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Social Story for Dropping the Nap
At some point the afternoon nap stops working. A child lies awake for an hour, or naps and then cannot fall asleep at night. Dropping the nap is a big change for a small person, and for a while they may be very tired by late afternoon without understanding why.
This social story explains the change in order: no nap today, quiet time instead, books and a cuddle on the couch, an early bedtime, and a long sleep all night. Read it a few times as the nap is fading out, so quiet time feels like something they get, not something they lost.
✨ Or make one starring your child, free in seconds ↓
What will happen, in order
- No nap today
- Quiet time instead
- Books and a cuddle
- An early bedtime
- Sleep all night
Read the steps together in the daytime, more than once. The free printable below has these steps at the top and the bedtime story underneath.
June’s Quiet Time
A free story to read aloud tonight
June used to have a nap every day after lunch. But lately, June lay in her bed in the afternoon with her eyes wide open, counting the stars on her ceiling, and she was not sleepy at all. “I think,” said Mom, “you might be too big for naps now.”
“So I can play all day?” asked June. “Almost,” said Mom. “Instead of a nap, you get quiet time. Your body still likes a rest in the afternoon, even when it doesn’t want to sleep.”
So after lunch, June chose a basket of things for quiet time. Three books. Her puzzle with the frogs. And Lamb, who was very good at being quiet. She sat on the big couch under the yellow blanket, and Mom sat with her for the first story.
Quiet time was slow and soft. June turned pages. She did the frog puzzle twice. She told Lamb a story in a whisper. The clock on the wall ticked, and the sun came across the rug, and June did not sleep, but she rested, the way a car rests in a garage.
By dinnertime, June’s legs were tired and her eyes were heavy. So that night, bedtime came a little earlier than before, while the sky was still pink. Bath, pajamas, teeth, one story, the light down low.
June was so sleepy she yawned in the middle of the story. She snuggled down with Lamb and fell asleep before Mom reached the last page. And she slept all night long, a big, long, no-nap sleep, all the way until the morning.
Read it a few nights running rather than on the morning of. Familiarity is the part that works. The aim is that by the day itself, none of it is new.
When do kids stop napping?
Many children drop their last nap somewhere between about 3 and 5 years old, and it often happens gradually, with nap days and no-nap days mixed for a while. Signs include lying awake at naptime for a long time, or napping and then struggling to fall asleep at night.
What is quiet time?
A rest in the afternoon instead of a nap: about half an hour to an hour with books, quiet toys or a cuddle in a calm spot, with no pressure to sleep. It gives a child who has outgrown naps a break in the day, and if they do fall asleep, that is fine too.