Is it normal for a 5 year old not to take naps?

[JustMe572]

My son will be 5 years old in April. For the past year he has gone through phases of not wanting to take naps during the day. He does go to daycare & they require the children to lay down. There are times when he takes a nap at school and then he doesnt. He just lays there for the 2 hours while the other children are sleeping. At home it is the same thing. His bedtime at 4 years old was between 8-8:30 & he gets up at 7am to go to school. His bedtime has been changed to 9-9:30 and still gets up at 7am to go to school. For the last 11 days he has not had a nap. At school or at home. He goes to bed around 10 and still gets up at 7am for school. When he lays down at school he doesnt sleep & tells the teacher that he is not tired. Same thing at home. Now with him not taking naps his behavior is different towards late afternoon. He starts getting extremely tired &  VERY irritable. He has even started getting dark circles under his eyes. For the past 2 days he has woken up at 4:30am & 5:30am (ready to go). I tell him to lay back down that it is too early & when I go to him at 7am to get ready for school he is still awake. When he gets to school I think he should take a nap because he has been up at an early time. But he will not take a nap. When I talk to him he tells me that he's not tired & he doesnt want to take a nap. Is he getting to the point of no longer having to take a nap even though he wakes up so early or could he possibly be going through another phase & if so how should I handle it?  Thank You

[jd1419]

I have a 3.5 yr and a 5 yr old...young still takes a nap oldest one does not unless he is extemely tired.  when I am home with them I do lay down with them for about two hours my oldest watches a movie my youngest falls asleep....at daycare youngest naps all the time oldest stays up and plays or does a quiet project (on nonschool days) also goes to preschool in the afternoon.  This summer I will need to break my youngest of his nap for he will have preschool in the afternoons.---but yes it is not uncommon for them to not take naps---but mine will sleep for the night around 9-9:30.

[RockRose]

tired - thank you for your response.  Interesting.

I had three boys who didn't go to daycare,  and they were finished with naps by their 4th birthday - unless they'd had an unusually stressful time,  or were sick.  

None of my three boys ever slept in the 15 minute kinder naps.   The kinder teachers gave rewards for the "best resters" - meaning kids who would sit still and not cause problems for that 15 minutes time period.  

Most of the kids in the k classes my kids went to had not been in daycare,  and had not been napping for the past year.  

[tiredbuthappy]

when i worked in a private daycare, the 4-5 yr old preschool rooms still had a 2 hr nap. the state does required a certain length, but i don't think it's quite that long. it wasn't that the staff was lazy, but it was for staffing reasons. in order to accomodate staff lunches but still meet state ratios, daycare centers often have to have a rest time that long. when the children are on their mats and some are sleeping the ratios go up! not an ideal situation for the child who doesn't sleep, but it's what some centers do.

i now work in a public preschool in a 4-5 yr class. lights are off for an hour, and children are required to rest quietly for 20 min. after that we are supposed to let them read or do a quiet activity. but our staffing is different. 2/3 of my class sleeps. 1/3 doesn't sleep, 1/3 wakes easily when the lights go on and we gently shake them, but it seems that our 1 hr rest time is not long enough for the rest of the children. we have a very difficult time waking many of them. i am worried about them transitioning to kindergarten next year where they only get the 15 minutes quiet time.

[RockRose]

I don't think many 5 year olds take naps - I understand he's not quite 5 yet,  but very close.

Our kindergarten has a 15 minute quiet "rest" time in the afternoon,  and few of the kids fall asleep even though they're forced to lie on a mat in the dark quiet.  I think that rest time is beneficial to them,  it allows them a little break,  but few sleep.

Two hours seems excessive to me - is that what most day cares do?  A two hour nap for a child almost 5 just sounds like the staff is lazy to me.

[cheesebabe]

My son will be 5 in July and he is the same way. This boy will not nap. He goes to bed at 8:30 and is up at 5am and I have to put him back to bed until 7:30 when he gets up for school, at school he will not nap nor will he during the day at home..I have tried..no way!! (: But on days that he goes to school, (every other day) he is usually asleep by 5:00pm! And then he is out for the night! I have been putting him to bed at 8:00 lately and that seems to help a bit. Good luck! (:

[mum2beagain]

Gosh, I didn't even know kids that age still took naps, shows how much I know LOL!. My son stopped napping during the day at 3 years old but he always sleeps a good 12 hours a night.
I know at his pre school they have an hour "quiet time" on their blankets where the children can nap if they wish or just rest with a quiet activity such as reading a book.

[LRM1021]

I completely agree with the time change thing, as well. My son has totally whacked out sleeping patterns, and then goes behaviorally CRAZY every time the time changes-- it takes a few weeks to work out.

[cbs62]

Oh how I remember these days.  We went through the same thing last year at my son's Pre-K.  Some kids just don't need a nap and he would end up getting in trouble because he would play!  He did learn just to lay quietly for the time but he never did sleep.

As far as the bedtime goes...do you think the time change could be affecting him?  I know with us it takes a couple of weeks to get back into a routine.  The other thing that has helped is getting some outdoor/physical activity after school.  We'll go for a 30 minute bike ride, play basketball, etc.  This has really help our active 6 year old handle his 8:30 bedtime much better.

Good luck and I believe this is a phase and always remember..."this too shall pass"!!!

Cindy

[LRM1021]

Ahh-- that lovely in-between-age when children begin to transition away from naps. During this transition, they are tired, and irritable. Then the early waking-- it can be a real pain!!! Once a person's body starts staying awake while tired, the person can get into a real OVERTIRED situation - where it becomes impossible to sleep. Happens to adults, and happens to kids.

Generally, its between the ages of 4 and 6 that children stop taking naps. They have to readjust their sleeping patterns, and it can take some trial and error to get it right for the post-nap phase.

5 year old children generally need between 10 and 12 hours of sleep per day. If he has to wake up at 7:00, then he should be settled in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 - -if he is not going to sleep during the day.

I think you're doing the right thing by making him stay in bed until its time to get up. I would also then start putting him to bed earlier by 20 minutes each night-- using the same routine each night so that he can get used to a bedtime routine.- until you're at the right target time for him to go to bed. Even if he does not fall asleep right away, moving up the time bit by bit will make it an easier transition, so that within a few weeks, he will be in bed and falling asleep and getting all his needed sleep at night.

Good luck.