It's Rest Time!

It’s not nap time. It’s rest time

I often hear parents/caregivers saying “my child no longer wants to nap!” anywhere between 2.5 and 3 (sometimes earlier). While a child may not need to sleep, their body still needs to have a moment of rest during the day. When you refer to it as rest time, you are not only removing the pressure of having to sleep from your child but your also taking the pressure off of YOU! If your child sleeps, that’s great. If your child doesn’t sleep, that’s also great.

A child has so much energy- they are running around playing, moving etc. This is considered your “out-breath” time but you need “in-breath” time for your body to reset. It’s kind of like the equivalent of an adult taking a 20 minute power nap (how good does that sound 😉)

Some days they will sleep and some days they will just rest. They are learning to pay attention to their body. My 7 year old still has rest time. It just looks a little different...he’s reading a book, drawing a picture, finger knitting, etc. He’s doing in-breath activities that are calming and restorative.