does your 2-3 year old still nap?

[momtoamiracle]

from 2.5 to age 3 my son fought naps. But he didn't sleep 11 or 12 hours at night so I would make him take a nap at least three days a week.

 

 

 

I dropped them at age 3 adn his bedtime went from being at midnight to 9 - 10:00pm. He also started to sleep better.

 

I think it depends ont he child. I know some children that still nap at age 6 and 7.

[Cinder]

Two of my three stopped napping before 2yo. Dd was just past 18 months when she stopped. She has never been one to sleep much but seems well rested. Ds2 napped until around 2.5yo. He stopped when he realized ds1 (who was nearly 6yo by then) didn't nap. I guess ds2 didn't want to miss out on any fun stuff that might happen while he's asleep. :D

[PeacefulChaos]

Disclaimer: I voted based on MY kids, because they are what I'm familiar with. And they did all need naps when they were 3.

I don't put much stock in hoopla regarding anything - how much sleep kids need, how they should be fed, how they should be raised, etc. So I really have no idea what 'experts' on the topic say.

I do have family members who do not lay their 2 year old down for a nap. He inevitably falls asleep at some point during the day, in some random place. :confused: I don't get it. Obviously he is tired, and they assumed since he cried when they put him in bed he didn't need a nap anymore... :rolleyes: Anyway, I know that is in no way related to what you are saying.

It really doesn't sound like your little one needs one. My kids (our whole family :D ) just really like their sleep.

[Puma Mom]

My oldest stopped naps when he was almost 3, if I recall correctly. My younger ds took naps at least 2x/week until he was about 7. He got up early and went hard all day. He still slept well at night. Now, at 19, he takes occasional naps. Dd stopped napping when she was about 5.....then started up again at age 12ish.

 

Different kids need different amounts of sleep.

[AdventureMoms]

DD gave up her nap around 2.5yo, right about when the twins were born. She has friends who still nap at 4.5 or 5yo. I also know kids who have given it up before they turned 2.

 

I suspect the twins will nap for longer - they have needed more sleep at every stage since birth.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

My youngest stopped napping at 17 months, the same age she learned how to climb out of her crib. ;)

 

She does sleep well at night and has a rough time getting to sleep at night if she happens to "drop off" during the afternoon (say, during a car ride).

 

All of my kids dropped naps by the time they were 2. I don't see how I could make them to nap if they won't.

[Farrar]

I'm surprised at how many people seem to think it's absolutely necessary. My kids never slept well, and by age 2, they refused to nap despite being exhausted all the time. We tried tenting them into the cribs. No nap. We tried to get them to car nap, and even that didn't usually work. So nearly every day for months, dh would literally hold down two screaming toddlers for about an hour until they passed out. And then two hours later, we'd spend about an hour trying to make them wake up. Then, at 7:00, we'd begin the whole process again... usually stretching past midnight, only to have them wake up again over and over and over all night long.

 

But then, a couple of months before they turned 3, I said I couldn't take it anymore. We gave up trying to make them nap. And, lo and behold, they started going to bed and sleeping through the night for the first time EVER. A solid 12 hours. And we were all much, much happier. If only I'd tried it before that.

 

We're so past this stage now that it's hard to even fully remember how horrible it was (I'm sure the sleep deprivation contributed). However, we literally tried everything and we were not lax disciplinarians (unless you're the sort of person who thinks anyone not spanking their children is a "lax" parent), nor did we have dull days in front of the TV. My kids were out at the park nearly every morning, and we made plenty of mess with playdoh and paint and food coloring around the house. We had lots of simple routines, we looked into medical causes for the lack of sleep, we tried both co-sleeping and, once they were toddlers, letting them cry it out for hours... and hours... and hours... and days on end.

 

It turned out that giving up the nap was what we needed all along. Perhaps not when they were infants, but I am fully convinced that if we had dropped it much earlier - perhaps around 20 months - it would have saved us a huge amount of trouble.

[meggie]

No, I had to cut Digby's nap out because he was staying awake until 11pm running wild.

 

Now he goes without a nap and is ready for bed by 730-8. I read to the boys and make him stay laying down and he'll fall asleep.

 

Pigby didn't cut his nap out til 3 1/2. Digby is just barely 3. Another six months would have been nice, but oh well. At least I have the solution to the 11 pm problem.

[sleeplessnights]

After four kids I've come to the conclusion that routine has a lot to do with sleep. There's something about regular rhythms that make following them easier.

 

For this reason, my kids have always gone to sleep at 8:00 (now read till 8:30) and they can't get up till 7am. Quiet/nap time is from 1-3 every single day, seven days a week. Very rarely will be do something on the weekend that will interfere with nap time.

 

My oldest quit napping at 4.5, and I started weaning my two middles off of naps when they turned 5. My youngest (almost 4) sometimes will try not to sleep, but this is usually due to not lying down quietly. Because he is used to a nap, he is really cranky if he doesn't get one.

 

And I guess it doesn't hurt that my personal philosophy is to physically wear out my kids every day. These boys have a lot of energy, and I figure I'd better wear them out or I'm in trouble!

 

My solution to your non-napping young child is to wear them out late morning and get into a nap routine!

[allymom]

I think it really depends on the child.

 

My 1st dropped her naps at 18 months and slept well at night for 12-13 hours.

 

My 2nd dropped naps at around 27 months, also sleeping for 12-13 hours a night once naps were dropped.

 

My 3rd had much higher sleep needs from the start and always took more and longer naps than my other two had. It was clear to me that she would probably nap longer. She ended up dropping daily naps at 3.5, but at 4.5 still takes a nap 2-3 times a week and sleeps in a few times a week as needed. Otherwise, she gets about 11 hours of sleep each night.

 

My 4th is 2.5 year old now and is still napping, but recently has cut down on naptime from being 2-3 hours down to 1-1.5 hours. He still goes to sleep easily around 8:30, but wakes at 6-6:30, so no more than 10 hours of sleep each night. He's been fighting me on naps a bit lately and we've let him slide a few times when he was fighting very bad, but he melts down by 3 or 4 p.m. He still definitely needs them.

[WIS0320]

My first dropped her nap at 23 months and was a much, much, much better night sleeper (12-13 hours). She's always needed less sleep than my other kids.

 

My 4 year old son still naps a couple times per week. My 2.5 year old naps every day for wish hours and sleeps 12 hours at night.