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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

When did your toddler drop their afternoon nap?

42 replies

thereistheball · 09/09/2009 17:32

DD is 23 months and has just gone her 2nd day in a row, and 3rd this week without an afternoon nap (instead she dropped off in her pram 5 minutes before we got home but then woke up and was full of beans). Yesterday evening she was very strung out, today is a bit better. I'd expected her to carry on with her nap for months yet, without having thought about it much. Is this about the right age for her to drop it?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

thighsmadeofcheddar · 09/09/2009 17:34

Pretty much on the dot of turning 2. She was ready.

crokky · 09/09/2009 17:36

You are lucky she has lasted that long

My DD is only 17m and does not nap in the day anymore. My DS is 3.5 and he stopped before he was 2 as well.

I think it varies hugely, there are 4yos who still like a little nap and 1yos who don't!

Hulababy · 09/09/2009 17:48

Before she was 2y, unless we went out in the car somewhere. Even at 7y she falls asleep in the car easily.

samsonthecat · 09/09/2009 17:51

Mine is 2.3 and still has a 2hour nap every day. She can do woth out it if we are out though.

PrincessToadstool · 09/09/2009 18:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

timmette · 09/09/2009 18:15

At 3.5 although he did do without it when needed before.

Original poster

thereistheball · 09/09/2009 19:17

Thanks everyone. So my next question is, what do you do in place of the nap so that you don't end up with a very cranky toddler come tea time? I am trying to cut down on TV as she has been watching too much recently (has just become obsessive about ITNG).

OP posts:

lynniep · 09/09/2009 19:19

he's in the process of doing it now and he's 2.5. some days he has one, some he doesnt.

MrFlibble · 09/09/2009 19:19

When DS gave up napping I decided it was high time to lock myself under the stairs for an hour.

ShowOfHands · 09/09/2009 19:22

13 months!

timmette · 09/09/2009 19:23

To begin with I bribed him to lie on the sofa and watch a cartoon so he would rest, or put him to bed a bit earlier and adjusted these until he functioned fine without them.

londonlexi · 10/09/2009 11:32

my 2.5 yr old still has a 1 hr nap every day

LissyGlitter · 10/09/2009 11:38

my 2.5 year old has 1.5hrs every day, and is hard to wake up after that! She is a lazy little thing though, bless her. We put her down early today so she can go for her first dance lesson at 1.30, which would usually be smack bang in the middle of nap-time, so I hope she isn't grouchy!

mathanxiety · 10/09/2009 15:44

18 months average for mine. Have photos of all of them asleep in their spaghetti 'n' meatballs at 6pm.

llareggub · 10/09/2009 15:58

My DS is 2.11 and sleeps for 2 hours every afternoon. He does wake up at 6am though and nothing we do changes that. He is in bed by 7.30pm every evening too. I am very grateful for the break as he is very full-on.

GibbonInARibbon · 10/09/2009 16:07

DD is 3 and still sleeps 2 hrs a day and cannot manage without it. She takes herself to bed after her lunch.

Seeline · 10/09/2009 16:10

Both mine stopped at 18 months. I just put up with the crankiness - tried to go out most afternoons so that at least I wasn't locked in with them

mumofeve · 10/09/2009 16:39

DD stopped just before 2.5. Went from 2 hours a day to nothing overnight ! She is now 3 and we still suffer from stroppiness major tiredness in the afternoon and evenings. She refuses to go to bed in the day even if she is obviously shattered, but then quite comically will fall asleep ion random places around the house. Following a TV related tantrum this morning, she fell asleep face down on the dining room floor !

Broms · 10/09/2009 17:37

My DS 21 mnths has btw 1 and 2 hr every day - he wakes at 4.45am each day though so no way we would get through it without - mind you he's a right pain won't sleep unless he's in the buggy in the day so I trop the streets around lunchtime until he's fast asleep - I need the break too by then though so dreading the day when he still wakes pre 5am and doesn't have a nap!

Re TV - my DS watches quite a bit - obessesed with Thomas - how much do people think is enough each day?

dinkystinky · 10/09/2009 17:41

My DS1 is 3.5 and just like llareggub's boys - awake at 6 regardless, go go go all the time and in bed by 7 - and still needs an hour to an hour and a half nap most days. He's started to go maybe one or two days without the nap but the following day he is shattered and demanding bed by 6.30...

alittleteapot · 10/09/2009 22:26

bang on 2 as well

plonker · 10/09/2009 22:35

Dd3 is 2.2 and still has a good 1/1.5 hour nap around 1.00 ish. She can go without a sleep, but is an absolute nightmare come tea-time if she hasn't had one.

I don't know what age dd1 and dd2 stopped I do remember that dd1 was still having a sleep when she was at playgroup though (age 2.9) and that dd2 wasn't napping when she started playgroup (age 2.5).

tryingherbest · 11/09/2009 11:24

My 3.4 year old still needs a nap - can only get to about 3pm without falling asleep which means bedtime is verylate - not good - he starts afternoon nursery next week which I hope will get him out of it - I can't be dealing with late (I mean 10.30pm bedtimes).

He's very active though.

PuppyMonkey · 11/09/2009 11:28

I am nearly 43 and I could well manage a two hour nap per day myself!!!

DD1 napped happily until she was about 3.5, but DD2 dropped hers from around two. She'll still fall asleep in the car now if we are out and about, but she doesn't have one at home or at nursery/child minder any more (2.5yrs now). I prefer it that way as she is now completely ZONKED come 7.30pm bedtime.

PrettyCandles · 11/09/2009 11:31

Ds1 - age 6
dd - age 4
ds2 - 35m and still napping, but unreliably

I have found, with all my dc, that they didn't give their naps up in one go, but would be able to go without naps once or twice a week. When they were in the in-between stages of giving or shortening naps, it was always a disaster to let them have a late nap, however short, as that would muck up their bedtime.

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