when did your 2+ kid stop napping?

lana22

My son is only napping about one day a week (if I'm lucky) although he still goes up every day for "naptime". He spends some days calling out for me, singing and reading books, and other days trying to fall asleep and moving around his crib, but very rarely falls asleep anymore. He turned 3 a few weeks ago. Seems early to me to drop the nap but figured I'd see what kind of experience others on here had. Thanks.

michelle7482

Literally the day I took the pacifier away and she was exactly 2.5. It was a rough 2 months adjusting but the last month or so she's gotten used to it and she's normal again lol. She's also moved up her bedtime from 8:30 to 7:30 and takes a lot less time for her to fall asleep now.

ashiscute

My DD is 3 (will be 4 at the end of January) and she still naps most days.  She probably naps about an hour though sometimes longer.  I would say she naps at least some 5 days per week.  DS is 2 (27 months) and he naps everyday still.  

aglenn

My DS will be 3 in February and just within the past few weeks has started fighting his nap.  He doesn't go to sleep most days.  My DD dropped it earlier than that, but she has always hated sleep with a fiery passion.  I was hoping DS would nap longer.

It would be OK with me for him to skip it if he wasn't such a hot mess by dinnertime (cranky, stumbling around, rubbing his eyes).  It is frustrating. 

blu-eyedwife

Mine turned 3 in October and still naps every day.

skibunny59

DD will be 3 in March and hasn't napped in the last 5 days.  I really hope this is temporary and doesn't mean the end of naps forever.  DS is only 2 weeks old and it was nice having 2 hours where I could just nurse him and tend to him without having DD hanging all over me.  I still put her down for nap and leave her in there an hour but she reads books and sings to herself.  She's not cranky really but we have moved her bedtime a little earlier (7:30 instead of 8:30) so she can have the extra sleep and so DH and I can have more time together at night. 

Leap08

My oldest just turned 5 and will sometimes nap. They have a required quiet period at school and she sometimes will sleep during it. On weekends we make her do quiet time in her room for at least an hour and if she is really tired she will fall asleep. My youngest just turned 3 and has been on a nap strike at daycare for the past week or so. I hate it. She still really needs the nap. She is a hot mess in the evening without it. 

greyt00

DS1 stopped before 2.5.  He was fighting it starting around 2 years old.  He has autism, though.  DS1 was 2 years and 4 months old when we moved him from a crib to twin bed so I'm not surprised we were sunk on naps around that time.

DS2 is 2 years and 4 months old and is still napping pretty well.  *crosses fingers*  He is also still in a crib and will remain there for as long as possible!  He's not a climber but tonight was upset at bedtime and put his leg over the top.  We may need to turn the crib around soon.  We had to turn it for DS1 at 22 months.  I'll be over the moon is DS2 takes naps until he's 3.

lana22

thanks for the responses. for those of you who have 3 yos who nap, what is their nighttime sleep like? mine gets 11-12 hours most nights (from 7/7:30 until 7/7:30) and my pedi told me at the 3 yo checkup that it's enough sleep. doesn't mean i don't still want him to nap, though!

ashiscute

DD sleeps probably 10- 11 hours at night.  Her bedtime is 8 and her get up time is 7 but she doesn't usually fall asleep right away and it's not uncommon for her to wake up at 630.  I would say she probably averages around 12 hours of overall sleep but she is a pill in the evenings if she doesn't nap still so I'm happy with a nap and a little less overnight sleep.  

shannm

My kids love sleep. DS stopped napping around 4.5.

 Naps are always better when we have an active morning with outside time.

blu-eyedwife

lana22 said:

thanks for the responses. for those of you who have 3 yos who nap, what is their nighttime sleep like? mine gets 11-12 hours most nights (from 7/7:30 until 7/7:30) and my pedi told me at the 3 yo checkup that it's enough sleep. doesn't mean i don't still want him to nap, though!

Mine goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes up around 6am.

chloemag123

My 2 kids have always had naps. I never forced my kids to have naps, although it was around the same time each day, but that was time that they were naturally ready for a good nap. 

My daughter dropped the nap routine early at 2 years old and so did my son, also at 2. I have seen kids their age where they would need a nap, but mine... they have tons of energy. So all we do is have a quiet time sometime during the day. But that is about it. 

You are lucky yours still at 3 goes for nap, but it seems like he is also saying goodbye to nap time.

jcia1208

My DD is 3 yr 3 mo and naps 2-3 hours during the day. She goes to bed around 8 and is up by 6.

christinasullie37

My 27 month old is starting to drop naps. She is refusing most days and has never been able to just to play in her room for an hour or so for quiet time. I am not ready for her to stop napping. She is up at 6 am everyday and is exhausted by noon. By 2 she is a hot mess.

Beevol

DD is 2.5 and just starting to sometimes skip naps. Maybe one day a week she'll play quietly/"read"/sing to herself instead of napping. She usually naps 1-3 hours and goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 pm and is awake between 7:30 and 8 every morning.

lhgd1989

My DS stopped napping around 23 months. Now he will only nap if we have a very eventful morning. I still always put him in his room for an hour of quite time in the afternoon. He has some quite toys and books he can play with. He does really well with this and sometimes it helps him to calm down a bit. If he falls asleep during that time great!

LolaX2

DS will be 3 in a few weeks and still naps 1.5-2  hours most days. He has quiet time after lunch even if he doesn't nap. He is miserable and will fall a sleep around 5:00 or 6:00 if he doesn't nap, but will then wake withing an hour or two and then be up until midnight or later ugh! 

DS is a night owl anyway as he does not go to sleep for the night until around 10:00 and will sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 if we let him in the morning. He hates waking up for daycare at 7:00 but we can't get him to go to sleep any earlier at night. We try having some quiet time snuggling around 7:30-8:00 and have him in bed by 8:30 and he just plays in his room/bed until he falls a sleep much later.

sarahandeddiejune212008

DD#1 dropped her nap around 3 1/2. I still make her have quiet time every day. DD#2 (2 1/2) still naps every day for about 2hrs).

DD#1 (almost 4 1/2) sleeps about 11hrs at night, sometimes more on nonschool days. DD#2 sleeps between 10-11hrs at night. It just depends on what time she took her nap. If it was a later nap she tends to have trouble falling asleep but she almost always gets up at the same time.

g8trkim

DS napped until after 4. He would have continued but he was staying up too late so I cut the nap. He will still take one sometimes on weekends and he will be 5 in April. But I have friends with kids who stopped napping at 2. I definitely lucked out in that regard.

KDR1979

DS LOVES naps and would not do well w/o one. He sleeps 1.5-2.5 hours after lunch. He used to be my good night sleeper, but the last 6-8 weeks, he has been waking up at night. We're not sure what's going on with that.

DD has been a notoriously terrible sleeper! We did a sleep study last year and started her on daily iron. That helped a lot. She is starting to fight naps a little bit, but still falls asleep most days. If she falls asleep, it's usually at least a 1.5 hour nap. She is starting to get better at night  sleep though.

I bet when they give up their naps, they'll finally sleep all night for me. If both kids would sleep a solid 10-12 hours/night without waking up...it would be a miracle!