When do they stop naps?

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

Hi, was just wondering if there was an average age for when a toddler stops the naps altogether?

Harvey is fighting nap times almost everyday and we are not sure whether he is just ready to quit or could it be something else. Somedays he stills goes down easily but this seems to be getting a rare thing. :roll:

Was looking forward to his naps for when the baby came and maybe i could have a nap whilst the 2 of them napped. lol

Just my luck for him to stop when i really need him to.

[moosemom]

When we switched to the big-boy bed (he was just 2) there was a 3-week spell of reluctance to nap.  I didn't give in and returned him to bed until he had been in his room for 1 hour.  He started napping again, and has napped consistently until now (he is 3 1/4) when he is becoming inconsistent again, but still naps a couple of days each week.  We have a 5-month-old, also, and it is a beautiful thing when they nap at the same time!  It doesn't happen every day, though.  I still enforce a quiet hour on days when the preschooler is not able to sleep -- he can look at books or play with stuffed animals, but nothing loud and he has to stay on his bed.   Many 3-year-olds are hit-or-miss with naps, but before the third birthday most still manage to nap in the afternoon.  I think the trick is not to reward the behavior with either positive or negative attention when they get up.  Keep it boring, return him to bed with minimal conversation, and good luck!!

[Kayna]

We stopped the naps when it started affecting his bedtime. If he ended up taking a two hour nap he would lie in bed at night for two hours before he fell asleep. It ended up being the same amount of sleep per day whether he napped or not (around 11 hours).

When our lo came in June we implemented a "quite time" where he sat on the sofa watching a video, reading, or quitely playing with something. It worked pretty good for us but he is a little older than Harvey. Good luck.

[~BeckyD~]

Ellie-May is 3 in Feb and hasnt napped for past few months (apart from when she had a cold and napped ALL DAY on sofa!) I cant see her going back to day naps again now.  She will sometimes take 10 mins in car if we have been out in the afternoon, but not very often.  I don't know whether this age is late to stop naps?! :? But she is also starting pre-school in March so they would have ended then anyway I guess.
I don't know if that helps at all but thats our situation.
I guess you just have to go with it. Since having 2nd LO I have got to the point where if she doesn't want to do anything I wont make her(to a certain degree!!) just for a quiet life! :oops:  :roll: -so if she doesn't want to nap I am not gonna argue-too much else to do!
Becky
X

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

Thanks for your advice.

He tried to get out of them a few weeks back but with persistence he got back into it, but he is starting to fight again and i do feel a little cruel at times forcing him to nap. He has only just turned 2yrs and is quite active and never has been one for too much sleep.

It took over 1 hour this afternoon to get him to nap, but we got there in the end.
He's been in a big boy since 16 months old and that was an easy transition luckily.

Thanks again, will see how he goes.

[Diego's Mama]

Hi Rhian.



I would try cutting back the length of his nap perhaps, and put him down a bit later?  We also implement quiet time.  Diego may look at books on his bed, but must do so for an hour.  Often he'll fall asleep, not always though.

At two, he still needs some sort of rest I should think.  Around three is more typical to give up a nap.

How much nighttime sleep?  What's his bedtime?

Getting excited for the baby's arrival?

Best.

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

Hi Rhian.

How much nighttime sleep?  What's his bedtime?

Getting excited for the baby's arrival?

Best.

He naps anywhere between 1.5 to 2.5 hrs.

8pm bedtime and he rises on average 7am. Could be upto an hour each way some days.

Yes, i'm getting excited and part of me wants him to come soon and another part thinks i don't mind waiting. lol  :roll:
Just having a hard time with sleep and insomnia at the moment.

[Diego's Mama]

The sleep insomnia is the pits! Bleck!

How many hours between his wake up and his naptime? 

When Diego fights naps, I still insist on quiet time in his bed.  I will give him books to look at if he cannot fall asleep.  The rule is he must stay on his bed.    I've heard many, many parents say they went through bouts where it seeme their older child was giving up naps, but after a few weeks they were back to having them again.

Perhaps a reward system for cooperating with naptime?

Can't wait to hear glorious news of Theo's arrival!  Best wishes on your delivery.

[carolyn]

    I've heard many, many parents say they went through bouts where it seeme their older child was giving up naps, but after a few weeks they were back to having them again.

This is exactly what we just went through. 

If he is taking a long time to go to sleep for naps, I would put him down later.  It may be that he is trying to adjust to a new nap routine.  John started fighting naps like you are describing.  The later nap time really worked for us.  Then he began to not nap at all.  He went over 2 weeks with only 1 or 2 naps.  It was hard for both of us.  Now he is back to napping for 3 hours again, and going down earlier in the afternoon.

Just stick with it.  Enforcing quiet time really does seem to help since it keeps him in the routine of going to his room. And he may eventually start sleeping.