No More Naps?

My now 6yr old stopped taking naps at 2 also. I think that is not the norm, but at least she went to bed very easily in the evening!

My oldest is 4.5 and still naps. I remember we went through periods if her not wanting to nap, but was a total bear! Therefore, we pushed through and she still naps! It helps as we now have 4 mo old twins and all 4 us girls nap at the same time!

Hi Abbey looks like you have gotten lots of replies but thought I would let you know that all (3) of my children quit naps between 2 and 3. I must admit when my third, who has always been a great sleeper, started fighting nap time, I had a little bawl fest for myself in the kitchen. :) I had to mourn my baby not napping anymore. I laugh now but really was sad when that age hit. Especially when I have friends with four year olds who still nap. Good Luck! Maybe being persisitant will pay off in the nap area.

My oldest son gave up naps just before turning two. It would take him forever to fall asleep, to the point where he would sleep so late we'd have to wake him up for dinner. (bad idea!) So I would put him down for a quiet time around his normal nap time, if he didn't fall asleep I would let him up after about 30-45 min. The good part about this was he would go to bed nice and early at night time (after giving up naps), so that I had more time in the evening to myself.
If she puts up a fight about taking a nap you may have to lay down with her for a while, maybe while the little one naps, to encourage a daily "quiet time" - she will still need that down time, as will you.

Abbey,

Wish I could help, my middle child is 5 1/2 yrs old and is still taking a nap. I work from home, so he takes a nap when his little sister does, so that I can have my quiet time to myself and to work in the peace and quiet......

Good Luck!!

Abbey,

I think it is far more likely that your 2 year old just realized that she can keep herself up, not that she doesn't require a nap anymore. My oldest was 5 and my second oldest was 6 when they gave up daily naps. My 4 year old still naps every day and my 2 year old just gave up the morning nap, but still naps in the afternoon. My two youngest sleep about 11-12 hours at night and my two oldest sleep about 10-11 hours at night.

With kids, it's "sleep begets sleep." I know that it's counterintuitive, but the more sleep they get, the more they need. All my kids went through phases where they would fight the nap, but I persisted and eventually after a few weeks, they gave up and went back to napping again. Children are all different and not every child is going to need as much sleep as mine do, but I have never seen a two year old who gave up naps and isn't regularly cranky.

Good luck,
S.

My son turned 3 in May and he is still taking naps. He gets up early (around 6 am), and if he doesn’t take a nap he turns into a little monster LOL.

I think napping all depends on your individual child. If she is cranky without a nap then she might still need one. If she refuses to fall asleep at nap time then she might not need one. You are the only one who knows what your child needs. A friend of mine has 5 kids and none of them, except the newborn, takes a nap. I think all her kids stopped napping by 1 year.

I forgot to mention, I now have to take naps with my son to get him to sleep (he naps fine at daycare). Cause I know he needs his naps and if he won't sleep by himself I will sleep with him to help that along, otherwise it will be a VERY LONG night.

Both of our girls, ages 3 and 6 both quit taking naps at age 2. Shortly before they turned 2 they would take forever to fall asleep for a nap, so we just had quiet time instead (for about an hour). If they were not sleeping within an hour we let them get up and then put them to bed earlier instead. It worked well for us, but you have to do what works for you and your child/family.

My now 3 year old quit taking naps all together a little after turning two (around 28 months or so). Prior to that she would only take naps at home which I thought was weird because she wouldnt naps at school (day care) with all the other kids. Then one day I tried to put her down at home and she kept getting back up, eventually I quite trying that day and she seemed fine through the day. The next day we tried it again and after a couple days of trying and her not falling asleep I realized that it was probably the end of nap time. Since then she has done fine through the day and she gets bumped to the next level at school during nap time, it has all worked out fairly well.

Hi Abbey.

I've seen quite a few "sleep recommendation" charts both online and in print. All seem to recommend at 12-14 hours of sleep for that age group. I guess I would think that as long as she is getting the minimum amount of sleep she needs in a day, she should be okay.

That being said, my son went through a tough point around 2 where he didn't want to nap anymore. This stage lasted almost a month. I had to stay firm and make him stay in bed, every day. I stayed calm and consistent and kept putting him back to bed. Eventually he settled back into his naps again. The same thing happened again around age 3. I stuck through it again and he still naps beautifully now at almost 4.

I'm not trying to judge anyone out there and all children are different (some kids maybe really don't need naps after age 2) but I think maybe a few moms just don't stick out this period long enough. I think alot of kids are testing the nap requirement and winning. It takes time and lots of patience.

I talked to a kindergarten teacher once who laughed about how many parents would inform them that their child no longer took naps and hadn't for years. Within a few days these same children would be napping easily every day for the teachers at naptime. The teacher I spoke to said it happened all the time and he believed it was mostly parents who had let their child "win" the nap fight. These kids still needed naps but didn't want them. The parents who are the bosses and knew better, should have been more firm with their children, in his opinion.

I hope I don't get jumped all over for this comment, as I said, all children are different, I don't know everything, thats just my opinion in SOME cases.

I did like T O's comment on making the child still have quiet time everyday. I did the same thing with my son in his tough periods. I told him he didn't have to sleep, but he still had to stay in bed and be quiet. I made him sit in his bed and play quietly with a toy or book, then he could could get out of bed at a certain time that he could see on a digital clock. Eventually he almost always fell asleep, no matter how much he was fighting his nap. Then I would wake him up again after letting him sleep a half hour or 45 min. Yes it was a shorter nap than usual, but it was better than nothing and I didn't want to let him sleep too late into the evening. And even that bit of quiet time was enough to make him more mellow as the evening went on.

Good luck to you!
Sass

I am wondering the same thing! My son is 2 years and 9 months old and fights going to sleep. Some days he says he has to go potty 3 times and some days he just lays there quietly. I am going to enforce quiet time for my benefit. I am not ready to give up nap time :) When he doesn't take a nap he is so cranky and no matter what time we put him to bed he will wake up 12 hours later so putting him to bed earlier without a nap doesnt really work at our house. Now at our house I lay him down half an hour later than usual and if he doesn't sleep he has to stay in there quiet for one hour. There has only been 2 days when he didn't sleep at all and those were days that he slept in a little later.
Good Luck,
S.

Hi Abbey,
I guess I knew it was time for my daughter not to nap anymore when days that she did take a nap, she wouldn't sleep well at night. She also was content throughout the day without a nap. This happened when she was just about 2 years old. I'm so surprised when I hear of people who have 3 and 4 year olds still taking a nap, but I think it just depends on the child. Apparently as a kid, I needed naps always. Even in grade school, I would come home from school and be so exhuasted, I'd fall asleep until dinner time. Therefore, no matter how old a child is, their bodies may just need more sleep than some. Hope this helps!
God bless.

It depends on the child. My son stopped day napping at 2 because he wouldn't sleep at night- At 8 I have figured out the reason he hasn't slept at night and have taken care of that issue- and now, at 8- he actually naps again. If my son doesn't get 10 hours at night- he is a bear and requires a nap for all of our well being.

Hi Abbey, My daughter was about 2 1/2 when she gave up naps. I knew it was time because when she did nap, she wouldn't be tired enough to go to bed at night until 10 or 11pm! Also she was continually crawling out of her crib and coming downstairs when I would try to put her down. I have another child at home so I couldn't lay up there with her. On the days when I really felt like she needed a nap, I would take her for a drive and she would usually fall asleep. Every child is different and some of my friends have 6 year olds that still nap. You just have to do what makes sense for you and your child. Good luck!

M

Around that age my son went through a LONG period when he refused or wasn't interested or seemed like he didn't need naps. But after many many months (6 or 8 maybe), he is back to one nap per day, though it tends to be way later in the day and sometimes he skips it, but sleeps longer at night (or is cranky in the morning).

I would advise to keep the nap routine even if she doesn't sleep. just call it "quiet time".

You'll know it's time when he takes a long time to fall asleep or does not fall asleep at all, and seems no worse for the wear. You *may* want to consider a slightly earlier bedtime for him now if he is not sleeping at all during the day.

My son is 18 months and some days does not take a nap, or will only take a short one. Other days, he takes a 3 hour nap. He is home all the time (no daycare), so we can just roll with whatever his needs are for the day. On the days he does not nap or does not nap very long, we put him to bed earlier and he goes right to sleep.

I do like the idea of "quiet time" during the day, even if they do not sleep. Just a time to unwind and relax with a video or book.

Hi Abbey,

My son stopped taking naps at 1 1/2 actually. It became a struggle to get him down for one, and once I did, then he would be up until 11 pm even with just an 1.5 hour nap! So we stopped giving him naps and he was back to his regular bedtime. He was cranky for the first 3-4 days until his body adjusted to it but other than that we had no other issues. Good luck. Remember, all kids are different. I was told I was crazy for not giving my son naps at that age.

My daughter is almost 3 years old and she still takes an afternoon nap. I have found that depending on the level of activity she has done her nap length varies but she usually takes a 2 hour nap still in the afternoon. I will put my daughter down for a nap till she is in first grade. If she does not actually sleep (which I am expecting to happen around 4/5 years old) she will still have to have quiet time for an hour in her bedroom.

My daughter tried to get out of naps starting around 2 years old but I kept putting her down at the same time everyday and as soon as she knew I would not give on the matter she took her naps. If she did not take a nap she would be extremely grumpy and testy, and she is normally a sweet child. Between growing and their age most kids need at least an hour nap in the afternoon till 4/5 years old.