When should a toddler stop napping during the day?

dark crystal

Hi guys,

My 16 month old son still seems to need a nap at around 11 - 11.30 a.m every day for about an hour and a half, but I am just wondering, when do they grow out of this stage?

Having read some parenting sites, there seems to be differing advice on this issue. Some say they should not need a nap after about 18 months and some saying they should still have a scheduled nap every day until 2 or so years of age.

He's become quite a restless sleeper at night. Most nights, he will wake at least twice and many nights, we have to bring him into our bed just to get a good night's sleep! Could the afternoon nap be causing this, I wonder?

When did your little ones stop napping during the day?

crazy cat lady

Maybe you could try reducing the length of his nap and see if this helps?

Also is he teething? This could be causing the upset at night time.

My little lady is 14 months almost and I cant se her growing out of her nap any time soon, especially now that she is so active!

MY neice is 2 and still has an hour and a half-2 hours before lunch.

Try not to rely too heavily on what parenting sites say, every child is different and only you can assess your childs needs.

metrovelvet

At 16 months my son still napped twice a day. Then at 2 he had an afternoon nap and at around two and a half he stopped napping altogether. They are all different though.

Frank Black

An hour and hald nap for a 16month old is not unusual. Our youngest is 20months and will sometimes sleep for over 2 hours if he's tired. Our eldest gave up her nap between 2 and 2.5 years old.

Cat Melodeon

My lad is nearly 19 months and still has his nap. He's usually up at 8am and in bed by 8.30pm. He has his nap at 1pm and usually goes down for at least an hour and a half, sometimes two and a half hours. I just let him sleep for as long as he needs to up to the 2.5 hr limit. I find if he doesn't get his nap he doesn't sleep well at night, but when he does he sleeps through no bother. There has been the odd day where he wouldn't take a nap at all but this has been related to teething. I can't imagine him giving up his nap anytime soon. I hope he doesn't, it's a little oasis of calm in the middle of the day!

Moonbeam

my 26 month old naps every day and sleeps the full night.
She has a busy life and needs the nap.

lynski

Have learned though much trial and many errors that my son needs 12hrs sleep each day. son and daughter and new baby are all currently napping now for an hr (sometimes 1.5hrs) and i hope to keep it up for a few more months.
My son is 4.5, daughter is 2yrs 3 mths. Some of the symptoms of over-tiredness can look like 'lots of energy' and nighttime wakefulness for my son especially, seems to be a symptom of being ovetired.
I guess the answer to your question is whenever your son seems not to need it, but it could be awhile yet.

bubbaloo

Our little man is 23 months and still sleeps for over an hour in the afternoon. He would sleep for about 3 hours if we let him !!
I cut it about a month ago to 1 hr 15 mins because he was waking up every night but since I cut it he has slept through (almost) every night.
Good luck.

crazy cat lady

Moonbeam wrote: »

She has a busy life and needs the nap.

Me too

I'm 28 and still need a nap... very rarely get one tho!!

dark crystal

Thanks for all the replies

I guess the sleeplessness must just be down to teething, although he doesn't seem overly upset or in pain when he wakes, just whingey.

Thing is, he slept all through the night from the age of 7 weeks and then as soon as he turned 6 or 7 months, starting waking. It's at the stage now where 6 nights out of 7 he will wake during the night, usually around the same time. Sometimes, we just pop his dummy back in and he'll resettle, but mostly he won't settle unless someone lies down next to him untill he goes back to sleep, or worst case scenario, untill we take him into our bed.

I was clinging to the hope that maybe if we cut down on the afternoon naps, me might sleep better, but I think it must just be a habit he's gotten in to, to wake at certain times during the night.

The two of us are wrecked most days now!...

Frank Black

It's possibly a habit he's got into at this stage. Kids really need to learn how to settle themselves back to sleep. Do you leave him for a bit or go straight into him?
I know it's not for everyone but we would let ours cry for 5mins before we go in.
We also sowed a soother-saver onto our little fella's sleepbag on a short length of material - it meant he could find his soother himself if he woke up. It seemed to work for us anyway. Obviously you want to make sure it's not long enough to get wrapped around his neck.
To be honest bringing him into bed is probably not the best idea - if he thinks he will get brought in if he crys it becomes a difficult habit to break.
Good Luck.