When Do Toddlers Stop Napping?
Toddler’s sleep patterns are different than those of children older than them. Toddlers tend to sleep less during the day and more at night. They may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep even if they want to. Even though they might be able to fall asleep after just a few minutes, it will take longer before they finally get sleepy enough to drift off completely.
A typical toddler’s sleep cycle lasts between 12:00pm – 6:30am. Toddlers usually go to bed around midnight and stay awake until the morning. A good rule of thumb is that a child should be asleep no later than 1:00am. If a toddler sleeps through the night, then they probably don’t need any special support because their body is simply exhausted from all the activity they’ve been doing throughout the day.
As soon as a toddler wakes up, they’ll either be restless and irritable or they won’t move at all. Their eyes will be wide open and their mouth may be slightly agape. They might look like they’re having difficulty breathing, but don’t worry! That’s normal too! You can read more about what causes a toddler to have difficulty sleeping here.
As a general rule, toddlers need to sleep at least 11 hours every day. That’s about 1 hour of sleep for every year of their life! Many parents get worried when their toddler sleeps through the night, but they shouldn’t! Children this age need as much rest as they can get because they tend to get fatigued more quickly than adults do. If you’re having trouble getting your toddler to sleep, you should try reading this article about how to get a toddler to sleep.
It’s written by a professor who has spent years studying the habits and requirements of toddlers!
When Did Your Toddler Stop Napping?
Most toddlers stop napping between 1 and 2 years of age. If your toddler is younger than 1 year, they might still be napping.
Sources & references used in this article:
The timing of the circadian clock and sleep differ between napping and non-napping toddlers by LD Akacem, CT Simpkin, MA Carskadon, KP Wright Jr… – PLoS …, 2015 – journals.plos.org
Understanding sleep–wake behavior and sleep disorders in children: the value of a model by OG Jenni, MK LeBourgeois – Current opinion in psychiatry, 2006 – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Naps in children: 6 months–7 years by M Weissbluth – Sleep, 1995 – academic.oup.com
Assessing and managing chronic insomnia in the healthy pre-adolescent child by C Hill, H Everitt – British Medical Journal, 2018 – eprints.soton.ac.uk
Behavioral “insomnia” in the child by RA Ferber – Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 1987 – Elsevier
Nap schedules and sleep practices in infant-toddler groups by H Siren-Tiusanen, HA Robinson – Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2001 – Elsevier
Sleep Problems, Daily Napping Behavior, and Social-Emotional Functioning among Young Children from Families Referred to Child Protective Services by JB Hash, ML Oxford, CB Fleming, TM Ward… – Behavioral sleep …, 2020 – Taylor & Francis
Racial differences in reported napping and nocturnal sleep in 2-to 8-year-old children by B Crosby, MK LeBourgeois, J Harsh – Pediatrics, 2005 – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
