Categories
Genel

Mystery Question: When Do Toddlers Stop Napping?

We hear you asking when do toddlers stop napping? Well, sleep plays a major role in the maturation of the brain of a small child. It is therefore important to preserve it. In this topic, we want to also share some practical advice to take care of children’s sleep while respecting the rhythm of each child. The nap of the baby and the young child is essential to their good development. Their body needs it to complete the night’s sleep. But until what age is this rest time necessary? At what point is it no longer harmful to stop napping? When do toddlers stop napping? 

The Sleep of The Baby: Why Does It Need to Make A Nap? Which Nap at Which Age?

Taking a nap is a physiological need in infants and toddlers. It is an essential complement to night’s sleep. During the nap, it is mainly deep slow-wave sleep (FLS). This sleep is important for the memorization of learning and also for the emotional balance of the child.

When Do Toddlers Stop Napping or Which Nap at Which Age?

Sleep differs according to age:

  • The nap until 6 months: Babies, especially newborns, sleep for about an hour with short interruptions or awakenings of no more than 1 minute. Do not rush to pick up baby! If you do not disturb them, they will go back to sleep.
  • A young child usually has need three short naps. One of these naps may be in the morning and two others in the early and late afternoon.
  • By 6 months of age, babies are sleeping longer at night, daytime sleep duration is decreasing, and day-night sleep patterns are periodically emerging. Babies’ sleep patterns are in fact more influenced by their environment from 4 months onwards. Eating patterns, activity, and play patterns all affect the night and daytime routine of their sleep. 6 months is the milestone when daytime sleep duration starts to decrease. After 6 months until 4 or 5 years of age, children’s sleep becomes more regular; daytime naps, which were previously 3 to 4 times a day, may decrease to 2 until 1 year of age and to 1 after 1 year of age. When do babies stop napping in the morning? After 6 months they may quit sleeping before noon, in some cases, depending on the child’s tiredness, the afternoon sleep schedule may be changed to an earlier time.
  • Naps up to 18 months (From 9 to 12 months): the late afternoon nap is unnecessary.
  • From 15 to 18 months: baby no longer naps in the morning but takes a single longer nap in the early afternoon (2h-2h30).
  • The nap from 2 years old: There is an inverse relationship between daytime sleep time and nighttime sleep time. If a child sleeps too long in the afternoon, he will have a shorter sleep time at night.
İlginizi Çekebilir:  Music for Pregnancy: What to Listen with Your Baby

Therefore it is necessary that the nap takes place at the very beginning of the afternoon, after the child’s lunch, that it does not exceed 1h30-2h and does not finish after 15h30. Again, this is advice to be adapted to your child’s needs. If your child sleeps more than 2 hours in the afternoon but falls asleep easily in the evening, let them sleep, specify the pediatricians. And sometimes it’s better to have a child who falls asleep a little later in the evening but will be calm until bedtime.

  • Naps until age 4

Until age 4, napping is a physiological need. On average when do toddlers stop napping? Generally, napping disappears between the ages of 4 and 5. But studies show that if we give the opportunity to sleep in the early afternoon to children between 4 and 5 years, half of them sleep, say the specialists. In fact, this means; they need this sleep time! It would seem therefore that the suppression of the nap in kindergarten, from the middle section, for children who are sometimes less than 4 years old may be a bad idea. Children enrolled in kindergarten should be able to take a nap if it is necessary for them, says most of the specialists because it allows them to memorize in the long term the things they have learned in the morning.

In all children

  • Vigilance decreases between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.: the nap must take place during this period.
  • Bedtime difficulties may appear as fear of separation, fear of falling asleep, refusal to stop playing…
  • Various sleep disorders including night terrors may affect toddlers’ daytime napping routine. If parents mention such problems, the PMI nursery nurse can help them find solutions.
İlginizi Çekebilir:  How Long Does Teething Last and How to Deal with the Symptoms?

When do toddlers stop napping? As with all other early childhood transitions, there is no set age at which your child should start giving up naps. When do toddlers stop napping during the day?  The answer to this question is relative. Sometimes children give up daytime sleep immediately after turning 1 year old. Other times they stop sleeping when they start kindergarten, or they need more daytime naps in kindergarten because they use more energy than at home. According to one study, only 2.5% of children stop napping by age two, but 94% of children stop napping completely by age five.

When Do Toddlers Stop Napping? How Can You Understand?

When do toddlers stop napping? If you think it’s time for your child to give up daytime naps; why not test a sleepless day with them? The most important thing to consider is your child’s resistance to sleep. Just because your child is resistant to sleep does not mean that they is against giving up naps. This is common in children over 1 year old and toddlers. You can tell if your child is really ready to give up day sleep by different signs:

If your child…

– starts to show signs of tiredness in the early evening and wants to sleep before dinner.

– If your child has frequent tantrums due to sleep deprivation,

– Crying frequently, again related to fatigue

Maybe they are not ready to give up their afternoon nap, they needs more time. However, if none of these symptoms are present, your child may be ready to give up afternoon naps. Moreover, you should pay attention to your child’s nighttime sleep patterns during this period. One of the causes of restless sleep or sleep terrors, especially at night, may be the need for daytime sleep or rest. Don’t skip naps just because your child is getting older. We know that naps mark questions in your head just as the teething period and how long that it lasts, it is more than natural.

How To Set Your Children’s Sleep Routine?

Children’s sleep routines and habits begin to change after the age of 1 year. When do babies stop napping in the day? Until the age of 1 year, children want to take 1 or 2 daytime naps a day, but after the age of 1 year, the number of short daytime naps may decrease to 1 by the age of 2 years, and by the age of 3 years, they may be even shorter or stop altogether. 

İlginizi Çekebilir:  What Age Do Babies Dream, or Do They Dream at All?

When do toddlers stop napping during the day? In fact, this is closely related to the total amount of time your child spends sleeping in a day. By the age of 1 year, a child needs 16 hours of sleep a day, which decreases to 10 hours by the age of 3 years. Of course, this still does not mean that your child no longer needs sweets.

All parents want their children to sleep at a healthy early hour in the evening and not wake up too early in the morning. There may be small things to think through in achieving this:

  • Have your child nap early in the day, such as before 2 p.m., so that they have time to get ready for sleep before 8 p.m.
  • If daytime naps are still occurring, an early afternoon nap will allow your child to go to sleep earlier in the evening.
  • Long naps can have a negative impact on sleep patterns. Especially after the age of 2, your toddler must not really do a 2-hour nap. You can try to reduce this time to 1 hour or 45 minutes. By observing your child’s energy and fatigue level, you can also determine the sleep and nap routine according to their needs.
  • Try not to let your child be motivated to sleep by other things
  • If your child is napping at daycare, things may be a little easier (as long as they are actually napping for your caregiver).
  • If your child takes their afternoon nap at home, make sure that they stay asleep for the same amount of time every day.

You have your questions, right? When do babies walk or when do toddlers stop napping? In some cases, parents may want to interrupt afternoon naps because their child’s nighttime sleep patterns are disturbed. However, this can lead to worse consequences. It can cause extreme irritability and anger in children who still need afternoon sleep. Your child’s energy will tell you whether they are ready or not. You can always observe this with small experiments. Considering the benefits, giving up naps early may not be good for your child. This means scheduling a nap outside of errands and commuting with other children.