Please remind me- what age do toddlers stop napping?

amother

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:17 pm

She’s almost 2. She takes a nap one day then goes to bed really late and then refuses to nap the next day.

Is this the normal age to stop?

I was relying on it now that she’s off for winter holidays and won’t let me accomplish a thing….

GrowingUp

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:32 pm

I’ve found that each of my kids were different.

One napped until a few weeks after her third birthday.
One napped until 22 months.

If you see that napping is affecting their night time sleep than it’s time to stop.

amother

Maroon

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:36 pm

Around 2 is normal to stop naps
Every child is different of course…
But if it’s messing up with bedtime, just aim for earlier bed at night

observer

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:37 pm

All my kids stopped naps before 2, some were well before.
Sounds like she's ready to stop.

amother

Stoneblue

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:40 pm

What time does she nap? She has to wake from the nap early enough for her to be able to go to sleep at night at a normal time.
My almost 4 year old still naps. If I try to skip his nap, he ends up falling asleep late afternoon on the floor or on a chair or even standing up...
All of my kids napped till 4-5.

lfab

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:41 pm

Like others said, it totally depends on the child. I've had my kids stop anywhere between 21 months and nearly 3 1/2, so a pretty big range.

tichellady

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:48 pm

I would try capping her nap before ending it. how long is her nap usually

Last edited by tichellady on Wed, Dec 21 2022, 2:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Oatmeal

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 12:51 pm

I find that most kids still need nap until 2 and half but it's true that they won't collapse into bed at 6.30pm
I would rather deal with a later bedtime than a kvetchy kid from 3 to 6.30!!!
If every time you take the car early afternoon, they fall asleep it means they still need it!

amother

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 1:08 pm

She’ll be 2 in February.

She usually naps at 12:30 until 2 then goes to bed at 7:30 until 7:30.

She napped yesterday from 1-3 because she did not want to nap earlier, went to bed yesterday at 9, woke up this morning at 7:30 it’s 6 pm here and she’s showing no signs of slowing down…

amother

Aqua

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 1:14 pm

If she naps she won't go to sleep that early for the night. You need to chose which one is more important to you. 8:30-9:00 pm bedtime is reasonable for a toddler that has a long daytime nap. Then she'll only sleep lets say 10 hours at night which will make her tired for her nap the next day. Don't let her sleep later in the morning because that will ruin the cycle.

Also make the room dark if you can.

amother

Stoneblue

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 1:18 pm

amother OP wrote:

I find that toddlers bed time needs to be at least 6 hours after nap. My toddlers don't go to bed before around 8:30 when they wake up at 2 from their nap.

stillnewlywed

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 1:32 pm

Do a shorter nap from 1230-130 and bedtime around 730-8

amother

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 1:35 pm

stillnewlywed wrote:

Do a shorter nap from 1230-130 and bedtime around 730-8

I wish! But she won’t go in. She either screams or talk to herself. If she’s screaming I’ll take her out obviously, if she’s talking I’ll leave her in but then she won’t fall asleep for a long while.

amother

Maroon

Wed, Dec 21 2022, 2:44 pm

amother OP wrote:

Sounds like nap time is really done if you’re having a problem at night..
It’s normal, they need a little less sleep at that age.

amother

Thu, Dec 22 2022, 5:45 am

amother Maroon wrote:

Sounds like nap time is really done if you’re having a problem at night..
It’s normal, they need a little less sleep at that age.

I guess I’ll stop and see. Thanks all!

amother

Lotus

Thu, Dec 22 2022, 6:39 am

18 months
I needed my sanity when my kids were younger. I kept them busy and by 6:30-7:00 the house was quiet.

amother

Thu, Dec 22 2022, 8:06 am

Well… there goes the no napping. My poor baby was a mess allll morning. I finally put her to bed at 12:30..

TwinsMommy

Mon, Dec 26 2022, 11:51 pm

My twins gave up naps at drastically different times. Nobody prepared me for THAT possibility. One twin kept 2 naps a day MUCH longer than her twin. And then she kept her 1 nap MUCH longer than her twin. She was 4 and still napping sometimes---- her twin gave his one nap up by 3 if I recall. And then (years later) she hit puberty first and started napping again (then he hit puberty and now I have two teens who love to nap--- lol).