When our children were small, two tended to get upset when their nursery school insisted they tried to sleep during ‘nap times’.  Were they unreasonable?

A new study to be published in JCPP Advances reveals that some children do not need frequent naps.  The study finds that this might be due to their stage of brain development. 

During sleep, children consolidate information which is needed for brain development so many need daytime naps.  Some, however, are more efficient at consolidating information during sleep, so they nap less frequently.

The study found that those children who need naps show a lower vocabulary count and less developed cognitive skills. 

Lead researcher, Dr Teodora Gliga wrote, “There is a lot of parental anxiety around sleep. Parents worry that their kids don’t nap as much as expected for their age – or nap too frequently.”  This research shows that children’s need for naps reflects their cognitive needs. 

“But our research shows that how frequently a child naps reflects their individual cognitive need. Some are more efficient at consolidating information during sleep, so they nap less frequently.   Children who don’t need to nap show a larger vocabulary, and better performance on cognitive tasks such as focusing on a task and memory function. This suggests that they have a lesser need for naps because their cognitive need is less.

The bottom line is that  children have different sleep needs and some children may stop napping earlier because they don’t need them anymore.  Perhaps nap times should be based on a child’s mental age rather than their chronological age. 

More information: More frequent naps are associated with lower cognitive development in a cohort of eight- to 38- month-old children, during the COVID-19 pandemic, JCPP Advances (2023). wrap.warwick.ac.uk/177343/

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