Afternoon naps harmful for children?

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts) Jul 9th 2007 2:33PM

Researchers who apparently have nothing better to do have been studying the napping habits of children and have declared that the afternoon snooze can be harmful to them.

One study involved 27 pre-school children and some puzzles. Researchers found that the kids who took longer naps had more difficulty solving puzzles that required some planning and organizational skills.

Another polled the parents of kids ages 2 to 12 about their children's sleeping habits. The kids who took long naps during the day required more time to fall asleep at night and slept later on the weekends.

I have to wonder about that first group of 27 kids. Were they given the puzzle to solve immediately after waking from their nap? I know that on the rare occasion that I get a nap during the day, it takes me some time to fully recover my mental capacities upon waking. I tend to walk around in a bit of daze for an hour or so.

As for the other study, going to sleep later at night might not be ideal, but I think you would be hard-pressed to find a
parent who didn't appreciate a child who slept later on the weekends.

Ellie hasn't taken an afternoon nap in about 4 years, but I still miss them. Her naps not only gave me some much-needed time to myself, they gave Ellie a chance to re-charge her batteries and lose the cranky attitude that she'd been working on since breakfast. Long live the nap!

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Comments (14)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

caitlin 7-09-2007 @ 3:10PM

Twenty seven is an awfully small sample size to draw any conclusions other than "maybe we ought to do a new study with a larger sample to verify our current conclusions and see if other variables affect it". I think it would be more dependent on what the child's day was like. Slow day + long nap = no surprise your child isn't ready to fall asleep at bedtime.

My son will sleep about 2-3 hours in afternoon on busy days. We might hike a mile or two in the mornings before hitting the playground on those days and go swimming after naptime. On slower days, he might just have quiet time for an hour. He actually sleeps better on his nap days, and will often ask to go to bed half an hour early or so.

And in my own family, I've noticed some variance in how quickly we wake up. I'm not an early bird, but once I'm up, I'm awake and ready to go. My husband and son, on the other hand, take 30-60 minutes to get to the point I'm at 5 minutes after waking up.

Ann Adams 7-09-2007 @ 3:23PM

Caitlin said it. One size does not fit all and we know our own kids best.

If they're getting cranky, they probably need a quiet time even if they don't close their eyes. If they're human dynamos sunrise to sundown, they probably don't.

As for waking from a nap, there are times when it takes me a couple of minutes to realize it's daytime and I don't have to dash around getting the kids ready for school.

Jan Bay 7-09-2007 @ 4:08PM

I agree that 27 children does not a scientific study make. There could be so many factors at work such as how long did they wait after the children want to give them puzzles. And I don't see a real problem with a child taking longer to fall asleep at night rather than being so fatigued and sleep deprived that they are out as soon as their head hits the pillow.

The one thing that this study convinced me of is that none of the researchers had small children.

Uly 7-09-2007 @ 6:30PM

This is a pretty small sample size.

Additionally, we all need to remember one cardinal rule: Correlation does not equal causation. If there is a correlation, it could be that children who are less likely to need naps are simply, inherantly, brighter. It could be that the older children sleeping later on weekends are not sleeping later because of their naps, but are instead taking naps because they don't have enough time at night for sleep.

Stacey 7-09-2007 @ 4:59PM

I read this book a few months ago and I'm far more inclined to believe this research than (as Caitlin pointed out) a single study with such a small sample size.
The Take A Nap book studies the phases of sleep and how to schedule a nap to gain the maximum benefit. Maybe the kids in the study had sleep inertia because they woke up during the wrong phase of sleep. The book is more for adults but I don't see why it wouldn't apply to kids, too. Personally, I love that little afternoon nap!

Stacey 7-09-2007 @ 5:01PM

Sorry, my link didn't show up in the previous comment: It should have been
http://www.saramednick.com/nap.html
this book.

Amanda 7-09-2007 @ 5:16PM

Oh my goodness, Caitlin, you're like my husband and kids, as soon as their feet hit the floor they go 90 to nothing all day long. It takes me the better part of two hours to wake up and my husband knows better than to even acknowledge my existence unless I speak first. I hate that I'm like that! it sucks.

MamaChristy 7-09-2007 @ 6:35PM

These scientists have never met my almost-three-year old on a day he doesn't nap. They would most certianly agree that some kids do, indeed, need an afternoon snooze for both happiness AND cognitive ability.

M4Mommy 7-09-2007 @ 6:36PM

Cripes. I wish my daughter would nap. She stopped "napping" when she was 2. And even before then she wasnt a napper. I remember when she was an infant, my crying because she wouldnt take a break during the day.

We have set her bedtime and she follows it. Even looking at the clock and announcing that it is her bed time and heading up the stairs. Stuffed puppy in tow. We do our routine say good night and shut the door. And she then stays up for another 20 minutes reading. She is usually up before us in the morning. Waking at 5/530.

We have a busy day and she falls asleep on her own, just as she has since she was a baby. But I dont think that her lack of a nap has hindered her at all. Not all kids need that 2/3 hours during the day. And she doesnt bother me and helps me a lot. So i dont really miss her napping either

Stephanie 7-09-2007 @ 7:10PM

No benefit to naps? Depends on the kid! My daughter gave them up at age 3. My sister's kids still nap at ages 4 and nearly 6 - although not consistently. And you don't want to deal with my 2-1/2 year old without a nap!

SKL 7-09-2007 @ 7:17PM

I think if you force a nap on a child who doesn't need one, you will get negative results. But you will also get not-so-good results if you prevent a child from napping when she really needs to.

I think you can usually tell based on how fatigued and cranky the child gets in the middle of the day when naptime is delayed.

Sandyone 7-09-2007 @ 7:48PM

These researchers are lucky that my napping kids can't read. Otherwise, I'd have to take them (the researchers, not my kids!) out to a dark alley and help them re-analyze their findings!!!

Sandyone 7-10-2007 @ 8:42AM

Aren't there a bunch of studies that outline the benefits of a nap...for people of all ages?

Whatever study a person wants to quote for their purposes, it really doesn't matter. The proof is in the pudding!

nbarber 7-15-2007 @ 6:30PM

I did some research on my own using my children as the lab rabbits.

Emmy who is three Monday, Tuesday, I woke her up at a normal time 7am I kept her up all day doing normal activities running errands and took her swimming, she was a total monster by bed time which is 9pm. During this time we had to place her in four time outs due to hitting and telling me to shut up.
Wednesday, Thursday same waking up at 7am doing activities, running errands I gave her a nap at 11am until 1pm took her swimming and evening activities bed by 9 she was well behaved and still had her manners intacked and only one time out.

I prefer to do what I think is in the best interest of my child and myself. I believe in nap times and I suggest that the researches follow my lead. Naps help the brain unwind and gain energy all at the same time.

p.s My son who is 9 needs a weekend nap or he becomes a melt down zombie or a temper tantrum king.

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