Anyone who is a parent knows that a baby's main preoccupation is sleep. They feed, sleep, excrete (not necessarily in that order) and then sleep again. Sometime around the 3rd to the 6th month period, the baby gets more interesting as it starts to get more interested in its surroundings. 
It would display curiosity, obvious recognition at familiar surroundings and faces, as well as affection towards people. These are fantastic developmental milestones that we should all treasure. It is probably from around 8 - 10 months or so that babies sleep twice a day before retiring for the night.
Generally speaking, younger children do require their sleep. 3 to 4 year olds need at least 12 hours sleep . Sleep is important for them to rest their little bodies, and to aid them in their physical and mental development. Sleep allows them to process what they have learnt through the day. Furthermore, if a young child does not get enough rest during the day, they will experience disrupted sleeps at night and even night terrors. Good sleeping patterns are as essential as good eating habits.
In the case of my children, the nap times were fantastic for me. These were the hours that I could finish up some housework or take a quick nap myself to make up from interrupted sleep from the night before. At some stage however, the babies will let you know when they no longer require quite as much sleep during the day. In the case of my son, he had 2 sleeps in the day time until he was 18 months old. In the case of my daughter, she dropped her mid-morning nap at around 12 months old. Both of them dropped their naps by the time that they turned 3.
As your child grows older, and these signs may appear from around 12 months old, there may be indication that he/she is ready to progress onto longer night sleeps and shorter day naps.
Signs to look out for include:
(1) Shorter naps. For example, a child may usually sleep for an hour in the mid-morning and another hour in the mid-afternoon. He/she suddenly sleeps for only 15 minutes in the mid-morning, and does this consistently over a few days, this could mean that it is time to drop that mid-morning sleep.
(2) The child gets grizzly when you try to put him/her down for one of the naps but is fine for the other one. This could also mean that one of the sleep is not required.
(3) When the child cannot get to sleep at night at the regular bedtime. My daughter was getting the 2 sleeps even when she did not require it. She could be "made" to sleep with bribes, cuddles and soft music in the day time. (I did this not for entirely altruistic reasons - I needed a day time break!) But she gave me hell at bedtime. She would be crying and wanting to watch "adult TV shows" with me at 8:30pm each night. I was forced to drop both naps by the time that she was 2 and a half.
However, before you arrive at the conclusion that your child no longer requires naps, remember the following:
(a) Assess your surroundings. Do not drop the nap mainly because the child is grizzly - assess that there are no other factors involved, such as new surroundings or other disruptions or stress.
(b) See if your child sleeps while in the car, being pushed in the stroller etc. This is also indication that the day time sleep is still required or that he/she is not getting enough sleep at night.
(c) More often than not, sleep correlates with the child's age. Hence, do use age as a general guide. If your child is 3, it may be that signs (1), (2) or (3) are true indicators that he/she does not require naps any longer. Remember to adjust the sleep pattern so that your child turns in early in the night in order for him/her to get their 12 hours worth of sleep.
(d) Go with the flow of the child. There probably isn't a precise date for dropping naps. I for one, napped until I was 6!
Good luck!
(December 2006) (
and I am not stressing so much about when to drop the day naps comepletely!
