How many hours should a 3 1/2 year old be sleeping each day?

Question

My daughter was taking a nap during the day and sleeping around 10 hours at night. Now for the last four weeks or so she refuses a daytime nap.

Now she's not napping and she's sleeping around 10-11 hours in total at night.

Is this enough sleep for a child of this age? She still seems cranky sometimes without her nap.

Answer 1

she is right on track for her age...she is becoming a big girl now. dont fret, i know it is probably a bummer that she is not taking a nap because there goes your little bit of free time you had but, let her grow up.

Answer 2

Congrats! Your daughter's a big girl now! Not taking naps is normal by this age. She doesn't need that much sleep anymore. Yeah, daycares still make 'em take naps until they're 4 or so, but that's just old school child raising. My daughter gave up naps before she was 3 and she sleeps 10-12 hours a night (sometimes less....depends on what's going on). But some kids will go for weeks w/o taking a nap and then one day they get REALLY QUIET.....presto, they passed out on their own! My daughter takes a 2 hour nap every 4-6 weeks. They sleep when they're tired.

Answer 3

My daughter is 3.5 as well. She doesn't always take her nap during the day. I think around this age they start to get more active and into more things. I spoke with her doctor and he said that this is the age where they start to get out of their "nap" phase. In other words, they're going to start napping less, which may mean that they'll sleep an hour or two more at night until their bodies are used to the lack of sleep during the day.

At this site - http://www.childrenshospital.org/views/june04/sleepless.html - about halfway down the page tells you about the hours children should/"normally" sleep. It says by mid-childhood most still sleep above 10 hours.

I would say this is just a normal part of growing up. As far as the crankiness goes, maybe her night sleep wasn't a completely restful one and those are the days you should probably really try to get her down for even an hour during the day.

Good luck and I'm sure she's fine!

Answer 4

It is enough. My girls both began giving up their naps about that age. Yes, they were cranky some days, but if they were really bad, I did do an hour of rest time. They could play quietly or sleep, but they had to have an hour of quiet. She's getting older and will need less sleep. She'll be fine mom.

Answer 5

It' nothing wrong with her, some kids don't like to sleep during the day, 10-11 is good for kids to sleep at night, that's normal, actually it's good because she's growing. try lying down with her at nap time maybe she'll fall asleep. If you have a good routine during the day, I think she might start back sleeping. like getting up at 7am playing or other activities until lunch, around 11:30 then try putting her down around 12 for an hour, then she'll be ready for bed around 8:30 or so

Answer 6

My 2 year old takes a 2 hour nap each and on a daily basis and sleeps from 9 pm to 7 am. i be responsive to she is getting adequate sleep. a three year old could desire to be on an analogous time table. for my section 11 pm is a good distance too previous due for a three year old to not sleep.

Answer 7

That age should atleast have 1-2 hour naps so it wont mess up her nite time sleeping, in daycares they usually put them down for about 2 hours.

Answer 8

she may not want a nap 11 hours is great offer down time not nap quiet time with books or puzzles but quiet things to do laying down to rest may help with the afternoon crankfest as i call them my kids are 10,7,5,3 and to get a nap in is not going to happen but 30 min of quiet time alone helps

Answer 9

Generally 12 hours per day is average for children of that age.