Let’s all stop dropping nap!
Toddler naps are the trickiest to understand and it takes considerable time to get sorted. I get it and because it’s day time sleep, you really don’t get too concerned. Mostly they are at pre school and are high energy and you really don’t feel they are tired. Also, now they are getting bigger vocabulary so they are their own person and make every effort to fight sleep. Toddler need naps up until 3-4 years of age, but every toddler is different so some may drop the nap earlier than others. The nap is replaced by ‘quiet time’.
No toddler is ready to drop their naps at 2 years of age. So, keep offering that nap, the resistance at this age is often confused with that your child doesn’t need nap but it’s not the case. At 2 years of age they go through sleep regression and it fools us to believe seeing how hard your child is fighting nap that you just give in ( wanna know who did that mistake? Yeap, that would be me!) I didn’t know any better then.
So, how do you know that your toddler is ready to drop his nap or is ready to go from 2 to 1 to 0 nap?
Starts fighting the nap- This is the most number 1 sign and also the most confusing sign, because your toddler will fight this nap out of where to tooth and nail. You will be so confused that what happened? You had so much stuff planned to tackle when your toddler is supposed to nap and here he is fighting it hard! So, this could be a sign that your toddler is ready for a nap transition or ready to drop his only nap. However the catch is this also happens when child is going through sleep regression at 18 months and 24 months , toddler will fight the nap but that doesn’t mean that they are ready to drop the nap. So, give it a month before actually dropping the nap.
You will start to notice that your baby’s ‘perfect routine’ begins to shift- Your child’s nap times will begin to shift , the routine will become unpredictable. if your child goes to nap later in the evening it will interfere with the bedtime and so on.
Shortening of nap lengths- You will notice that the nap lengths will start to become shorter and shorter.
No change in baby’s behavior- Even with no naps or 1 nap your child’s behavior doesn’t change. He is not cranky or overtired or grumpy. He is able to survive till bedtime that’s a clear indication that your baby is ready to drop that nap.
Bedtime resistance- Your child will fight the bedtime and it delays to hours after it. Which means your baby is not tired enough for the bedtime. So cut back the nap or you may have to drop it altogether.
These are some signs that your toddler is ready to drop their naps. Before making a decision always give it a month and observe your child’s behavior in absence of naps. If you really think after observing all the signs then go ahead and first cut back on nap length. When that doesn’t solve the issue then drop the nap. So, it’s a gradual process.
All naps are replaced by ‘quiet time’ or ‘room time’.