Forty winks? How brain development influences your toddler's nap time

Nap time might be your chance for a precious sit down, or you might be wondering if dropping a nap is the solution to night waking. Just like other aspects of development, the way your toddler’s sleep develops is unique to them – but what processes influence their sleep patterns? 

Sleep is developmental and your toddler’s pattern of rest has changed a lot already.  

What’s important to remember is that there is a lot of individual variation in sleep and when each child moves from one sleep pattern to another. And, like other transitions, dropping a nap might be a gradual process happening over several weeks or months, with your toddler having shorter or fewer naps before they stop.[1] 

You’re probably well aware of individual sleep patterns if you have friends or family with toddlers a similar age. Some might be having one nap, some two and some none at all.   

How our bodies regulate sleep – circadian and homeostatic regulation.^[1] 

It helps us understand our toddler’s sleep if we know about circadian and homeostatic processes – these are the two biological processes that help us sleep or nap. 

You might have heard of circadian rhythm – this is the cycle of being sleepy and alert.^[1]  

Our brains bring together information from our bodies and surroundings to produce this cycle.  

Your toddler’s circadian rhythm will be influenced by things like your evening or pre-nap routine, as well as if it is light or dark.  

The other system which influences sleep is known as the homeostatic mechanism (or sometimes process S).^[1]  

Homeostatic sounds complicated but is simply our brain and body’s way of keep us stable – by making adjustments that keep us in what scientists call a ‘regulated’ or ‘stable’ state.  

You could think of this as a Goldilocks state – not too tired or too alert, not too hungry or too full, and so on.  

When we think about homeostatic regulation and sleep, this process just means we will sleep when we’ve been awake for long enough.  

It’s important to say that your toddler’s brain is still developing, and they won’t always be able to regulate themselves – so this could explain your tired toddler running and jumping around. They know their body doesn’t feel quite right but don’t know the solution is a rest! 

What does all this mean for naps?  

Recently, psychologists have suggested that the transition in nap time is linked to brain development and the development of memory.^[1] So, if your toddler continues to nap for longer than their friends this might be due to differences in how they learn.  

They argue that dropping a nap shouldn't be based on age but on individual needs; if your toddler has a nap and still sleeps well at night then you don’t need to feel they ‘should’ drop their nap.  

References: 

[1] Spencer, R.M.C., & Riggins, T. (2022). Contributions of memory and brain development to the bioregulation of naps and nap transitions in early childhood. PNAS, 119(44). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2123415119