Predictors of Early Nap Cessation: Longitudinal Findings from a Large Study of Young Children

Most children cease napping between 2 and 5-years-old, with considerable inter-child variability. We tested the predictors of early nap cessation (i.e., children who cease napping before three years old) using longitudinal data from 5504 Canadian children (51.1% male; 89.8% White) in three cohorts with two timepoints each. Children were 0–1-years-old at baseline (M = 10.19 months SD = 3.95 months) and 2–3-years-old at follow-up (M = 30.83 months, SD = 4.60 months). Parents reported on demographic, perinatal, growth, developmental, child and parent functioning, and child sleep variables. At follow-up, 10.9% ± 0.8% had ceased napping. Multigroup multivariate logistic regression was conducted using a model building approach to identify predictors of early nap cessation. Early nap cessation was predicted by older child age (ORs range from 1.15 to 1.24, moderated by cohort), female sex (OR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.07–1.55), having an older sibling (OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.10–1.62), achieving more developmental milestones (OR = 1.08; 95% CI: 1.03–1.13), and longer nighttime sleep duration (OR = 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01–1.11). Non-White ethnicity (OR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.28–0.60), birthweight < 2500 gs (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.37–0.96), parent working/in school (ORs range from 0.50 to 0.58, moderated by cohort), and the birth mother consuming alcohol during pregnancy (OR = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40–0.79) were related to a lower likelihood of nap cessation. Findings suggest nap cessation is influenced by developmental and socio-environmental factors.