Just when you think you have mastered your child’s nap and sleep time things seem to change. As children grow their nap schedule will change with them, throw in illness and teething and it’s hard to know what to do.
Here is a useful guideline as recommended by Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems. (McGraw-Hill, December 2008).
Remember each child is different and as a result they will have unique sleep needs so use this as a guideline rather than a hard and fast rule.
|
Age |
Awake time span |
|
Newborn |
1 – 2 hours |
|
6 month old |
2 – 3 hours |
|
12 month old |
3 – 4 hours |
|
18 month old |
4 – 6 hours |
|
2 year old |
5 – 7 hours |
|
3 year old |
6 – 8 hours |
|
4 year old |
6 – 12 hours |