Research reveals the difference between toddlers who nap and those who refuse to
New research has revealed insight into why some toddlers need a nap and how others can go without it.
Sleep is something that is never, ever overrated when it comes to children. One thing that having a nap and not having a nap has in common is that you can always notice from your child's behaviour either way.
As you may have experienced, kids vary with their nap times. Sometimes that day nap falls away when they reach a certain age, whilst other times, they could be still taking a nap well into their toddler years.
When asked, "why do some preschoolers refuse naps while others have a meltdown without an afternoon snooze? Researchers suspect it may have a lot to do with a specific memory-related part of the brain." (MSN)
Napping can be key to some parents, who just need a time-out during the day. Whilst other parents prefer not having that daytime nap and rather their kids sleep through the night.
Which can also be a varying factor amongst children. Rebecca Spencer, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has mentioned that not many people have looked into the timing of these naps.
A proposed theory as to why and when youngsters stop napping reveals that it "may be dependent on a brain structure called the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a major role in memory processing and learning. And Spencer and Riggins hypothesize that the maturity of the hippocampus, rather than a child's age, may be a key driver of young children's transition out of napping." (MSN)
Interestingly enough, studies have shown that children who have napped after story time were able to remember the details of the story better than their non-sleeping friends.
Which leads us to believe that naps are fairly important, so then how come some kids nap and others don't?
"As the hippocampus matures, so does its capacity, and the drive to nap abates, Spencer and Riggins say. So, children may transition out of regular napping based on the pace of the hippocampus's development. That does not mean that something is wrong with the hippocampus of a child who is still napping at age 5, however." (MSN)
You know that saying, don't compare? Well, it seems to be correct in all facets of parenting and life. Children develop at their own pace and pushing our conceived notions of what is 'right' and 'wrong' just stunts them instead of uplifting them.
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