How long should my child nap per day?

How long should my child nap per day?

Gary Feldman (Medical Director, Stramski Disorders Center, Miller Children's Hospital ) gives expert video advice on: Should I ever wake my child from a nap?; What do I do if my child resists napping?; Should I stop my child from napping to help him sleep more at night? and more...

How long does your child need to nap for? Generally speaking, the child will determine that. One has to be careful about it in the afternoon. If they're napping in the afternoon, be careful they don't nap too late because then it's going to affect when they're naturally going to become tired again for night-time. So, if the child naps for 2 hours from 4pm and they're waking up at 6pm, there's no way they're going to get ready to go to sleep at 7:30 or 8:00. They may be only be ready at 1:00 or 1:30. Therefore one has got to adjust it, and a child can be scheduled to a certain degree. You can give or take an hour or so to fit in with the family's lifestyle. If your child wants to nap at 4pm but you don't want them to sleep then, you can try to bring their nap an hour earlier and see how it goes. You can modify it because ultimately it all works itself out; if a child naps a little early in the afternoon, they're going to go to bed at night earlier and they're going to wake up earlier in the morning.