Should I ever wake my child from a nap?

Should I ever wake my child from a nap?

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...

It's a good idea not to wake your child up from a nap unless there are pressing circumstances. For instance, if a child is napping in the afternoon and you see that it's a long nap and it's getting too late, then you know it's going to result in problems for bedtime at night. So then you would want to wake the child up, because it's just going to be difficult later on. Obviously, waking a child up because you need to go somewhere, then that's also fine. Life has certain needs, and sometimes you just can't nap forever. But generally as a rule, you should be able to leave your child to nap and wake up when they're ready to wake up.