Is there ever too young of an age for child to stop napping?

1. 98

   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   Is there ever too young of an age for child to stop napping?
   
   My 2 year old hasn't been napping for a week. Since I'm not the forcing type I have simply let her lay in her bed and relax for an hour. She hasn't been overly fussy or anything, but she seems really young to go without a nap. She gets up at 6ish and goes to bed at 8ish if it matters.

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2. 78

   calynbanaposted 12 years ago

   There is never too young or old an age for a child to stop napping. It is dependent upon the child's readiness, and development. I they are ready to stop napping then they should. If they are not then they should continue napping. Age does not matter.

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   1. 98

      peeplesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the answer.

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3. 82

   Amanda108posted 12 years ago

   It varies from child to child, I'd say. If the child isn't fussy then it isn't a problem. Alternatively, if an older child wants to nap and it doesn't disrupt nighttime sleep then no problem!

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      peeplesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks!

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4. 75

   Cantuhearmescreamposted 12 years ago

   peeples,
   From what I have gathered about you so far, you seem quite in tune to all of the typical motherly advice and I'm guessing you're an awesome mom. I haven't had little kids in a few years but I remember reading all the baby magazines and articles on the internet because it was relevant and interesting to me at the time. The majority of them suggest that children need so many hours of sleep per day and it slowly declines from infants to toddlers to children. When I initially started trying to implement the nap routine with my first toddler I convinced myself that as hard as it might be, the "experts" say it important. Within a few days my son understood that nap time was nap time and I was lucky, he didn't give me a hard time. His naps were good for both of us. I repeated the same thing with my daughter 4 years later and had just about the same experience. I am not the forceful type either but I decided before my kids could walk that "sleep time" was going to be the one thing I was strict about because I have heard and seen too many horror stories (7 year olds that still sleep in parents' bed because they can't break the habit, as desperate as they'd like). My kids might eat grass and throw sticks but they have been really good about bedtime and naptime, which has also helped give me those sometimes much needed breaks. Last note, any realistic mom is never going to follow every tip or all advice; each family is unique and I say if it works for you then who cares what anyone says?

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      Cantuhearmescreamposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know how there is a link on the word TODDLERS; I didn't put it there. That's actually a good question; Do you know why a word would be linked to a HP page? Does HP do that?

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      peeplesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's ok. HP does that to link to certain sections for reading on a topic. Thanks for the great advice.

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      Cantuhearmescreamposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, that's kind of cool. I actually cut it and paste it again because I didn't know if I did something wrong. That's nifty; learn something new every day.

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5. 72

   SmartAndFunposted 12 years ago

   My son stopped napping when he was two, but closing in on three years old. It coincided with weaning him from the pacifier. He just wouldn't fall asleep without it during the day; although at night, I guess he was much more tired, and didn't have any trouble without it. He would occasionally fall asleep in the car when I went to pick up my older child from school, so I guess he wasn't totally finished needing naps at that point.
   
   As long as your child is getting plenty of sleep and isn't tired and cranky, then I think he's fine whether he naps or not. My daughter loved to nap but got to the point that she was four years old and wanted to nap from 4:00-6:00 p.m. -- then would be up all night! I had to break her of her nap habit at that point and it wasn't pretty. Dinner time was pretty bad for a couple of months because she was so cranky during that time, but letting her sleep that late in the day kept her up too late every night. At least your son is putting himself on a normal family schedule.
   
   I think if he is happy and doing well you have no worries. If he begins having behavior issues or is always crying and cranky, you might want to try to reintroduce nap time. On the other hand, I guess there's no such thing as a two-year-old without behavior issues, LOL.

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6. 60

   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   Neither of my kids were nappers after about 18 months. They just would not sleep, if they did, then they wouldn't go to sleep at night.  Very frustrating.
   
   As long as they rest well at night it isn't a big deal.

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7. 78

   jennshealthstoreposted 12 years ago

   If your child is laying in bed and not sleeping then more than likely your child does not need the actual sleep. Maybe the resting is good enough at this point. I do not think that age really matters. When my child was in pre-k she would never fall asleep when the other kids took a nap, she just was not tired. Now she is 10 and takes naps. So I say whatever the body needs is what you should give it.

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