My 3 year old boy started napping around 10H30 in the morning. He usually takes a nap around 12H00 in the afternoon. Changing nap times, is this normal?

My 5 year old is hyperactive, he always has been (it does run in the family). I have always struggled with him sleeping. Day or night. I insist on a nap in the day but he doesn't sleep, he just plays quietly in his room on his bed. It takes an hour to get him to sleep so by that time nap time is over. It still takes an hour to settle at night but he is most definately more irritable at night if he hasn't had his 'nap' and then takes even longer to settle down.

I stopped my daughter (now almost 4) from taking naps since before her second birthday. She has always been a bad sleeper - her first night of sleeping through only happened after she was 2 years old!! Since she's not napping during the day, she sleeps better at night. And it's not as if she was napping for hours, she would not sleep for longer than 1 hour max.

My 5yr old used to have terrible nightmares. The DR suggested napping as a solution. I couldn't see the connection, but I tried it and now he has no more nightmares! He sleeps about 1 hour, 12pm to 1pm and then goes to bed at 7:30pm.

I have a 6 year old and she has regular naps at the weekend, she often falls asleep on the 20 min drive home from school. when she has slept, she is bright and cheerful, and we are able to have more fun again, if she hasn't had her cat nap she is irritable and awkward and we cannot get her to do anything and are constantly fighting with each other. It is not like she is sleeping 2 hours during the afternoon - 45 min at best, 8 o'clock at night she is in bed and having a story read to her and with in 10 mins she is asleep. I think at preschool - the teachers take their well deserved tea break during nap time. So there are pros & cons to this whole thing - but my opinion is that they recharge during their naps and can carry on functioning happily afterwards.

I hate my six year old napping! I agree with smaller kids up to say 4 having a nap, but once they are 5 they no longer need a nap. Her school insists they take a nap. I believe more for the teachers to have tea and chat then any other reason. This means every single night I have a handful trying to get her to bed at a decent hour. So I spend the better part of the evening struggling with her. What time does that leave to be with my wife? And believe me, we all need to spend more time with our partners, check the divorce rate! Then in the morning its the opposite, can't get her up and invariably it ends up in tears because we are now late. Weekends she doesn't nap and by 2000 she is sleeping and in the mornings she is up and bright. No, napping is not a good idea!