Dropping or shortening naps

Learn about: Dropping or shortening naps from Kim West, LCSW-C,...
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Dropping or shortening naps

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It's a very common question, "When should my 3, 4 year old stop napping?" The average age is 4 years of age. Now I've had a lot of kids in my practice that are 3, 3 1/2, who seem to do well with not napping or maybe not napping every day. So always look at your child's behavior, of course making sure they're going to bed at an early enough time, and getting enough sleep which is somewhere between 10 and 11 hours at that age, that 3 and 4 years old. And then if you feel like they're having trouble going to sleep, or by the time they do fall asleep for the nap it's too late and then it's pushing bedtime super late, I see that a lot, so they're not falling asleep until 3 and sleeping until 4:30 and then don't want to go to bed until 10 at night. Then you might want to have the nap every other day or every third day and shorten the nap, and keep it only 45 minutes so you can preserve that regular, early enough bed time. And most importantly you just have to watch your child. Amongst my own two, they were completely different when they stopped napping.

Learn about: Dropping or shortening naps from Kim West, LCSW-C,...

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Kim West, LCSW-C

Psychotherapist & Author, The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight

Kim West is a mother of two and a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical (LCSW-C) who has been a practicing child and family social worker for more than 19 years. Known as The Sleep Lady by her clients, over the past 12 years she has helped thousands of tired parents all over the world learn to listen to their intuition, recognize their child’s important cues and behaviors, and gently create changes that promote and preserve his or her healthy sleep habits. 

West has appeared on the Dr. Phil, Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, TLC’s Bringing Home Baby  and CNN, and has been written about in a number of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Baby Talk,  Parenting, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today, The Telegraph, The Irish Independent and the Washington Post. West hosts the sleep section of The Newborn Channel, played in maternity wards in hospitals across the country. West is the author of The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy with Joanne Kenen. She is also the author of 52 Sleep Secrets for Babies and The Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook.

Kim received her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She lives with her family in Annapolis, Maryland.

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