The Benefits of Naps for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers


The many benefits of naps for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers“Can’t he just skip his nap???”

I’ve always been pretty protective of my son’s nap times, and I’ve certainly gotten some grief about it (mostly from people who do not have children, which I think is telling). 

I’ve let the criticisms roll off my backโ€”partly because I know my kid and I know he needs that downtime to thrive, and partly because I know I have science on my side. 

And let’s face it: Who’s the person who needs that nap time as much as my son does? That would be me. Mama’s gotta get stuff done! (Or, um, take a nap herselfโ€ฆ)

But my own to-do list aside, here are a few reasons why, no, my son can’t simply skip his napโ€”even though it’d be easier or more convenient if he did. Consider these the next time you’re tempted to bypass your child’s daytime shuteye. 

The Benefits of Naps for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

A Napping Child is a Learning Child

The amount of cognitive development that happens while babies and toddlers nap is pretty incredible.

Most recently, a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that infants demonstrated higher levels of learning and memory the day after being taught if they took a long nap right after the information was presented.

Here’s the key: All the infants rested soundly during the night, but only the ones who had also napped during the day remembered what they had learned twenty-four hours later.

“This needs further study,” the lead researcher told The New York Times, “but maybe babies lose some information if they don’t nap after learning.”

Considering the lengths to which we parents often go to ensure our children are smartypantsโ€”you know, playing them Mozart while they’re in the womb, counting our intake of omega-3s while breastfeeding, and helping them practice their ABCs over and over againโ€”making sure they get their nap time seems like a pretty simple way to foster the development of their precious brains.

A Napping Child is a Growing Child

It’s not just their brains that are developing; it’s their bodies too.

We’ve all heard about the growth-spurting babies and toddlers whose stomachs seem like bottomless pitsโ€”especially considering how small those stomachs really are!

But when little ones go through periods of rapid growth, they need more than just extra food. They need extra sleep too. A lot of their growth is happening while they’re in dreamland, so depriving them of that time impacts them physically as much as mentally.

A Rested Child is a Well-Behaved Child

A missed nap or two may not seem like a big deal to friends and caregivers who see the child for an hour and then leave. But talk to the parents later that evening or the next dayโ€”when they’re dealing with extra fussiness, whining, and tantrum-throwingโ€”and it’s a different story.

Research backs up the case for this fatigue-induced crankiness. One study conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder examined toddlers as they were completing puzzles. When they missed their regular 90-minute nap, the kiddos showed a 31 percent increase in negative emotional responses when they weren’t able to complete an especially difficult puzzle. They also showed a 34 percent decrease in positive emotional responses after completing an easier one.

In other words, without a nap, their negative emotions were heightened, while their positive ones were dulled.

As explained by sleep scientist Dr. Monique LeBourgeouis, “Sleepy children are not able to cope with day-to-day challenges in their worlds.” 

My takeaway? A rested child is a well-behaved and happy child. And a well-behaved and happy child makes a much happier mama, too.

A Daytime Sleeper is (Usually) a Better Nighttime Sleeper

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t prioritize their children’s naps because ditching the daytime snooze sessions helps their babies and toddlers sleep better at night.

But that’s not actually the case.

According to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, skipping naps usually leads to a child that is overtired by bedtime. And while you’d think an overtired kid will fall asleep quickly and easily, the opposite is often true: They start acting stressed, irritable, and wired, making bedtime more of a battle. 

The only time napping seems to interfere with nighttime sleep is when it occurs in the late evening (no surprise thereโ€”it’s tough to nap at 5:30pm and still go to bed by 8pm!). But other than that, daytime naps actually facilitate better nighttime sleep.


Of course, this isn’t to say that parents who bypass naps every now and then are somehow robbing their little ones of the ability to learn, grow, emotionally engage, and sleep soundly at night. It just means that, when possible, napping should be prioritizedโ€”for the sake of parent and child alike.

Are/were your kids good nappers? Do you think naps are important for babies and toddlers?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with other moms and parents!


14 responses to “The Benefits of Naps for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers”

  1. I wrote about this topic a few months back. It’s amazing how much benefit comes from nap time. My kids, unfortunately, were terrible nappers and are terrible sleepers at night. I hate it. for me and for them! Great article!

  2. from an old mom, I held on to naps as long as I could, during the summer all children, school age — laid down to read and rest, toddlers and babies to sleep. As soon as I could all were napping at the same time, including me some days.

  3. Naps are awesome but I will admit that I’ve had to get a lot more flexible on them with my second child! Or maybe that he has to learn to be more flexible… he often naps on the go (Hooray for the Ergo carrier!) or naps later than normal because we’re busy with stuff with our older son.

  4. I’ve always emphasized good sleep for my son. He’s three now and doesn’t take a day nap but I make sure he sleeps early, and watch him during the day for tiredness.

  5. Like you, I protect my kids’ naps, sometimes to the annoyance of other people lol. Your last two reasons are mine: they’re less crabby with naps, and usually, sleep begets sleep (a good nap usually means a good nighttime sleep).

    My kids will once in a while skip a nap because of their doing (like, they’re just too chatty and can’t fall asleep). And a few times we’ve had them nap in the car for long car rides to fit our activities for the day. But usually I schedule my day around their naps.

    My eldest doesn’t nap anymore, so I know this napping business won’t last forever and we’ll have our day more available. But I might also like to add one other benefit of napping: a well-deserved break for the parents! lol

  6. I think naps are so important and my toddler is a much happier boy when he naps, but man… getting him down for that nap is like pulling teeth. Ugh!

  7. If my baby doesn’t have a nap he will not sleep at night, he does wake up at night about 4 time but with out nap he wake up every 5 minutes, I have this big arguments with my husband, he though my idea of nap was crazy until I proof it to him, he used think if baby didn’t sleep in the day he definitively would sleep at night but it never was the case, now he is convinced

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