How old do you think is appropriate for a child to stop taking naps?

1. 95

   Daughter Of Maatposted 11 years ago

   How old do you think is appropriate for a child to stop taking naps?
   
   Or should they stop taking naps at all?

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2. 74

   prektjr.dcposted 11 years ago

   Most children will be offered a nap time in Kindergarten, but in First Grade, the nap time is not an option.  Therefore, the summer time between Kindergarten and First Grade is an essential time to fade out naps or at least move them to a 15 minute power nap right after school.  Most children will naturally fade out their naps themselves about this time, so it is typically not too difficult.  Just a note, I am a preschool teacher by trade and this is my experience.

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3. 89

   ThePracticalMommyposted 11 years ago

   I think children should be encouraged to take naps at all ages, but formal naps may stop around age five when the child enters Kindergarten (we have full day Kindergarten around here). Naps can be changed into resting times after school when the child simply relaxes without homework or technology for 30 minutes or so.
   
   Many kids go right to sports practices or other activities right after school, so these resting times may not be practical right after school but perhaps in the evening.

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4. 60

   LaThingposted 11 years ago

   All my children stopped taking naps around age 3. I would still let them sleep if they were tired, but most of them stopped on their own.

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   1. 61

      Lisa HWposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Mine would fall asleep on their own if they were tired (and especially if we were in the car), but I stopped "official" nap time for them when they got to be close to three.  I made sure there was quiet-activities times, though.

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   2. 60

      LaThingposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, that's what I did too, quiet activities, but they were always running around around that time, lol! I guess it was that new found energy

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5. 48

   breathingposted 8 years ago

   Napping of kids is important for any parents. Napping at the daytime is of foremost importance for child getting the perfect sleep. But as your baby gets older, their napping habit will drop.  When the kids stop taking naps, this indicates that they are fully ready. The napping time may vary from child to child but the average time is almost the same. Before their first birthday, the usual napping time is twice regularly- one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This continues up to the age of 1.5 years. There are times between the first birthday and 1.5 years where the morning nap is stopped. But the afternoon nap doesn’t stop even in those days. This helps them to get a better sleep and eventually they don’t become tired and fussy.
   
   After this the morning nap will be gone gradually. But the evening one will still be in place. It has been seen that most of the kids are heavily dependent on the afternoon nap up to 4 years of age. Also statistics suggest that 70 percentage of the kids stop taking naps completely by the time they are 5 years old. The rest of the 30% will still need to take naps but it will also stop when they are 6 years old.

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