Nap time is key for your child’s continued development, when young children sleep they are improving their concentration, learning and memory. Letting your toddler nap during the day can also improve your child’s behaviour and may even reduce the number of meltdowns and tantrums that many children so delightfully experience!
Nap time is also great for you – it gives you some precious ‘me-time’ to sit and unwind or get a chore ticked off your list that is rather difficult to do with a toddler-in-toe, like that mountain of ironing that’s piling up in the corner of the room. 👀
Some parents worry that they are letting their child sleep too much or too little. Let’s discover the ideal nap schedule for your child.
According to What to Expect, age plays the biggest part in determining how much sleep your child needs:
- Newborns (0 to 3 months): 14 to 17 hours. Newborns tend to be awake for about 60 to 90 minutes at a time. They take about four to six naps a day for about 30 minutes to two hours at a time.
- Babies (4 to 12 months): 12 to 16 hours. Babies sleep a little longer than they did in their first few months of life — which means longer stretches of sleep at night. At 4 months, they still need to take around four naps a day, but around the age of 6 months, they may drop down to two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
- Toddlers (1 to 2 years): 11 to 14 hours. Before the 18-month-mark toddlers typically take two naps, in the morning and afternoon.
- Preschoolers: (3 to 5 years): 10 to 13 hours. Some children stop napping between the ages of 3 and 4, but others don’t give up their afternoon sleep until the age of 5.
- School-aged children (6 to 12 years): 9 to 12 hours. By the age of 6, children no longer need to take a nap, and should have all the sleep they need at night.
From ages 12 to 18 months, it’s recommended that children have two naps a day, each lasting around 90 minutes at mid-morning and early afternoon. From 18-months onwards, naps often transition into one 90 minute afternoon nap.
When should my child stop napping?
According to the Sleep Foundation ‘At age three, almost all children still nap at least once per day. Sixty percent of four-year-olds still nap. However, by five years of age, most children no longer need naps, with less than 30% of children that age still taking them. The number decreases even more by age six, where less than 10% of children nap’.
Your toddler will begin to show signs that they are ready to stop their afternoon nap, so there are a few things you can look out for to help you determine if a daily nap is ready to be taken out of your child’s routine.
- Resisting a nap – your child may begin to avoid going for a nap and are struggling to fall asleep at naptime.
- Bedtime routine is disrupted – if your child is wide-awake at their normal bedtime, it may be a sign that they are napping too much in the day, or they no longer need their daily nap.
- Waking up earlier – if your child begins to wake up much earlier than normal, it could be a sign that they are having too much sleep in the day and it’s time to reduce or remove their daily nap.
It’s important to remember that every child is different, and these sleeping milestones can happen a little earlier or a little later than expected. If you have any concerns about how little or how much your child is sleeping, speak to your physician.
Sleep and Rest Policy
At Sandytots we adhere to a strict Sleep and Rest policy, supported by The Lullaby Trust, to ensure your child naps safely and comfortably. All practitioners who look after children in our baby room have also completed Safer Sleep training, equipping them with essential practices to safeguard infants against sleep-related risks.
We understand how important regular sleep routines are for your child’s well-being. That’s why we work closely with parents and carers to keep routines consistent between home and nursery. This partnership ensures your child’s needs are met, helping them to thrive in a nurturing and supportive environment.
If you’d like to make any adjustments to your child’s nap routine, please speak with their key worker and they will be happy to help.
