Achieving daytime sleep for your young child can be difficult. It is challenging for a number of reasons; but just because it can be hard, it is not something that we should readily give up on. Daytime naps serve an important function, and young children up to the age of three and four years of age will have a day sleep need.
Some nap facts
Day sleep is a biological necessity up to and beyond the age of three years.
Naps serve to relieve sleep pressure from the brain and recharge your child’s body at certain intervals, so that they can efficiently move through the day and get to bedtime without being over-tired.
An over-tired, nap-deprived child will be more susceptible to frequent night awakenings, restless sleep and early rising.
The timing of the nap is important. For sleep to be of good quality, it needs to be at the right time for the child’s body.
All children have a “sweet spot” for sleep; this may be represented by a brief yawn, rub of the eye or moment of quiet. Behaviour that involves intense eye-rubbing, agitation, impatience or crankiness will be over-tired.
The young body has a chemical response to being over-tired and, as a result, the body will fight the onset of sleep and also prevent the body from sleeping for as long as maybe required.
Ideally, the well-rested child awakens happy and chatting.
A child aged between one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half years will have an average sleep need of about two hours. This shrinks to one-and-a-half, and eventually to one hour as your toddler becomes older.
Sleep that is not in sync with the natural body clocks counts, but it may not be as restoring as sleep that happens at the correct time.
The ideal time for your toddler's daytime sleep is around 12.30/1pm.
Toddlers are typically ready to transition onto one nap per day by the age of 15-18 months, and not normally before.
The best place for your child to sleep is in a cot/bed; suitably dark, without distractions or noise.
Car sleep, buggy sleep and sofa sleep may not be of good enough quality.
Quality and quantity of sleep are significant in equal measures,
Your child’s mood and behaviour can often tell you whether they are well rested. If you struggle with his/her behaviour between 5-7pm, this may indicate that more or better sleep is needed.
If your child is not an independent sleeper at bedtime and/or throughout the night, they can typically find it hard to nap well during the day. She or he will be over-tired from the interrupted night-time sleep and will also find it hard to sleep well without help, if help or assistance is required overnight.
Just because your young child resists day time sleep or fights bedtime more when day sleep has been achieved, is not an indication that the day sleep is not required. Often it is a case of the nap and bedtime not being at the right time.
