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Naps:

Babies start off by being asleep more than they are awake. Slowly, this will turn into them being awake most of the day, but taking several naps. Usually, by the time they are a year old, they are awake almost all the time, except for two naps a day. Then, as they become a toddler, this will become one long nap a day. This usually happens by the time the child is about 2.

How long that will last really depends on several factors, including your child's bedtime, their school or daycare, or their parent if they stay at home. Some children will stop taking naps earlier than others, but for most children, it is around 4-5 years old. Most preschools have a nap time, and even some kindergartens do.

Some kindergartens don't have a nap time, but opt for a rest time instead. This is where the kids have to lay down at a specific time each day and be quiet and rest, but they won't get in trouble for not actually going to sleep. Even the schools that choose to do this will usually only do it for the first half of the year, which implies that by the time most kids are around the age of 5 or 6, they will stop taking naps altogether. This is truer for children who get plenty of sleep every night. If your child doesn't get much sleep one night, or has a day where they wear themselves out, they may still need a nap every once in a while, just as adults do.

There are a few things you can do that will help your child get a good nap everyday (and, as most parents know, if a child doesn't get their nap out, they can be very cranky).

• Keep it as dark and quiet as possible—it is much harder to sleep during the day than in the evening. If you have a window open and street noise and sunlight are filtering through, not only will it take your child longer to get to sleep, but they also won't sleep as well or as long as if it were darker and quieter. To accomplish this, you can keep dark curtains on the windows, with the shades closed. To filter out as much noise as possible, you will want to keep the windows closed, especially if you live somewhere that has a lot of traffic or other outside noise.

• Wear them out—your child will sleep better if they have played hard during the time they were awake.

• Plan bath time just right—you may want to save this for just before bedtime, but if your child got dirty playing outside, or it is bath day and it is obvious that your child needs a nap, you should give them a bath about an hour before nap time. Babies and kids sleep much better when they are clean.

• Wake them up early—the tendency of parents is, when possible, to let the child sleep as late as they want. Many parents do this to be able to get more sleep, get some alone time, or a variety of other reasons. This can be bad, though, because if your child sleeps two hours later than normal, she will not be ready for a nap until two hours later than normal. This also means she won't be ready for bed until two hours later. Once this happens, even once, your child's complete schedule will be thrown off, and it is very difficult to get it back.

• Make sure they are comfortable—this includes feeding them before nap time so that they aren't hungry, changing their diaper if they still wear one (or having them use the bathroom if they don't), and giving them something to drink. The more comfortable they are, the less distractions they will have. This means they will sleep better and longer.

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