Comments on: How to Get a Child to Nap Until Four Years Old and Beyond

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 14:05:19 +0000

In reply to Erin. Yeah!! I am so glad it worked! It is an old post, but I have done this same thing with all FIVE of my kids now, and it SO works. I sit with my 2yo now at nap time for like 10 minutes and she's out. Otherwise, she just climbs out of her crib over and over again, but sit in the room? Works like a charm.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 20:35:38 +0000

Hi! So I know that this post is really old, but I recently found it on Pinterest and oh my goodness it absolutely and totally worked!! I have a 3 year old that has recently almost stopped napping completely since we have moved into a new house and every day has been a tantrum struggle at nap time. Today I did no playing before and laid down next to her no eye contact, no reaction, no response and BOOM. Asleep. Bless you! Thank you so much for your post!

By: Ilinca

Ilinca — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 14:56:10 +0000

My daughter is awesome. She loves to sleep. Sometimes she falls asleep in my arms.
The idea of having them nap until their 4 or so is great! I remember as a kid I used to sleep in the afternoon, then wake up and play.
They have plenty of time to stay awake when they are older:))))
I hope my daughter continues to nap, cause it is very useful to me:)

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 23:46:51 +0000

So glad I’m not the only one who cares this much about kids napping! My 4 1/2 year old still needs and takes a nap every day – occasionally he will fight it, or we will miss it, but it’s rare. If he does go in spurts where he fights it I will tell him he has to lay completely still, eyes closed, no talking – for 5 minutes to earn quiet time. I usually give him 10 minutes and go back to check on him, and he’s almost always asleep. The first few times he struggled with it, he would still talk or be playing, but after a while it started working. But I definitely get weird looks when people find out he still takes naps!

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 06:56:56 +0000

In reply to Ann. I know it. I know I too should be going to bed earlier! It sounds like you are definitely a pro-nap, pro-sleep family and I love it! Thanks for sharing.

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 02:26:12 +0000

Oh and for the problem of climbing out of cribs, dress them in baby/toddler sleeping bags. They can’t undo them and can’t climb wearing those.

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 02:24:53 +0000

Summer or any season change shouldn’t cause any change in their sleep. No 4 year old is doing well with being awake at 10.30pm – thats just showing they no longer need a day time sleep but everyone needs quiet time everyday so a nap can be swapped for that.

My 5 1/2 yr old stop napping at 4yrs and is fast asleep every night by 7pm sometimes 6.30pm. Awake and alive at 6am. His 3 1/2 yr old brother still naps 2 hours a day and same bedtime along with their 21 month old sister sleeping 2 or more hours a day. She wakes at 7am and is out cold by 7pm. Bedtime is not an issue at naptime or night as long as everyday they burn energy – bikes, playgrounds, running, up and down our stairs with games if weather is bad.

But going to bed late for little ones and adults is sooooo bad for their mental abilities and overall health. We all need to be going to bed a lot earlier then we think and resting quietly everyday is essential.

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 13:40:09 +0000

In reply to Tricia. Thanks for sharing. Cribs are helpful. My son has always preferred it to sleeping like anywhere else. Silly boy. Good luck when transitions happen. You can do it!

By: Tricia

Tricia — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 12:54:38 +0000

My son is not yet 2, so we are definitely still taking naps. I’m big on naps because I know he needs them. He can be tough to fall asleep but while he is still in his crib is makes things easier. We can just leave the room and he falls asleep on his own. When we went down the shore and he was in his own big boy bed on the floor it was a different story. I definitely had to stay with him until he fell asleep or else he would get up and play. I know it’s going to be a pain once he reaches that point of being out of his crib, but I guess we’ll deal with it! Sharing.

By: Brit

Brit — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:08:20 +0000

Our almost 5 year old (next month) still takes daily naps. There are occasional Saturdays where we are out and about and it just doesn’t happen, but if we are home, he takes a nap. I can’t imagine that some parents are willing to give that up at 2?! Our 2 and 1/2 year old is not getting out of napping any time soon :)!

I kind of worry about my olderst going into kindergarten next year….. he will suddenly have no more naps like he has had for all of his 5 years of life. Is this a problem for any of you out there???

I can’t imagine staying in their rooms until they fall asleep though. To me this is part of my time to re-coop, sometimes they can take a while to finally go to sleep. Our rule is that they are not allowed out of their bed. They can have a book and a stuffed animal, but no toys. If someone gets out, then they are put back in (sometimes over and over….) But at this point, they know they are not allowed to get out and it is usually not too big of a battle.

Thanks for sharing!

By: Katelyn Fagan

Katelyn Fagan — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:27:34 +0000

In reply to Lianna. Awesome! I really like that. And I'm sure the parents really appreciate it!

By: Lianna

Lianna — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 12:52:29 +0000

As an in-home child care provider, one of my most successful strategies is that *I* am always the one who decides when naptime is over. Nap is over when I turn on the lights, open the curtains, and turn off the fan. When the kids trust me to wake them when it’s time, they learn to just go back to sleep or wait patiently until I come wake them. Sometimes when a child is new, we go through a phase where they think they can get up and play or call out my name when they *want* to wake up, but they soon learn to just relax and settle in. 🙂 ALL of my kids, ages 0-5, take naps every single day.

By: Hayley

Hayley — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:54:34 +0000

I value my child’s sleep too… That’s why she doesn’t nap! If she were to sleep during the day, she is not tired enough to do so until late afternoon. And if she does that, she will not fall sleep at bedtime until all hours of the night. So because I value her sleep AND my sanity, I gave up on naps.

By: Marta

Marta — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 05:23:35 +0000

Thank you for this great article/blog entry! I’m also very much pro nap and pro routine mum. Just like you I plan our days around Anna’s sleep time. She’s just two and a half and has her naps no problem. I will try to do my best to keep up the good work and your article is an inspiration that it can be done! xx

By: Tiffany H

Tiffany H — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 02:02:59 +0000

Yay to a napping house! My almost three year old and my four (4 yrs 7 months) year old nap daily. Another thing we have in our routine is they get at least 30 minutes of unstructured playtime before lunch and naps, (sometimes this pushes nap time back a bit). I don’t know why, but that has helped a ton in keeping naps going. Otherwise, all your points are pretty much spot on what we do in our house. I think kids are more likely to fight it if some days it isn’t important to the parents. I also see periods of attempted refusal with illness. My kids started the climbing routine around 17 months so I have moved them out of the crib shortly thereafter. I just put them back to bed over and over and over.

I do think that some households have non-nappers because they expect their kids to stay in bed/sleep for 12 hours a night. Or they vary a lot on what time they go to bed or get up so that some nights are extremely variable in length. I will get my kids up in the morning if they are sleeping past the time that will allow them to have enough hours before they will be expected to nap.

I nap most days too, which allows me to stay up late with my night owl husband. =)