DO CHILDREN NEED A NAP?

As your little one gets older, the nap routine becomes more and more difficult to implement. They prefer to be busy playing and doing other activities rather than having to rest or take a nap. How about your little one at home?

Each child's sleep needs vary according to their age. For example, children aged 1-3 years, on average, need 12-14 hours of sleep per day. Children aged 3-6 years need 10-12 hours per day to sleep, and ages 7-12 years need at least 10-11 hours of sleep per day.

The recommended nap duration is around 90 minutes. If they nap longer, it will actually interfere with children's natural sleeping patterns making it a lot harder to sleep at night. The older you get, the less you will need to sleep during the day. Even when children have entered school age (6 years old) and they no longer have nap time, there is nothing wrong with suggesting they take rest after a tiring day of activities at school.

What to do if your little one refuses to take a nap? Although there are no specific provisions, napping has the following benefits:

• Maintaining weight to stay healthy

When the body feels tired, children will tend to eat in larger quantities. With a nap, this can be avoided. 

• Improving a child's mood

If the body feels comfortable and not tired, children will be better at controlling their emotions when faced with unexpected or unpleasant things.

• Sleeping at night is so much easier

A tired body often makes it difficult to sleep. Napping helps the body to be fresher, so when it's time to sleep at night, your body is not too tired.

• Helping children’s learning process

Naps make children more focused when studying in the afternoon.

Don't give up when your little one doesn't want to take a nap. Here are a few tips you can try! 

• Give your little one an understanding of what benefits will be obtained if they take a nap.
• Prepare comfortable room conditions and accompany them when they want to sleep. 
• Set a nap schedule at the same time, so this will become a daily routine. 
• Encourage your children to do activities in the morning, because if they feel tired later in the day they will be sleepy and thus it will be easier for them to take a nap.
• One hour after lunch, take your little one to take a nap. It is the same with adults, if you are full, it will be easier to sleep.

However, don't force your little one to take a nap. Because if they resist it will actually make them more uncomfortable.