.
Bedtime is 8pm to 9pm and she is up at 7am usually with some nights being awake a few hours...like last night around 4am She needs to nap as she is super grumpy but can't/won't.

[mmomosedc]

My 3 1/2 yo still naps sometimes. As part of our afternoon routine she has "quiet time" on her bed and I let her have two or three books. Usually she reads them, then sings through every song that she knows, plays with her stuffed animals for a while, and then falls asleep for about an hour. Sometimes she doesn't fall asleep though, and that's ok. She'd probably be fine without quiet time / nap, but I still need a kid-free break!

[becoming]

My DS hasn't napped at all since he turned 2. He only gets about 8 hours of sleep at night and really never seems tired at all, not even at bedtime. I think he is like me in that he doesn't require much sleep.

DD, however, is almost 16 months and would sleep her life away if I let her, so I don't think she's going to be dropping naps anytime soon. When we're home all day (on weekends), she wakes up about 8:30-9:00 a.m. and is back down for a nap no later than 11:00 a.m. I usually wake her up around 1:00 so she can eat lunch, and she naps again from around 3:30-5:00 (when I wake her up). She goes to bed no later than 9:00 p.m. and sleeps all night long. I would be worried about her if it weren't for the fact that her father (not my DH) literally sleeps all day if he has the option.

[melissel]

Ah, the memories... My DD1 stopped napping at 2 1/2, just when I was at my worst, physically, with my second pregnancy. I was very bummed! But I would say that if it takes your DC that long to get to sleep, either you need to set that nap later and accept that he'll be up late at night for awhile, or give it up and find things to occupy him peaceably until a reasonable bedtime hour. I remember putting my DD down at 5:30 sometimes for bed

We're dealing with that after 4 p.m. messiness ourselves now with the toddler, who has given up the second nap but who still gets tired early. I just have to get creative in keeping her happy--we go outside, watch a Baby Einstein video, play with Play-doh or paints etc. I find if I do a fun thing, that cheers her up enough that she can occupy herself for a little while so I can cook a bit.

That's my .02!

[babygirl24]

I really don't remember when Jesse stopped napping (he is 16 now) but Breanna will be 4 next month and can still sleep 2 hours every single day. The she sleeps from about 10 ish to 8 ish. I don't think I would want her to sleep any more than 10 hours at night, so we will keep on napping

[brookesmommy]

Good topic! My dd is 3 and she takes a nap about once a month. Today is one of those days. I love the days when she takes a nap. I get an hour of peace and quiet. How do you all deal with the kids when they have not taken a nap and they are bouncing off the walls? By 6 pm I am dead. She gets me so worn down. That might also be because I'm pregnant.