How long do toddlers nap

Nap time is an opportunity for you and your toddler to recharge. So when your toddler shows early signs of weaning themselves off naps , you might approach this change with a little resistance. Fewer naps mean that your little one is growing into a big kid. But how do you know if your toddler is ready to drop their nap? And what can you do to help ease the transition? There are no hard or fast rules regarding when a child drops their nap. Each kid is different. The National Sleep Foundation NSF estimates that only about 50 percent of children still nap by age 4, and only 30 percent still nap by age 5.

For the most part, toddlers need about 12 hours of sleep a day. One difference between napping and non-napping toddlers is that the latter group gets most of their sleep at night. Most toddlers transition from two naps to one nap a day by 18 months. Naps then gradually taper off over the next couple of years. By age 5, most children no longer take a regular nap. When some toddlers hit a certain age, daytime naps become the enemy.

Even if they resist, naps may still be necessary if:. A telltale sign that your child is ready to drop naps is the ability to skip a nap without signs of crankiness or exhaustion. Dropping naps is a gradual process that starts with your toddler going from two naps to one nap, and then, sometimes years after the shift from two to one nap, slowly decreasing the length of their one nap. Children who no longer need a nap typically fall asleep faster at night and sleep through the night, making the bedtime routine a little easier on you.

But although some kids eventually wean themselves off naps, you can give your child a small nudge. You can also try drop one nap a week to get their body used to less daytime sleep.

Your child will slowly adjust to less sleep. But keep in mind that less sleep during the day means they may need more sleep earlier at night. They likely will fall asleep earlier or may sleep later in the morning if allowed.

So be prepared to move up the bedtime routine or adjust the morning schedule. For example, you might try skipping the morning nap, then giving your toddler lunch around 11 a. She might fall asleep by noon and have an early afternoon nap that will keep her happy until evening, but not too awake at bedtime. This can interfere with daycare or other family activities. Weiss suggests waking your marathoner after three hours, or before 4 p.

This is another transition stage, as your preschooler moves from one nap to zero. As he goes through this transition, naps may become intermittent — your child may nap one day, then skip his nap the next day but be tired and cranky in the evening. Weiss points out that the environment matters a lot too — a preschooler in daycare will probably join in the regularly scheduled nap, while one at home with siblings and lots of activity may not be willing to sleep.

Failing that, you may be able to encourage your child to consolidate all his sleep into a longer night, or wake him earlier in the morning so he can nap before school. Talk to your provider about what might work for your child. Children older than five rarely nap. If a child in this age group has given up naps and then starts sleeping during the day again, some investigation is in order.

What can be frustrating is that often by the time you get to sleep, the baby wakes up again. Of course, if you have older children, napping with your new baby is likely to be impossible. A nap can be a real sanity saver after a night of being awake with a teething baby or a three-year-old with the flu. A few tips for successful naps:. It may help to set an alarm. Older tots usually ease into one longer afternoon sleep. Your toddler needs a full 11 to 14 hours of sleep every day, and few children are able to sleep that much during the night.

Which is why daytime sleep — in the form of naps — is a must for the toddler set. They also have less energy — and toddlers need plenty of energy to fuel their always-on-the-go lifestyle. It's just as normal for your toddler to resist naps as it is for her to fight bedtime, and for many of the same reasons:. Take note of when your toddler is already slowing down, such as after lunch, and try to get her tucked in for a nap then.

What Can I Do? If your tot is put down for a nap and woken up at the same time nearly every day, her body and brain will come to expect it, making your job easier. Next, invest in a good nap routine. Your toddler is a creature of habit, and the predictability of a nap routine similar to her bedtime routine will make her feel more secure and comforted — perfect ingredients for unwinding and getting in the mood to snooze. If your toddler is ready to switch from two naps to one, give her some time to adjust to the new sleep schedule.

She may even end up going to sleep earlier at bedtime — so be open to modifying things accordingly. It happens to even the best of toddler nappers — when two naps become one nap too many. You can expect your tot to drop her morning nap somewhere midway through the second year. When that happens, her afternoon nap will likely be longer than her usual afternoon snooze — closer to two hours or more. How will you know your little one is ready to transition from two naps to one? Look for the signs: She remains revved up around naptime or starts to spend her entire naptime playing in her crib instead of sleeping.

Sometimes, she'll be very vocal about it: "I'm not tired! Whatever the signs, don't expect the transition from two naps to one to be smooth sailing.