At what time should my child take naps?
I think the specific times your child should take naps are really dependent on the child. Again, focus on how much sleep in 24 hours your child needs, and then you've got to customise it, and you've got to get the cue from the child. Again, it depends on what happens in the night. For instance, if a child is not having good quality sleep at night and is waking up multiple times, for whatever those reasons are, they may have a section of good quality sleep in the early hours of the morning, then they may have to wake up because they have to go to day-care, or whatever the case is, and they may show signs of needing a nap very early. They may need a nap at 8:30, or 9:00 o'clock in the morning. Children that have better quality sleep at night, again depending on their age, may have a longer window of wakefulness in the morning, and may only need to nap at 11:00 o'clock, say. So, it's very difficult to say there's a set time that a child needs to nap. It really depends on the child. It depends on what's been happening in the night-time sleep. It's what happens in terms of the temperament, what happens in terms of the logistics of the day, and where they are. Some kids nap in the car, because that's the time they're restrained and they can't run around, and that's when they catch up. So, what I would advice parents to do is to look for the signs in the child. Usually when kids need a nap, they get cranky; they rub their eyes, they get fussy, and that's usually when it's time to put them down.
