IS IT TIME FOR YOUR TODDLER TO DROP THEIR NAP?

Has the dreaded time come?  This is a hard transition for toddlers AND parents!  As hard as it is to say goodbye to the nap, there are a couple positives.  You will now have FULL days with flexibility to do outings whenever you’d like. Bedtime generally becomes a breeze for a while as your toddler will be quite tired.  You can still have some down time if you’d like by implementing quiet time instead of nap time.

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Questions to ask:

Is your child falling asleep later than around 8:30pm (assuming that they wake up somewhere between 6-7am)?

Does it take your child longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep?

Does your child get less than 10 hours of nighttime sleep?

Does your child protest or stall heavily at bedtime or during the bedtime routine?

Is your child 3 years old or older?

These would be good indicators that your child's nap is having a negative impact on their night sleep! If you don't think your child is ready to completely drop the nap, then a good start would be to cap it. I would try capping the nap at90 minutes and then wait a week to see if it helps with bedtime and nights.  If not then try capping the nap at 60 and then possibly 45 minutes.  Be sure to give the schedule change close to a full week to really determine if it’s working. Keep in mind that the nap should be happening directly after lunch.  If you don't see a positive change after capping the nap then pull the nap all together.  This will mean that bedtime will need to move quite a bit earlier.  I generally suggest no later than 7:00pm.  

Once you’ve pulled the nap, there may be days here and there that your toddler does end up napping.  That’s okay.  I would just try to make sure that if they do crash, that you don’t let it go too late into the day or else you’ll have trouble at bedtime again.  And make sure you adjust bedtime a little later on that given day.

I always recommend replacing the nap with quiet time!  Everyone still needs a break so this is a great way to do it.  I suggest setting your child up with some quiet activities in their room.  It’s a great idea to have a tub that you only pull out at quiet time and that you rotate the things that are in it from time to time.  Use a timer and start small-just 15 minutes.  When the timer goes off, they can do whatever they’d like again. Build up to about an hour of quiet time!

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