Do you hear that? It is the sound of the little kids taking naps, or should I say the lack of sound. The silence is so strange, after a morning filled with running and stomping feet, loud laughs and giggles, a few “he’s bothering me”s, and the thumpity-thumpity-thump of a basket of toys being turned over. Life with a preschooler is fun but they certainly keep you running, and when it comes to nap time, I think I need the break as much as my kids need the sleep.
One question that always comes up in my moms group is whether or not our preschoolers still nap. Napping may be given up any time between three and five years old, depending on the child and the family schedule. One friend told me that through her informal survey (talking to other moms), she found that boys were more likely to give up the nap at an earlier age than were girls.
My daughter, who will be four in a month, still naps. She and her younger brother take a nap that is generally about two and a half hours each afternoon. Two other little girls, she knows (from two different families) of the same age later don’t nap.
While I’m holding on to this nap as long as I can, I know that the day that she gives it up is not far behind. As recently as last month, if she went without her nap, she would fall asleep at the table or melt down in tears. But every once in a while, she asks to stay up and does so without consequence.
I know I will miss the quiet time when the nap goes, but I will also enjoy the time I’ll get to spend with her alone while her younger brother still naps. And then soon, just two years later it will be off to Kindergarten, or perhaps preschool the year before.
When did your children give up their naps?
Mary Ann Romans.
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