How To Drop the Last Nap (The 1-0 Nap Transition)
I never thought the day would come where I am actually considering dropping my oldest son’s only nap! At 4.5 years of age, the majority of his peers already dropped their nap! Nope - not us!
In this post about dropping the last nap, we’ll cover:
When should you drop the last nap?
How do you know when to drop the last nap?
How do you drop the last nap?
How to start quiet time
Majority of Liam’s (age 4.5) and even some of Aiden’s (age 2) friends are dropping or have dropped their naps already!! But why? Typically during the 24 month sleep regression, toddlers have “nap strikes” that are mistaken for a sign that your child doesn’t need to nap anymore! This is typically not the case… hold onto that nap if they continue taking it and it isn’t posing any night time issues.
When should you drop the last nap?
Most children will drop their naps at around ages 3-5 and while dropping the nap, they may require naps every few days to help their bodies adjust! This process can be VERY long. Liam has been in this process for a few months and I can see us continuing with a nap every few days for at least 1 more year. It isn’t typically a cold turkey drop- if you’re seeing that, it’s likely a nap strike instead.
How to know when to drop the last nap?
The biggest indicator of a child being able to handle dropping their final nap lies in their mood and behavior in the afternoon and early evening.
If your child is resisting the nap and is under age 3… keep offering the nap every single day!
If your child is 3+ and they are avoiding the naps….ask yourself:
How is their mood in the afternoon and leading up to the afternoon?
If you don’t notice a change in their behavior on days when they skip their naps - they may be ready to drop the nap and move to quiet time!
For me, this is a huge indicator that Liam can handle skipped naps, his mood isn’t too different in the afternoon with a skipped nap, in fact, sometimes he is moodier when he has his nap and is woken up from it!
Falling asleep in the car isn’t an indicator to not drop the nap— some kids will do that for years because it’s so lulling and easy to fall asleep!
Usually the 1-0 nap transition looks like 1 of 2 things:
Your child starts to refuse their nap every day OR
They take their nap every day BUT bedtime is extremely difficult and night wakings or early mornings start!
How do you drop the last nap
At this point you have gathered that you are not going to drop that last nap cold turkey. You should start a slow transition from 1 nap to quiet time. Your child still needs that time to rest and reset! Do not expect instant success but something you continue to work on and build over time!
If naps aren’t impacting bedtime/nighttime/early morning sleep then we still want to keep the nap!
But if they are only napping 50% of the time, the other 50% of the time you want to offer quiet time!
You can have them look at a calendar and circle the days they will do quiet time at home and which days they’ll nap. If they go to daycare or school some days of the week and do NOT nap there, have them nap the days they are at home (this is what Liam does).
How to start quiet time
Quiet time is a period of unstructured but calming time for your child. It usually takes place in your child’s bedroom and the goal is for your child to rest their bodies and brain even when their nap is gone.
It can last anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours and should happen everyday your child is home at that time so it is expected.
If you are in a situation where your child already dropped the nap but you want to start incorporating quiet time, start off with small increments and gradually build up to your goal.
If your child is having difficulty, you can start off by joining them for quiet time in their room and bringing an activity like folding clothes, reading a book in their room and join them! As they get more comfortable, you can start excusing yourself.
Incorporate a visual to show your child how long they are expected to stay in their room for quiet time.
Since we are still on 1 short nap and quiet time, we use the hatch to show when it is quiet time.(by using a different color for sleep, quiet time and time to get out of the room). When we eventually drop the nap, we will use a clock to show how long he is expected to stay in his room.
Have a quiet time box filled with different simple activities that your child can do without assistance. Fine motor activities such as legos, beading, puzzles, water wow, coloring, stickers, and books on tape.
Keep this box special for just quiet time so he is excited to play with it!
At our house, we switch out the toys every few days. Liam is now at the point where he will ask for new toys in his room!
Make sure to stay consistent and offer quiet time everyday so they know it is part of their routine and expected of them!
If you’re having trouble coming up with a game plan for this transition OR implementing quiet time, set up a basic chat!
