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My kiddos stopped napping by approx their 2nd bday. All of them--all five!! We do early bedtimes, and I am a very early riser, so this works well for our family.

fwiw, one of my neighbors still has her 4 y/o napping almost daily, and her 1st grader rests (or cat naps) after school. So, it really depends on the amount of sleep they require. One rule of thumb that I believe is if the mom needs extra sleep, chances are her children will require a bit extra. And the antithesis is true: for those of us who don't sleep (as much as considered the norm), our children will follow suit.

Drill Sergeant Diva,
Academy of Toddler Mayhem
...hup, two, three,four
singing, playing, toys galore...

Tracey

Michael (11)
Francesca (10)
Matthew, Alexis & Gabrielle (8)
Torunn (Norwegian DD,20)
Johannes (German DS,17)

We gave up naps once they turned 4. Their birthday is in May so by by then it was warm outside for them to play and I could do yardwork. I should say that "they" didn't give up the naps, "I" gave up the naps. Up until then, they "had" to take a nap (or at least lay down for some quiet time) which usually resulted in falling asleep. Their bedtime hasn't changed, but they do fall asleep alot quicker now. We still do have some quiet time in the afternoon where I pop a movie in and we all relax for awhile. This probably helps "ME" more than them. LOL!

Kris & Co.
Nicknamed "Supermommy!" (by DH) to 4 super kids:
(B)Schuyler-7
Spontaneous Triplets born @ 33wks 5-18-99
(G)Katrena-4
(G)Kourtney-4
(G)Kerisa-4

........... Kris & Co. ...........

My guys will be 3 in 3 weeks. Only Behren still "needs" a nap daily, but even then, it's usually only for an hour or so. Jacob and Derek, just flat out refuse to take naps. Even if we're in the car, if they realize thet they are starting to doze, they shake themselves. When it got to the point that we were fighting with them to get them to sleep, we stopped trying. Instead they now go to bed at 8, and they do give us too much trouble then. As a matter of fact, Jacob usually runs to their room when I tell them it's bed time.

You may lose naptime, but you may gain a little more evening time.

Maggi
Wife to Ray
Mom to Jacob, Behren, & Derek
03/03/01

Our three continued to take two-hour naps until the day before they started Kindergarten at age 5. Without their nap, they were a mess. Their bedtime was still between 7:30-8. I think they fit the category of needing more sleep than some. Now that they're in school until 3 p.m., they don't get a nap, but fall into bed very easily around 7:30.
Monika, mom to Max, Ben and Ana, 8/13/98

Monika,
Your kids sound a lot like mine! My kids took a nap every day until the day they started kindergarten at age 5 1/2. They will be 6 in a month, and they still take a nap on most weekend days, and even occasionally during the week if we have something special planned for the evening and we need them to stay up a little later. They LOVE their sleep!! Since giving up naps, they also go to bed earlier. On school nights they are often in bed at 6:30 and I wake them up for school the next morning at 6:45.

LCN
21 year old college senior
14 year old bbg triplets--teenagers!

I'm so excited to hear that your children are in bed at 6:30 during the week. My trio are only 22 months but are in bed by 6:30 and up between 6:45 and 7:00. It's great to know that this trend may possibly continue. I always laugh and say they will be in bed at 6:30 until high school graduation.

Stacy
Mommy 2 MMM
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*




"Be quick to listen, Slow to speak, slow to be angry"


James 1:12-19

My Girls are 4 and they still take naps every day Even on the days they don't sleep, they are required to be in their room for the designated nap period so Mommy doesn't lose her mind! hee hee That's also when I work my business.

Korrie~
^i^B/G/G 24 w 3d,1/17/00
B 10/31/01
B 1/27/03

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="" alt="Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a>

Mine napped until they were four, but I my friends little girl is five next month and still naps.......my in laws nap every chance they get......I don't think anyone outgrows a good nap as long as it doesn't interfer with bedtim

Tammy
Proud mom of
12 year old identical GGG

My six-year old napped well past his 5th birthday, and my trio is beginning slowly to give up theirs, I have one who could go without, one who could go either way, and one who still needs them daily...Today, I was about to lose it, so all four kids are in bed for at least quiet time and breathing time for me I am a big believer in quiet time once the nap is gone...mostly for my sake. I plan to take away all naps once summer is here.

Deb
Son, 12
GGB, 10

My trio is only 2 1/2 yrs, still taken one 2hr nap a day.
But my friend has a daughter 9yrs old now and she still takes one nap a day, usually after getting home for shcool. She always has taken a nap since beginning school. And she is very active in girl scouts, soccer, and other activites, so I imagine her naps do her a world of good! And my friend has said she will be totally grumpy if she doesnt get one! Boy I hope I can be so lucky, to have my three continue to nap like that!
Kim

Kim
Wife to Brian
Mommy to BBG @ 32.5 wks)

My bbb's only gave up naps this past January and they will be 5 in March Boy are they cranky without one, but night time partying was getting a bit much, so we cut the naps. I say let 'em nap as long as you can!! I think that with multiples it is much harder for them to have "down time" during the day, because there is always a same-age-playmate to pull them into something. So I really think that they benefit from a nap. Around 4 yrs old I had to put them in separate rooms for nap, but that was it.

I'm right there with you in loving the nap--the only respite the care giver gets during the day! My kids still take a nap at 4.5 for at least an hour. Some days, one or more won't really sleep at all. BUT, it's sort of selfish, 'cause I work ft and often get home pretty late, so I allow them to stay up much later than I probably should. The nap also means that even when I want them to go to bed early, they won't.

W/ my kids, if they don't get their nap, they're miserably cranky by early evening. So, I either have to give up the nap (sooner rather than later so they can handle kindergarten next year) and put them to bed earlier, or see how long this method will last. IMO, naps are great, and if the kids will keep it up and not make it a total party time, keep it up. My trio have always been excellent, regular sleepers, so I don't think sticking w/ a nap has hurt them in any way.
GOOD LUCK!
Laura, mom of ggb's 7/99

So glad you posted this....mine are 3 1/2...will be 4 in July. We still do 2 hour afternoon naps, and I LOVE IT! Heck, my boys sometimes sleep longer. I do think it takes them a bit longer to fall asleep at night (when they nap longer), but truthfully, if they do not nap, they are so crabby from like 4pm until bedtime, that I can't take it. Dinner is a mess without naps too!

I am going to do the nap as long as I can. Don't get me wrong, we skip them once in a while, but not often. I also notice if we go ANYWHERE in the car in the afternoon, they fall asleep (if they hadn't napped yet). So, I think mine do need it.

We do bed like at 9pm (start the whole process at 8pm) and they get up about 7am. Sure, we could start bedtime earlier, but I like it this way. Hubby gets to see the kids more when he gets home, and I am not a morning person. Only time it can "sometimes" get rough is on preschool days. We make sure to get them to bed on time, otherwise it is rough getting them up and ready in the morning.

Everyone tells me it won't last much longer either. Oh well...we'll see, but I'm not pushing to drop it! My neighbor still has her son take an afternoon nap daily, and he is 4 1/2.

Nancy
Proud mommy to:
Julia, Kyle, Brandon (7/1/00) and
Gabrielle (9/8/05)