6. How to get your child nap during the day  

7/10/2020

Do you know why children need to take a nap? How long should they nap for? How to put them down for a nap? Today I will share with you the nap time strategies that work for your children.

Naps give children’s bodies and minds time to rest and recharge during the years they are growing. Naps keep children from becoming overtired, which can conduct their bad mood and make it harder for them to fall asleep at night. Naps help children stay fit, research shows that children who don’t get enough sleep or who get irregular sleep tend to have a higher rate of obesity.  

There’s not a rule about how much daytime sleep children need. It depends on themselves, their ages, and the total sleeping hours in a 24 hour period. Here are some general age-and-stage guidelines for children’s nap time. Newborn takes about 3 naps a day, 1 to 2 hours each nap period, no frequent. 1-3 months baby, takes 2-3 naps a day, 1 to 2 hours each nap period with some predictability. 3-6 months baby takes two naps a day, 1-2 hours each nap period. 6-12 months baby takes 1 hour morning nap and 1-2 hours afternoon nap. 12-24 months takes 1-2 hour afternoon nap. For children, age 2-5 takes a 1-hour afternoon nap.

Having a healthy napping routine and sticking with it, also can easily help children build a good sleeping habit.
In their infants’ age, parents might need to watch for cues like fussing and rubbing eyes, and start with the same sleep routine at night. Watching our previous video here, it might help you know how to put your infants down at night.

For toddlers and preschoolers, sticking to one naptime schedule can be a challenge for them. It because they don’t want to miss a thing and will fight with sleep even though their eyes are closing. In this case, don’t force them to sleep but move into quiet time activities. It will guide them to sleep mood. We also have a toddler and preschooler sleep section in our previous video, check it to find more!

Many parents worry about their children’s naptime will interfere with their bedtime at night, especially on days when a child takes a long late afternoon nap. Before intervening in your child’s nap, think about this, well-rested children are quicker to settle down at night than overtired ones. Overtired children often get cranky, unable to self-soothe at bedtime, and are more likely to wake through the night.

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