Preschoolers Need Rest

My preschooler is not a fan of sleepy during the day. He started getting away from a nap almost one and a half years ago. We discovered that when he napped, he was up until ten o'clock at night or later. So after a few tests days, we stopped laying him down.
It was harder on me than on him. Those precious hours of quiet! But I was not wanting to be up late into the evening with him.

While napping is not important, rest time is. He still needs some downtime during the day. Otherwise, we will all pay for it in the end. And every few days, he gets sleepy and we let him sleep for an hour or so. It makes the evenings more bearable.

Now my toddler is looking like she is moving away from naps too. At school, they let her sleep as long as she wants- not good for us in the evening. She needs her sleep, but not as much during the day so she can go to bed at a reasonable time.

Here are some facts on sleep:
Children 2-3 years old need approximately 12 hours of sleep a day. Ages 3-5- they need approximately 11 hours a day.Sleep patterns change. A 2 year old sleeps about 1 hour during the day and 11 at night. A 4 year old sleeps 11 hours at night.

The problem with that is that my son would have to go to bed at 5 o'clock in the evening to get 11 hours at night- not likely since he would wake up at 10 o'clock after his evening "nap."

But that does explain how come he gets grouchy!

Keep in mind, every child is different. See how your child does with out a nap and change the bedtime accordingly.

We all need to be well rested and happy to get through our day!