Naptime

Naptime is important. It gives your child the chance to recharge, and you the chance to get some stuff done and recharge as well. Please make sure that you have children nap. Children will stop napping between age 3 and 5. I encourage you to also continue with a rest time after naps have ceased- great for that necessary recharge.

How I knew my kids were ready to stop napping?

The transition from 2 naps to 1 nap happened the same for all of my kids. They kept taking their 9:30 nap and then wouldn't take their afternoon nap. At that point, I transitioned them to an afternoon nap and dropped the morning nap.

The transition from 1 nap to no nap also happened the same for all of my kids. They would take their afternoon nap fairly consistently, the amount of protest increased, and more often they would take longer to fall asleep. AND when they would take a nap, they wouldn't go to sleep at night at their usual 7pm bedtime- it would take them until 9 or 10pm to fall asleep. As that became more of the norm, I dropped the afternoon and opted for an earlier bedtime- I would have them go to sleep as early as 6:30pm during the transition. I would also have them lay down in their room and read books in the afternoon for a bit.

Share your nap transition story.