Hi, this is Jessica Sawicki from Luli Sleep Consulting and today on the Sleepy Q’s podcast, I’m going to be talking to you about dropping the nap completely. I’ll be going over signs on how to know when your child is ready to drop the nap. How to remove the nap, and what do you do once they’ve completely dropped it. So dropping the nap is always hard for the child, but it’s also hard for parents. I mean, this is a time that we all get to eat, maybe catch up on some work, maybe clean up, or you even just take a break. So going from a midday nap to no nap is a very big adjustment for all of us.
When is your child ready to drop their nap?
So, how do you know when your child is ready? So first, your child needs to be between the ages of three to four years old. Some kids will drop the nap before three years old, but I usually suggest still insisting on some sort of cat nap under the age of three. But between three and four, your child will no longer need a nap.
Another sign is, he is taking longer and longer to fall asleep. So if you put your child down around 1:00-1:30p.m. and he’s actually not falling asleep until 2:00-2:30pm, well, once your child falls asleep, that will lead to a later nap time, which can lead to a later bedtime. .
And another sign is, your child is completely fighting the nap. So you will put your child down, and no matter how long you leave him in there, he, I just won’t fall asleep. And lastly, another way to know that your child is ready to drop the nap, is actually the opposite. Bedtime is now an issue. So, what that looks like is if your toddler is actually napping during the day and taking a long, great nap, now he’s not tired for bed. Why? Because he took a two hour nap in the middle of the day . Of course, he’s not going to be ready for bedtime at 8:00 PM. So it’s not only when your child is fighting the nap completely. It can also be when your child is taking too long of a nap or getting too much day sleep that can affect bedtime. That will mean that your child is ready to drop the nap.
How to drop the nap
So how do you remove the nap? I strongly suggest not doing it cold turkey. So what that means is, I don’t think you should just say, ‘okay, no more naps starting today’ because that’s a really big adjustment for your child. Your toddler before was taking a nap in the middle of the day and only being awake for six hours in the morning and six hours in the afternoon. Once your child drops that nap, that means he has to be up for 12 hours that day. And that’s a really long day for your child. So, if we decide to completely remove the nap, we really don’t want to just say, okay, no more naps moving forward, because that can really take a toll on a child, especially in the beginning.
Offer a periodic catch up nap
Until he’s fully adjusted to staying up all day long, you want to offer a catch-up nap every so often. So that’s recommendation number two. When your child is ready to remove the nap, just make sure that you offer what I call a catch-up nap every two to three days. Why? So that your child can catch up on some sleep and is not so overtired. So , every two to three days allow for your child to take some sort of nap so that he is well rested and can go on the next two or three days without a nap
Shorten the nap
Another way to remove the nap is, start shortening it. If your toddler is napping more than 45 minutes to an hour, this is too much day sleep for a three to four year old. So you want to start decreasing and shortening those naps so that he doesn’t get more than 45 minutes to an hour.
When your child completely removes the nap, and is ready to go every single day, just know that there might be some car naps here and there. So I remember my son, he dropped the nap around three years old, but still when I would pick him up from school, he would always fall asleep in the car at 3:30 PM. There was just no way to keep him up. I would talk to him, I’d put the music on, but he was just so tired. His body needed some time to adjust to no nap. So I would allow for a car nap, but I would quickly wake him up as soon as we got home.
Introduce quiet time
So once your child has completely removed the nap, what do you do? I strongly suggest doing some sort of quiet time. Quiet time is really important for your child to be able to spend some alone, quiet time in their room to decompress. So it doesn’t mean, ‘hey, let’s turn on the TV and the iPads and just watch TV or screens’ because in fact, we don’t want them on the screens. We want them to read some books or play quietly with Legos or coloring books or any calm activity in their room. But the idea is that they are alone, in a quiet non-stimulating space, for about 30 minutes or so. It can really help him. And of course it can really help us parents.
Shift bedtime earlier
Once your child completely removes the nap, the other thing you want to do is move bedtime earlier. So again, your child is adjusting from going to six hour chunks of time to a 12 hour day, and so your child is going to be really, really tired. Where your toddler was before going to sleep around 8:00-8:30 at night. , now that he’s no longer napping, you’re going to find that those afternoons will be a little bit of a struggle, . So do your best to get that evening routine done a little bit sooner and have him in bed a little bit earlier. And by earlier, I mean, anywhere between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. Your child has to be able to stay awake for about 12 hours. So if he’s waking up between 6:00 and 7:00 AM, you want to make sure that you do bedtime between 6 :00 and 7:00 PM.
Get sleep on track first
As far as some myths about removing that nap. A lot of parents think that dropping the nap will make the child sleep longer and better at night. This is not true. So if your child is not sleeping well at night, please do not remove the nap, because that just means that if you remove the nap, now your child is not sleeping during the day and not sleeping at night.
So if your child’s is between the ages of three and four years old, is completely refusing a nap, or not has now caused bedtime issues, it’s time to drop that nap. Offer a catch-up cat nap every few days so that he can catch up on sleep. And remember to instill quiet time and to do an earlier bedtime. Once you remove the nap completely and instill quiet time, just know that it does take some time for your child to adjust to no nap. Again, those naps in the car might happen every so often. But until your child can fully adjust to no nap, it can take about a couple of weeks, if not about a month. So hang in there. It’s okay.
Hopefully you are listening to this podcast while your child is in his room, enjoying some quiet time and so are you. Remember send in your questions and comments. We would love to hear from you! We would love to hear any topics or questions you have about your child’s sleep. And don’t forget to leave a review. Thanks so much.
