when do they stop napping completely?

My kids are 2 1/2 & currently napping about 3 hrs in the afternoon. I was just thinking ahead to when they start preschool next fall......they'll be in class til 11:30. If they're still napping the same, they'd have enough time to come home for lunch & then nap - I'd hardly get to see them!! :cry:

Should I expect them to be napping the same, or does it change in the 3rd year?

 

Just look it up in your handy dandy child manual... LOL~I sure wish each child had one.

Well, in my experience, all 3 of my older children stopped napping altogether just before 2. These 2 still nap 1.5 hours/day. But, I know 5 year olds who still nap...so there probably isn't an answer. However, you can rearrange their schedule how you want, and cut naps down or something if you would like!

 

my first 3 all stopped just before 4 but I think the twins are going to stop sooner Ds keeps staying up later and waking up earlier. I'm just not ready to let it go yet.

 

My two started refusing around 2 1/2, but I have friends whose kids still nap at 4 and 5 years

 

They'll probably still need a nap but I doubt it will be as long. Maybe 1-2 hours if you're lucky. Are your two out of cribs yet? If not, that transition will also change their sleep schedule a bit.

 

As others said, it completely depends on the child. My DD began dropping naps right at age 1. Pedi said that as long as she wasn't cranky, it was completley ok. (ug) (I still put her in her pack n play for 2 hours; she just never sleeps.) DS however LOVED, LOVED, LOVED sleep (3+hours a day for nap) until 3 weeks ago (right at age 2). he is now down to napping just 1-2 days a week. This happened out of the blue.

 

I agree it depends on the kids. We are still napping. On preschool days, they come home eat a snack (they have lunch at school) and go take a nap. It's only for about 1.5 hours, but they still need it.

 

Everybody's different. If you are worried about seeing them, but they still need a nap, you could move bedtime back. Nothing says they need to get all their sleep in one sitting. Some studies actually show that humans perform better if we split our sleep time into to chunks instead of one longer one. From 2 to 3 1/2 my girls got up at 7am, napped from 2 to 3:30 or 4:00 then went to bed at 8:30 (sometimes not falling asleep until closer to 9pm) from 3 1/2 to 4 years old they were on the same schedule but the "asleep" part of the nap was sometimes just 20 minutes but they still had quite time with a video from 2 to 3pm. Now were are visiting my parents and they are immersed in English (not their strong language) all day and its really wearing them out. They are back to 2 hour naps.

Good luck, if you do decide to push back their bed time I would recommend starting that about 2 months before they start pre-school.

 

I hope they never stop napping . . . or at least until Kindergarten! :rotflmbo: I need a break.

 

My guys are 4+ and still nap. 2-3hrs everyday. They need them.
My mom said I napped all through kindergarten (1/2 day kindergarten). They dont show signs of giving it up real soon and I am grateful!