Most children stop napping between three and five, most commonly around three and a half. The sign is not that your child refuses the nap, but that falling asleep at night takes an hour on the days they have slept. The transition takes a few weeks, works best with quiet time in place of the nap, and often looks different at home than at förskola (municipal preschool, from age one).
The afternoon nap is the family's breathing space, and that is why it is so hard to let go of. But your child decides, not you, and what settles it is the evening: a child who slept for an hour at one o'clock and then lies awake until half past nine is a child who is done with daytime sleep. Here is how to recognise it and what to do instead.
How much daytime sleep children need
| Age | Daytime sleep | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 12 months | 2 to 3 hours | Two or three naps |
| 1 to 2 years | 1.5 to 2.5 hours | One or two naps, most drop to one at 15 to 18 months |
| 2 to 3 years | 1 to 2 hours | One nap in the middle of the day |
| 3 to 5 years | 0 to 1 hour | Many stop, others need a short rest |
| From 5 years | None | Quiet time is enough |
Signs that your child is ready to stop
- It takes 45 minutes or more to fall asleep at night on the days your child has napped
- Your child wakes earlier in the morning after a day with a nap
- Your child protests against the nap, but is still in a good mood until dinner
- Your child falls asleep easily and sleeps through the night on the days the nap was skipped
- Your child is four or older
Three of the five signs for two weeks: then it is time. A child who instead becomes inconsolable at five o'clock without a nap, falls asleep on the sofa at six and wakes at five in the morning is not ready, even if they protest against the nap.
How to make the transition
- Swap the nap for quiet time. Same time, same place, but no requirement to sleep. A book, an audiobook, calm music, half an hour.
- Bring bedtime forward. During the transition your child needs more sleep at night. Bed at 6.30 instead of 7.30 for the first few weeks.
- Expect mixed days. Three days without a nap, one day with. That is normal for a month.
- Move dinner. A child who hasn't slept needs to eat earlier: dinner at half past four, not six.
- Warn the adults around your child. Five o'clock is the hardest hour during the transition. Everyone who looks after your child should know that.
What a day without a nap looks like
| Time | What happens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 12.00 | Lunch | Food before the tiredness, not in the middle of it |
| 12.45 | Quiet time, 30 minutes | The same time the nap used to be. A book or audiobook in bed |
| 13.15 to 15.00 | Outdoors, ideally | Fresh air and movement push back the afternoon slump |
| 15.00 | Snack | A child who hasn't slept is hungrier than usual |
| 16.30 | Dinner | An hour earlier than before |
| 17.15 | Bath and calm play | No screens, no new impressions |
| 18.15 | Bedtime | Your child falls asleep within ten minutes if the day has looked like this |
Two mistakes during the transition
- Giving up after three bad days. The first week without a nap is almost always miserable around five o'clock. That says nothing about whether your child is ready, only that the body hasn't adjusted yet. Hold out for two weeks before you judge.
- Filling the afternoon with activities. Swimming lessons at four and dinner at friends' at six work with a child who has napped. Without a nap it ends in tears in the changing room. Keep the afternoons empty for the first month.
Rest time at förskola
Förskola has rest time for everyone, and many children sleep there long after they have stopped at home, because everyone does it and it is dark and quiet. That is no problem as long as the evening works. If evenings become difficult, ask the förskola to wake your child after 45 minutes, or to let them have quiet time instead. Most förskolor are used to the question.
Weekends and weekdays
Many families end up in a situation where the child naps at förskola but not at home, and so the evenings are different on weekdays and at weekends. You can live with that, as long as you know about it: put your child to bed later on the days they have napped and earlier on the days they haven't, instead of keeping the same bedtime and wondering why Tuesdays are so hard. Tell grandma and anyone else who has your child during the day how you do it, otherwise your child wakes from a two-hour nap at four o'clock at her place.
The car, the pram and the sofa
The unplanned doze at five o'clock is the one that ruins things. Twenty minutes in the car rarely does any harm; an hour in the pram on the way home from grandma's does. Wake your child after twenty minutes if you can, and put them to bed half an hour earlier than usual if you can't.
If the evening still isn't working
If you have dropped the nap, brought bedtime forward and held out for a month, and your child still takes an hour to fall asleep, the daytime sleep is probably not the problem. Look at screen time after dinner, at whether the room is dark enough in May, and at the bedtime routine itself. And talk to BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in) if your child snores, breathes through their mouth or wakes up grumpy every morning despite enough hours. Children who sleep badly are tired children, and tired children can look as if they need the nap again when what they really need is to sleep better at night.
How we do it with our families
Sanna picks up a three-year-old in Vasastan at three every Tuesday and Thursday, right in the middle of this transition. She can tell in the hallway whether he has napped or not: napped means energy and the playground at Vanadislunden, not napped means calmer play at home, a snack straight away and dinner on the table at half past four instead of six. She always writes it on the note: "slept 12.45 to 13.30" or "no nap, had dinner 16.40". His parents then know what the evening has in store before they have even taken their shoes off, and they put him to bed accordingly.
This text is general information and does not replace advice from BVC, your vårdcentral (local health centre) or 1177 (the national healthcare helpline). If you are worried about your child, call 1177. In an emergency, call 112.
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Read more: Calming music for children · Swedish lullabies · Toddler tantrums · FAQ
Frequently asked questions
At what age do children stop napping?
Most between three and four, some as early as two and some not until five. Förskola has an effect: many children keep napping there for longer than they would at home, because everyone does it and the room is dark and quiet. There is no right date; it is the evening that shows when your child is done.
How do we know our child is ready to stop?
It takes an hour to fall asleep at night on the days your child has napped, your child protests against the nap but is still in a good mood in the afternoon, and they fall asleep easily and sleep through on the days the nap was skipped. Look at the pattern over two weeks, not one day. A single difficult evening can be down to anything.
What do we do instead of the afternoon nap?
Quiet time: half an hour in bed or on the sofa with a book, an audiobook or calm music, with no requirement to sleep. Many children fall asleep anyway a few days a week during the transition, and that is exactly as it should be. Keep the time and the place, so the routine is still there even when the sleep is gone, and you get your own half hour.
Our child falls asleep in the car at five o'clock. What do we do?
Wake them after twenty minutes, or let them sleep and put them to bed earlier than usual. A long, late doze is what ruins the evening; a short one rarely does any harm. Plan car journeys and pram walks for the morning during the transition, and have something to do in the back seat in the afternoon: a book, a song, a chat.
Can my child start napping again after stopping?
Yes, and it is common. After an illness, a holiday or a few intense weeks, a four-year-old may need the nap again for a while. Offer quiet time as usual and let your child fall asleep if they want to. It is not a setback, it is a child catching up on sleep. When the need has passed, the sleep disappears again by itself.