At What Age Did You Transition from 1 Nap to 0? or Should I Shorten Day Nap?

Perhaps this will help guide you: http://hubpages.com/hub/sleep-training-help-for-18-month-...

My son napped in kindergarten. In first grade, he napped on weekends. By second grade (7 yrs old) he was done with regular naps (but we still take a snooze on weekends if we're feeling particularly tired - that goes for all of us).
They are growing fast at that age in so many ways and the extra sleep is important. (My son shot up 4 inches during his 4th year. He really NEEDED those naps.)
Perhaps you can move the afternoon nap up to noon-ish or late morning? Then by bedtime he should be ready to sleep again.

Personally, I would just shorten his nap. If he's still taking naps with no problems then I don't see a need to end them. At 2-3 years old it's recommended that he sleep a total of 12-14 hours per day.

My daughter is 4 1/2 and while she won't nap at preschool during the week she still naps at home on the weekends.

Hi Jilly
My son completely finished his daytime nap a few months after he turned 3yrs.
My advise would be that your 2yr old might be a bit young to cut the nap completely so maybe try to limit it to an hour.
He is getting 12hrs sleep in 24hrs which is good so as I said cut the daytime nap shorter and try to put him to bed at 8pm-8.30pm and hopefully he should sleep till at least 7am.
Best of luck
B. k

Kindergarteners are required to have rest time the first half of the year for reason. Little kids need that rest time and many of them stay napping until 5-7years old. Do not cut that nap out. They need that rest in the afternoon until at least 4 years old. If you ever go back to work he will be required to nap/rest at child care until he has completed Kindergarten.

Oh honey...enjoy those naps while you still can...lol. My four year old still naps for an hour everyday in pre-k and 1 1/2 -2 hours at home on weekend. She is usually in bed by 8:30 at the latest and sleeps until 7am. At this age they still need as much sleep as possible because their little bodies are still growing and need time to recover. Have you tried moving up the time you lay him down for nap? Maybe bump it up an hour and see how he does. That will give him more time to burn off the energy before bedtime. Good Luck.

I'd cut back to a 1.5 hr nap in the afternoon and move bedtime GRADUALLY backwards until it is closer to 8pm. Unless your child gets up really late in the morning and you want it to stay that way .... of course. 930 is very late for a 2.5 year old to go to bed. My kiddos are 2 and 3.5 and go to bed by 8pm, are up by 720 (745 we wake them if not) and nap 1230-2 or 230 every day....but they need their sleep or they are CRAZY BEARS! I wouldn't cut his nap altogether yet if you can help it!

Hi Jilly,

Try cutting back the nap first. Each child is different for the amount of sleep they need a it may vary (like during a growth spurt). You will notice that he will have a hard time falling a sleep for the nap rather than bedtime as an indication he is ready to drop the nap - not the other way around. Now it sounds like the nap is either too late or too long. Good luck!

That age still needs sleep during the day for proper brain development. You need a break. JUst wake him up after 1.5 hours and it should be fine.

Hmm, my 4 year old still needs a nap most days, and she always has a hrd time settling down at night. I would maybe move the nap up to early afternoon. It all depends on what time they are going to bed and getting up. I put the girls in bed at 8:30, they certainly don't fall asleep then though! But they are up in the am at 7:30. There is a lot to factor in, but I think naps are good for them becasue they get to worn out so fast!

I'd cut back the nap to an hour or hour and a half. Try that for a week or two and see how that works. We didnt attempt to give up the nap with my two until they started to not nap at times. Meaning they'd not fall asleep during nap time at all. They go to preschool and we'd see they were not napping at times there - both did this around their 3rd birthdays. Then we'd try one weekend day of no nap - but watching a movie while snuggled up on the couch. They loved that. The other day of the weekend they'd have to nap. My 3.5 year old is doing this now. I only let her nap about an hour. But your son is younger and for him I'd probably just cut his nap back to about an hour and see how that works. Good luck!

All 3 of my kids still nap, and they are 7, 5, and 3. They play REALLY hard though so they need it. The 7 year old not so often, but she will fall asleep on weekends sometimes. The other two NEED naps or they will be so difficult!! If we keep them occupied all day, they will stay up - but in general, all of my kids still nap. And I need that quiet time still!!

My DD has gotten hit or miss on naps after her 2nd birthday, but many children nap through preschool and into kindergarten. I think that if your child needs a nap, then keep it, and if the bedtime works for you, then deal with it. I'm not being flippant. My DD is also a nite owl and has been forever. I think part of it started with our commute when she was a baby, but part of it is family tendencies. I guess the thing to ask yourselves is "Is this harmful? Does this work with our schedule?" If it works for you/your kid, then let him nap, is my opinion. My DD is still in bed right now, but I know other people's kids go to bed at 8 and are up at 5. It really varies.

Something I do try to do is not allow her to sleep late in the afternoon. If she's asleep at 5PM, she's certainly not going to want to go to bed at 9. We try to jolly her as much as we can and put her to bed earlier that night if she's skipped her nap for the day.

Our older daughter was done with naps totally at 18 months. The twins were done at 21 months. Consider youself incredibly lucky you've made it this long.