Do you insist that your toddler take a nap every afternoon? Or do you follow your child's lead & let her nap only when she feels the need to?

Most children under the age of 1 take two naps a day — usually one in the morning and another in the afternoon. By 18 months, most have given up the morning nap but still need an afternoon snooze to make it through dinner without a meltdown. Even when you've kissed the morning nap goodbye, your toddler's likely to continue needing her afternoon nap for quite some time.

At age 4, more than 50 percent of children are still taking naps. And even though the majority of children (about 70 percent) stop napping at 5 years, 3 in 10 still need a nap at this age. That said, every child is different.

Much depends on how many hours your toddler sleeps at night. Toddlers need approximately 12 to 14 hours of sleep in each 24-hour period. So if, for example, your child goes to bed at 8 p.m.

And doesn't get up until 8 a.m. , she may get her full quota of rest all at once, giving her no reason to need a nap. But if she doesn't get 12 hours at night, then ideally she should get some zzz's during the day.

Total sleep isn't the only factor affecting naps, though. Younger children tend to have a stronger "sleep drive." This means they have a stronger urge to break up their waking hours with some sleep — in other words, they can't stay awake for long stretches as easily as older children and adults.

But so much for the theory. Now that your toddler's growing older, you'll most likely have a tougher time getting her down for a nap. Toddlers are so intent on discovering the world around them that they hate to miss out on anything, even if they're exhausted.

Here are some tips for hanging on to that blessed afternoon nap for as long as you can:* If your toddler's at home, put her down for her nap in the same place where she sleeps at night. Because she already associates that spot with sleep, she's more likely to doze. * If she goes to daycare or preschool and naps there, keep your home routine consistent with theirs.

Tuck her in with the same stuffed animal or lovey she usually sleeps with at school. * Figure out when your child gets sleepy in the afternoon (even if she denies it). Is it right after lunch, or an hour later?

Just like adults, children have natural circadian rhythms, or sleep rhythms — watch for signs that your toddler's naturally drowsy. Build a nap routine around this time of day, working backward from when you first see her yawn or rub her eyes. * If your child gives up her naps altogether before she's 4 years old, at least offer her some quiet time every day.

Tell her that children rest after lunch so they'll have enough energy to play later on. Let her take some toys and books to bed with her, then dim the lights or draw the curtains and leave the room. Although she won't feel as well rested as she would had she slept, spending an hour or two not involved in active play will definitely do her some good.

In my experience, routine is the key! My 17 month old has always been very good about taking her naps and going to bed without difficulty. Now that we are pretty much done with the morning nap, she goes down for her afternoon one usually between 12 p.m.

And 1 p.m. And sleeps for about 2.5 hours. She then is ready for bed around 8:30 or 9 p.m.

And sleeps until 8:30 a.m. This nightime routine has been the same since forever and has worked very well! About 30 mins prior to bedtime she sits on the couch with mom and dad reading a story with her blanket and about a half cup of milk just to wind down a bit.

We then head to bed after her story, say her little prayers and turn on her musical nightlight. It's always worked for us! Good luck though.

I truly feel for those who get no sleep. I really love my sleep (and need it too!). Was this comment helpful?

Bubbly800, I feel for you. We tried many techniques to get our 17 mo. Old to go to bed on her own (she was doing fine until about 3 months ago) & the cry-it-out-method was the worst for us.

Bottom line, eventually they'll learn to go to sleep on their own. We decided we weren't going to waste her sleep time teaching her to be an "independent sleeper" and simultaneously feel like crap while we listened to her cry for 1 hour. It only takes 10-20 mins.

Of my day to lie down next to my little girl while she dozes off to sleep, then I place her in her crib and she sleeps 9-11 hrs. She won't be this little for long or want my company this much for most of her life. I'm a working mom and so far she's an only child, but this works for us, and actually the quiet, down time is kinda nice.

I get all the warm fuzzies of having my baby cuddle up to me and she goes to sleep happy, instead of sighing in her sleep throughout the night. Every kid's different, do what feels right. Was this comment helpful?

Read HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD by MARC WEISBLUTH, MD. I have 4 children, and have followed his guidelines early on for each child. My kids LOVE their sleep and do it beautifully.

This book is flexible in it's approach, and offers different options depending on what will work best for your lifestyle. Sleep is KEYYYYY for your child's behavior during the day, and later, even academic success. Teaching young'ins (and it is TEACHING) how to sleep is a gift to them... and to you!

Merry Christmas and go get that book! Was this comment helpful? My son is 20 mos old and takes only an afternoon nap.

He goes down around 1pm for a nap everyday and usually sleeps anywhere from 1-2 hours. I don't think he could make it all the way till bedtime without his afternoon nap. I believe that all children are different and require different amounts of sleep.

Some need less, some need more, it just depends on your child. Was this comment helpful? Kj0508 I feel for you.

My oldest daughter stopped napping all tohegether when she was 15 months old, and slept from about 10pm until 8 am. And now my youngest is 14 months and she seems to be in the same pattern as her sister, she naps about 3 maybe 4 days a week, but never more than 40 minutes. And she seems ready to give up that.

I talked to their ped. And she said that some kids(a small percentage) just do not require a lot of sleep, and as long as they are eating and do their "normal" things, than really you just have to go with it. Trust me I know it is not easy, I lived it once and will probably end up within a month dealing with it again.

Chin up....you'll make it through it! Was this comment helpful? My son is 17 months old.

He currently takes one nap a day at around 12 or 1 and sleeps for almost 3 hours some days. And then I have absolutely no problem putting him down at 6:30-7 pm for bed and he'll sleep through the night until around 7 or 8 am. I love my little sleeper and I definitely attribute it to a good schedule.

He knows what is going to happen and when because it is the same thing every day. Children strive on schedules. I used the Baby-WIse system with him and it worked great!

Was this comment helpful? My 21 month old still takes 2 naps per day. He sleeps about 10 hours at night and then 2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the late afternoon.

I've found that if he only takes 1 nap, he ends up waking up during the night. This schedule works well for us because then when Daddy gets home from work he's well rested for some Daddy play time (and I get more time during my day). Was this comment helpful?

Sorry, ran out of space. We put our son to bed each night between 6:30 & 7:30. After he would wake up in the morning, around 6 or 7, I would then follow a two hours awake two hour nap schedule.

It took about a week for me to figure his schedule out but it turned out that after he first woke up he needed an hour of awake and then he would follow the two hour schedule. Two things the book also talks about is the myth that the longer you keep a child up the longer they will sleep. I really believe this is wrong.

It also talks about putting your child down before they act tired. I don't know if this is true for everyone but I swear by it with my son. If I let him get to the point that he is showing signs of being tired then he doesn't take as long of a nap.

Two other things that I have done baby massage, and singing. I am always getting comments of how good he is, how well behaved and attentive he is. He is not perfect but I give the credit to sleep habits, physical affection, & music.

Was this comment helpful? I feel for you Bubbly800, but I've found that the cry it out approach doesn't lead to a happier toddler. WE tried it with our son and it just seemed to make him more upset and unable to calm himself down.

It seemed like he lost trust in me/us when we did it. Then we changed our method to going to him as soon as he started crying and it worked like a charm. He was already still sleepy, so getting there quickly made it easy to lull him back to sleep with rocking, or patting, or just being there.

I think he was scared and using the only language he knew how to: crying. I will say it's a lot easier to go to him and he's so much more settled and happy during the day. I don't think it's a question of him being in control of us at night, it's more an instance of showing him that we'll respond to his needs during the day AND during the night, so he can trust me/us.

It's definitely easier on all of us (& our neighbors) to go to him at night than making him cry it out. Was this comment helpful? My daughter is almost 14 months and she has two naps a day.

She wakes up around 7-8 and goes back down for a nap before 10. She sleeps for about an hour and half. She is ready for another nap around 1:30-2 and sleeps for about an hour.

Sometimes she even gets another nap around 4. I give her a bath and put lotion( the bedtime lavendar stuff) all over her and put her in pajamas. I give her some milk, and then I lay her down right at 8pm she will sleep all night until 7-8.

My daughter just needs lots of sleep. Once she starts waking at night I will just cut one of her naps out, but for now its working for us. Was this comment helpful?

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