Nap Transitions: Part 3, Dropping Naps

November 30, 2015

Dropping naps is a major milestone for any family.

The transition from 3 down to 2 naps is relatively easy to contend with. 2 down to 1 and 1 down to 0 – those transitions can be challenging for even the best of sleepers. I always encourage parents to protect those naps for as long as they can and transition only when absolutely necessary. If you’ve done everything to can to prolong their nap in a daily sleep schedule, you will have to an easier transition. Absolute readiness is key to success.

The transition from 1 to no nap per day is likely to be between 3 and 4 years of age. Although there’s lots of variation – some showing signs of readiness for transition as early as 2 years old, while others are willing to hold onto their second nap until closer to 5 years old. If your child generally seems well rested, is following a schedule that works for your family, I’m not concerned about the number of hours a child allocates to naps and night sleep. Simply getting an adequate quantity of sleep is most important.

Protect The Nap

Try to hold onto the nap by:

trying out alternate timing (slightly earlier nap time, slightly later nap time)
capping the length (waking your child slightly earlier, by a certain time or a certain quantity of sleep, so as not to impact bedtime)
dropping the nap power struggle (offer Quiet Time!)
Adjusting bedtime slightly later
Ensuring physical activity, preferably outdoors. Each hour of inactivity delays bedtime by approximately 3 minutes!

Readiness for No Nap

Signs indicating readiness for a transition to no naps in the day:

3+ years of age
Playing (or protesting) through a nap
The nap begins to interfere with night sleep (likely long latency to sleep)

If your child is younger than 3 years, it may be worth trying to hold onto that nap. There are MANY significant cognitive leaps between their 2^nd and 3^rd birthdays. They might be inconsistent with day sleep, but continue to offer it. Many children under 3 will have some days where they may not nap, but that’s not a reason to take rest out of their daily schedule. It’s not unusual to have phases where naps are irregular. But keeping naps until at least age 3 has shown real benefits in areas of emotional control (hello meltdowns!) and problem solving.

No Nap Schedule

Bedtimes are likely to be reflective of your child’s particular sleep needs, along with their wake times. During a period of transition, you may find you need to keep bedtime cautiously early – just as their bodies adjust to bridging those long periods of wakefulness. I always recommend parents keep quiet time when transitioning away from naps. It gives your child the option to snooze if they need it, but as importantly, they have a chance to foster some independent playing skills, while giving their care provider a much needed break.

Whenever there is a transition, the most important thing to remember is that the QUANTITY of sleep does not change dramatically. Just the ALLOCATION of the sleep is going to be adjusting. It’s very likely that a child who is adjusting to no midday snooze is going to need a very early bedtime to compensate for their missed sleep.

If your afternoons, sans nap, resemble something like this, you might need to think about reintroducing nap time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NWIOvPqZE

Here’s a handy little chart for approximating the quantity of naps for each age group.

xxoo

Krista

About the author:

Krista is a mother of 3 (+1 dog who believes she’s people), a wife to a wonderful husband, and the owner and founder of Sleeperific. Even though she’s been in the sleep consulting biz for 4 years, she still gets excited when she’s hired by a sleepy family.

Nap Transitions: Part 2 From 2 to 1 nap per day

November 25, 2015

The transition from 3 down to 2 naps isn’t such a big deal. 2 down to 1 and 1 down to 0 – those transitions are beasts. I always encourage parents to protect those naps for as long as they can and transition only when absolutely necessary. Ensuring you’ve done everything to can to prolong their 2 nap per day schedule will lead to an easier transition. We want to be 100% ready for these transitions.

The transition from 2 to 1 nap per day is likely to be around 15 months of age. Although there’s lots of variation – some showing signs of readiness for transition as early as before their 1^st birthday, while others are willing to hold onto their second nap until closer to 18 months.

Protect Two Naps

Pull out all the stops to preserve that 2 nap per day schedule:

Have you….

capped their morning nap?
nudged the timing apart as much as possible (while still being respectful of circadian rhythms)?
nudged bedtime slightly later?
Ensured your child is having active days, with at least 30 minutes outdoors? (Ontario Day Nurseries Act recommends up to 2 hours of outdoor play for children 6 and under)

Readiness for One Nap

STILL not making this 2 nap per day schedule work? Readiness to transitioning from 2 down to 1 nap per day means:

At least 1 year old – Although I think children can show some signs that make it appear like they’re close to dropping a nap, that’s rarely the case before their 12 months old. It’s likely any disruptions you see around this age are related to developmental milestones (hello standing! walking! running!).
Sleeping well at night – We don’t remove naps hoping to compensate for poor quality and quantity of night sleep. It’s likely that children having disrupted sleep needs MORE, not less sleep.
Walking – Kids become MUCH more physically fatigued when they start walking and running around. You’re going to want to have 2 naps in your routine when those little legs start moving.
Consistently missing one of their naps – In spite of doing everything above, is your child still not napping for both naps consistently? Don’t be too quick to pull it. A missed nap occasionally happens with older babies/almost toddlers. If your child misses it consistently for 10 days in a row, then it’s time to think about dropping it.

One Nap Schedule

You’ve done your homework, aimed to preserve 2 naps and your toddler meets all the criteria? Sigh, you’re moving to one nap per day. This means your child will likely need a nap around midday. For kiddos that LOVED their morning nap, push out the timing (9:30, 10AM, 10:30, etc). Effectively their morning nap becomes their midday nap. For kiddos that were rejecting their morning nap, they should find this transition a bit easier and will nap around midday.

I’ve reminded you of this before (and I’ll probably remind you again): sleep needs DO NOT change, just because of a nap transition. Just the ALLOCATION of the sleep is adjusting. The total quantity of sleep in a 24 hour period should remain similar in either a one nap/day or two nap/day schedule.

How did your nap transition go at this age?

xxoo

Krista

About the author:

Krista is a mother of 3 (+1 dog who believes she’s people), a wife to a wonderful husband, and the owner and founder of Sleeperific. Even though she’s been in the sleep consulting biz for 4 years, she still feels excited and honoured when she’s hired by a sleepy family.