How old was your toddler when they stopped napping?

[Galaxygirl93]

Hi all

Ive posted this in chat rather than parenting as I thought I would get more replies x

I was wondering, how old was your little one when they stopped napping? My little boy almost 17 months, has been having 1 nap a day for a long while (2/3 months). He varies on naptime and mostly naps for 45 mins, sometimes longer.

The trouble is if he doesnt nap until 2, and wakes up at 2.30 say, he will then be supercharged until 10pm that night!

On these days I struggle to get him to nap earlier or go to bed earlier, as he simply is not tired and will sleep when he wants.

I am wondering if due to his sporadic nap timings and often late naps, he is ready to drop the nap - however Mr google says most children keep at least one nap until they are three years old.

Anyones little one drop a nap as soon as 18 months?

I stopped the naps at 2. He was in bed bathed and asleep by 7 every night. 10pm😭 no me time id go nuts. If i saw him starting to suck his thumb id be up and talking and doing stuff. It was for my sanity also 😅 he slept much better without the nap.

I stopped my son napping at 2 and a half because napping was screwing up his nighttime sleep. If he naps now he won't go to sleep til ten or eleven 😵

My eldest had trouble napping around 17/18 months IIRC, then it all settled down again and she went back to 12.30pm-2.45pm pretty much like clockwork. I think there’s a mini sleep regression around that time! I had to encourage her to drop her nap at about 3 years 2 months but it took a while and we had a few weeks of 6.30pm bedtimes as she was shattered! I know a sleep consultant and I remember her telling me that although some toddlers won’t nap/struggle to nap unaided and may appear fine on the surface (e.g. not whiney, v few tantrums, seems happy, settles off for nighttime sleep quickly & easily) actually their bodies and brains do need a nap until around 3 years old. Stick with it and hopefully you’ll be back to nice long naps soon!

My 2.5 year old cannot cope at all without her 90 minute nap and she sleeps from 9pm- 7am
I’m imagining that she’ll still have a nap when she’s four at this rate.
I have really tried to drop her nap but last time I did, she fell asleep from 6-8pm and then was partying until 11:30pm 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Each child is different but I've known a few to drop their nap 'early'. Just ensure he gets down time to recharge around the time he would nap.

Ds1 is 2 years (just) and needs a nap still in the day, he would fall asleep standing if I didn't take him to bed but he has always gone to bed late, usually around 9pm and wakes late between 8/9. We enjoy the flexibility the later bedtime gives us but I know it doesn't work with every family. Ds2 is 5 months and goes to bed around 7.30/8 which is a routine he decided rather than us.

Thanks everyone so far!! Good to see its subjective and down to each individual child x

For those who did stop their children napping- how on earth do you do this in real life?! Are they not just crying from 5pm?!

I stopped my twins napping when they turned 3. Bedtime was getting later and later so dh and I had to decide if we wanted an evening to ourselves or for them to have an afternoon nap. We went for the evenings to ourselves and it worked, they were exhausted by 6pm and slept straight through from 18:30 to 7:30. I sometimes had to work hard to stop them falling asleep, afternoon toddler groups worked best.

My 3 year old still normally needs a nap during the day or she'll start to become rather unpleasant to her little brother and get very stroppy.

Around 1 mine stopped napping during the day. She sleeps 6pm/7pm - 6am/7am. Even if she has a quick nap in the car she is a nightmare to get to sleep at night. I try not to let her nap in the day time but I don't force her to stay awake if she seems like she needs it. Sometimes she can get grumpy around 5pm but I'm happy to put up with that for another hour if it means I get that time to myself at night.

Ds1 stopped napping around 18 months, aside from in the car on long journeys. He was never a reliable napper though.

Ds2 is about finished with naps at 2.5. Take forever to go to sleep if he's has a nap.

DS is nineteen in August, has never stopped his afternoon naps 😂😂.

DC1 - just before her 2nd birthday although would still go to her cot for quiet time for 40 mins or so for a year after that
DC2 - if we were in the car or he was in the pushchair at any point in the afternoon, he would fall asleep until he was at least 4.

@donutrehomer

DD1 stopped napping at 18mo, certainly by 2 - but she was also a terrible sleeper.

DD2 is 3, sleeps at night 8-7.30, and would still quite like a nap at around 3pm given her own choice. I'm a bit concerned considering she starts nursery school in September...!

I have been very much led by both of mine. My eldest DD napped until she was coming up to four! Whereas my youngest stopped just after two. Just seemed to happen naturally with my youngest, plus both were struggling to fall asleep on a night so that did drive dropping naps too x

Dc1 at 3.5 years
Dc2 at about 22months

DS at about 2.5 years, I think. He'll still nap occasionally in the car or if he's very tired (at 4.5 years) but then there's hell to pay at bedtime.

DS 1 - around 17/18 months and coincided with him suddenly sleeping through the night for a solid 13 hour block. If he even dozed off for ten minutes, it messed up the whole evening.

DD1 - Can’t really remember but I think it was around 2.5. She still doesn’t sleep through at 4 so it’s made no difference if she does or if she doesn’t!

DD2 - just beginning to have more regular days or no nap at age 2.3. Sometimes sleep through, sometimes doesn’t. Not the same correlation between no nap and sleeping through as with DS. With him it was instant. However if she does nap and it’s later than 10.30 am, she’s awake until 9.30/10pm.

With DS it was amazing to suddenly have our evenings free from 6pm. I didn’t know what to do with myself! Peace only lasted a year until DD1 was born