How old was your child when he/she stopped napping?

[pantrygirl]

Hi.
According to the Toddler 411 book most kids drop their last nap around 4-5. I think that's what it said. I don't have it with me here to confirm.
Our daughter is 3 and we noticed starting this week that if she naps during the afternoon, she has a harder time going to bed. If we let her have quiet time (she stays in her room for an hour reading or what not in bed not sleeping) she falls asleep rather quickly and without any frustration in the evening.

In short, without nap she gets a solid 12.5 hours of sleep a day.
With a nap, she'll get average 10-11 hours of sleep a day (1.5-2 for nap, 8+ at nighttime).

Do you think she's moving away from naps? Is she too young?
Is it different for a boy versus a girl?

Just curious what everyone has and is experiencing.

Of course like Dr. Brown said in the book, this is happening just when our baby is due. I'd like to continue the nap but if it's a detriment to her overall sleep, I'll settle for the quiet time.

Just curious.

Thanks everyone. :wavey:

[lowrioh]

DD stopped napping regularly right around 3. Now it is hit or miss but it is never a scheduled nap IYKWIM. We usually put a movie on in the afternoon and sometimes she falls asleep and sometimes she just plays quietly. If she falls asleep in the car on the way home from school she will stay asleep for 2 hours.
It's hit or miss. If she naps she is in bed by 8:15, if she doesn't nap she is in bed by 7:30.

[emily]

DD has pretty much dropped her nap. I'm actually not sure exactly when it happened since she's in daycare but she's 3.5 now. She really should nap since she doesnt get enough sleep at night but she has. She just "rests" instead.

[jerigirl]

We took DS1's paci away when he turned 3 and he hasn't willingly napped since. (Sometimes he will fall asleep in the car or watching TV but otherwise no naps.)

[pastrygirl]

Old son: 3 years, though he took one once in a blue moon until he was 4 (once every couple of months).

Younger son: he's trying to ditch them already, at 2!!! I'll stop battling with him in another year. IMO, 3 is fine for dropping naps, as long as nighttime sleep is fine.

[almostmom]

For both my kids, it was 4-5 years old. When DS went to kindergarten, at 5.5, he was still napping about half the time. DD stopped closer to 5, but still napped at preschool last spring. Now at almost 6 and 8, naps are pretty much gone!

For DS, a nap never did, or does, change his night schedule. For DD, a nap during the day puts her at a 10pm bedtime. But sometimes she just needed it.

[hellokitty]

DS1- 4 yrs old
DS2- 3 yrs old
DS3 is 2 and already wants to drop naps, I'm holding out until at least 3.

[TwinFoxes]

Please don't jinx me, I'm holding onto nap time for dear life! ;) They still nap happily.

BTW, the handout we got at their 36 month check up says 50% of children have stopped napping by age three.

[wendibird22]

DD1 is 4 and still napping...about 45min-1hr. I do think sometimes at daycare she doesn't nap at all. Bedtime for her is 7:30am and she's awake between 5:30-6am. I NEED her to nap for my own sanity. Although I'd love it if dropping it meant she'd sleep in but DD2 is up by 6am anyway so it wouldn't enable me to sleep in any later.

[MommyAllison]

DD stopped right after she turned 3. DS is almost 3.5 and still naps ~2 hrs every day, so I voted "Boy - see below" for him. Really hoping he continues to nap all winter, but with the reduced activity level, I'm not sure...

[♥ms.pacman♥]

no btdt yet, so i didn't vote. but my cousin and her 3.5 yo son recently visited and he no longer napped. he would sometimes fall asleep in the car on a long drive, but no longer had regular naps everyday. he did have "quiet" time every day though, my cousin would put a movie on or something or they'd read books.

it seems like it really depends on the kid. my younger nephew still napped every day at 5yo. i am crossing my fingers that my DS is the same way. :)

[arivecchi]

DS1 finally dropped his naps at age 4 (although they were sporadic once he started attending pre-k last fall @ age 3 and 8 months). DS2 will be 3 in January and still needs his nap. He has one daily afternoon nap.

[Melaine]

2.5.......really sad ever since.

[LexyLou]

I know maybe one 5 year old who naps still IRL. Most kids I know drop it between 3-4. DD1 was on the young side of 3 and DD 2 was about 3.5.

It's funny, with the first you mourn the loss of the nap because it means your break is gone. With the second you get excited because it means you can actually go out and do things and not rush home for a nap! LOL.

[edurnemk]

DS stopped napping every day like 2-3 months before his 3rd bday IIRC.

Nowadays if he naps, his schedule gets all messed up at night, it's impossible to put him to bed before 9:30-10 pm if he gets even a 15 minute nap. He rarely naps but after 12 pm, car rides longer than 15 minutes usually knock him out. When he does take a nap, I've noticed his nighttime sleep is affected in the exact same way regardless of the duration of the nap. So if he naps I DO NOT wake him, even if he goes for 2.5 hours.

My mom says I stopped napping at 18 months, so I consider myself very lucky that DS made it to almost 3. I have memories of being in preK (4-5 yo) and there being naptime, all the other kids napped, I didn't sleep but I had to lay quietly in my cot and I found it soooo boring.

[g-mama]

Boy 1: 3.5
Boy 2: 5, almost 6 (had to stop letting him in prep for full-day K)
Boy 3: 4.5

[essnce629]

DS1 pretty much napped up until he started kindergarten, which was full day, so no more naps for him. In preschool he'd always take a full 2 hour nap and they'd always have to wake him up at the end of naptime! He's my deep sleeper child and used to take 3 hour naps when he was young.

[AngelaS]

Mine all napped thru kindergarten. :)

And like the mean mom I am, even now at almost 7 and 9, my little two have R&R each day. They're given books and they have to rest on their beds for a while every afternoon. Moms need a break too. :D