When do children stop napping? In my experience, somewhere between age 3-5 your child will decide he is done napping. I have always cherished the afternoon nap. If you are a stay- at- home home…or you work from home, this naptime is a welcome oasis in your day.

I have a two, four and six-year-old in my home. The two-year-old can nap 2 and ½ hours solid. The four-year-old naps every other day or so for about 1 and ½ to 2 hours. The six-year-old is usually in school during naptime.

I have the privilege of being home with the kids and working out of my home office. So, scheduling naps became top priority so that I could maximize nap time hours. I have a few keys to keeping the routine going.

1. Consistent Nap Time

First of all, I keep naps more or less at the same time each day. I have found that the sweet spot for my kids is right after lunch around 1pm- 1:45pm. We have a good lunch, get something to drink, go potty…and then as it gets close to 1:30pm, we head up to bed. This way their little body clocks know what to expect and fall into a rhythm.

2. Keep Tabs on their Sleep

Secondly, I keep tabs on their night-time sleep. What do I mean by this? Often kids sleep longer on winter mornings when it is dark outside. If they usually are up at 6:30am, they might sleep in until 7:30am on a dark, winter morning. This is a full hour of sleep. When my kids sleep in past their normal wake time, they will typically want to skip their afternoon nap. Similarly, if you put them to be early because they missed their nap, they will sleep an extra hour or two at night…thereby losing their “need” for the afternoon naptime sleep hours.

So, this might sound crazy…but I do wake my kids up in the morning if they are sleeping too long! My little bugs get to wake up when it is 7am. I admit, it is painful for me to do at times…when I am enjoying a quiet cup of tea, or I see them snuggled under their covers sound asleep. But, when I remember that too much sleep will keep them from their afternoon nap…it only takes me a second! Keep tabs on your children’s sleep quantity and know that you can actually maneuver them into a good nap schedule, if you need it for your sanity or your work schedule.

3. Make Naptime Rules

Thirdly, I have naptime rules. There will be days when even your two-year-old decides not to nap for some unknown reason. Or perhaps your three-year-old only naps every other day. Or, there are the school holidays when sister is home and suddenly she gets to be up while the younger ones are doomed to their rooms. When it is nap time, I do not require my child to sleep. I do, however, require him to lie down and be quiet in his bed. He may not get up and dance around. He can’t be singing at the top of his lungs. He can’t make a run for the water cup every three minutes. Once it is nap time, I remind my children they must be quiet and must lie down in bed.

I am ok if they read quietly. I am ok if they play quietly with one or two stuffed animals or dolls. I am ok if they sing quietly to themselves. If they do not comply, I always give them some kind of consequence. I don’t spank them or give them a time-out. I will usually use some time of leverage. They have three toys in bed with them. I take one out. They have the hallway and bathroom light on. I turn one off. If they continue to disregard my rules, I continue to provide a consequence. They learn very quickly not to interrupt Mommy during naptime. Now and then you will have the, “Mooooooom, I gotta poop.” Of course, that is an exception. When sister is home from school, she also has quiet time. When quiet time is done I tell everyone who is still awake that they can come out of their room. They usually do so giggling with delight and with a dreamy I-Need-Sleep-But-Didn’t-Get-It look in their eyes.

4. When all else fails “Burrito”

Lastly, I have a few little tricks that work with kids who are “trying” to move out of naps, but technically still need them. When my first daughter was three and a half, I noticed it took her a long time to fall asleep for naps. So, I started something called the “Burrito”. At naptime I would place her inside her comforter and wrap it around her, including tucking the blanket around her head and over the top of her forehead. The end result was an adorable face snuggled in a mound of comforter. I would call her my little “Burrito” and kiss her goodnight. Miraculously it took almost no time for her to fall asleep. No wonder…she was so cozy.

Another strategy that works well with kids who are transitioning is to make sure there are only 1-3 items in bed with them. I do not allow a pile of toys. This is far too distracting. A few soft, noiseless items only. Finally, make sure you make the bedroom as dark as possible. I find I naturally pull the shades and draw the curtains with my babies, but as they get older it is even more important as they will often sleep lighter. If you have to get thick blinds, do so. A quiet, dark room is a wonderful nap companion!

So if you are wondering “when do children stop napping?”, the answer is my kids all napped daily until Kindergarten. Whether or not they actually slept was not such a big deal to me as they got older. More importantly, they had some time to rest and Mama had some time to get her work (or rest) done. And everyone stayed sane!

Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (10/5/2015) Kelly Sue DeConnick (Flickr)