At What Age Should Your Child Stop Day Time Naps?

A really touching photo was uploaded on to Facebook by the Presbyterian Day School in Clarksdale, Mississippi recently.

The caption was “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7,”

The image which was merely posted for the followers of the page but it really took off on social media, receiving over 3000 likes in just 2 days.

The comments on the photo were positive – “Beautiful”; “Precious” and “Amen” wrote commenters.

There is certainly a positive message coming out of this but for these two little girls it was just a normal nap time.

What is a normal nap time actually? At what age should day time naps stop?

Round about the age of two most children give up their morning nap but continue to nap in the afternoon and generally most children give up the afternoon nap at the age of four.

These are just general rules, however every child’s napping habits differ. There are older kids who still love their day time naps!

The amount of daytime napping required really depends on the amount of hours sleep your child gets at night. Pre-schoolers need about twelve to fourteen hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period, which means that some kids meet there full quota during the night should they sleep from 7pm-7am.

Even if your child is older than four years of age, he or she should ideally continue to nap if they are getting fewer than 12 hours of sleep at night. Toddlers and preschoolers are however so busy discovering their world around them – they hate missing out, so you may find it hard trying to put them down to sleep.

Try to create a routine each day to encourage the down time – dim the lights, draw the curtains etc.

You know your child best, so you will know when your child is ready to give up the day time snooze!