when do toddlers drop their nap?

[MGMidget]

I am wondering how old toddlers are when they stop needing a nap in the middle of the day? I'm trying to plan ahead for a nursery place as it looks like I'm going to be offered an afternoon place (rather disappointingly!) which clashes with my son's nap time. He'll only have just turned two when he starts so I'm worried he'll be tired and miserable!

Well my ds1 has dropped his naps for about 4 weeks now and he was 2 last month.

I find if I force him to have a nap, he is a nightmare at bedtime.
But having said that, he will fall asleep in the pushchair mid afternoon when I do the school run, so he is still tired.

My son is 2 next month and still has a nap (he is asleep now )

do they stop naps? my nusery has naptime just after lunch and that's for all the lo. my mother had me taking naps till about 6!

I like an afternoon nap and I'm 30!!

of all those with napping 2 year olds.

Its not fair!

DD1 is 2yrs 9 months and will have a nap for 1-2 hours if she is tired on some days, not all. I'll see her yawning/rubbing her eyes and will take her upstairs and put her to sleep. If not - she is a complete nightmare by 5pm - very ratty etc

completely incoherent the first time (must mean I need a nap too):

DD1 is 2yrs 9 months and will have a nap for 1-2 hours if she is tired on some days and on other days not all. If I see her yawning/rubbing her eyes and will take her upstairs and put her to sleep. If not - she is a complete nightmare by 5pm - very ratty etc

DS is in the process of dropping his nap now at 22 months but he is still very tired so tends to veg on the sofa at about 4 or be very very ratty.

Just put him in his room as punishment for putting the loo roll down the loo for the 3rd time today, went to fetch him 2 mins later and found him asleep on the floor

My dd napped almost every afternoon until she was almost 4 (she was the very last in her class to do so and they allowed her to "sleep with the babies" as she put it and gave her a little bed and blanket.

Could the nursery accomodate you and allow your ds to nap in the afternoons?

At ds nursery they include an after lunch nap for all the children up until they turn 3 and move to the "pre-school" room. Can you check with the nursery what they do - I'm sure you won't be the only parent in this situation

I had to wean my ds (nearly 3) off his afternoon nap. His bedtime was becoming an issue as he wasn't tired. He likes his afternoon nap so I've had to go with the flow and if he needs the nap I will give it to him.

Normally he now relaxes on sofa after lunch to a DVD or if really tired I will stick something very boring on the TV and it will send him off to sleep.

He now goes to bed at 7.15 as opposed to 9pm - which was getting ridiculous!

my granny always had an afternoon nap and she lived to 96!

Similar to LunaFairy, we had to drop DS' nap for him at about 3, because he wasn't tired at bedtime. He does still sometimes fall asleep on the sofa late afternoons.

DS has just dropped his nap last week - I was gutted. He's 2yrs 3mo.

Are you sure nursery doesn't have 'nap time'? Ours does, and kids who go for PM only, have nap time after they arrive. But I guess you must be sure of this, and that's why you're asking... ignore my blitherings

I think every child is different. DS is 3.7 and still needs a nap. He doesn't get one during the week as he fights it at nursery but at weekends we make sure he has a nap or he is a total monster. He is sooo whingey and tired during the week!

God, my DS1 is asleep right now (3.7yo). He dropped them last month, but since he's been back at Kindergarten he's gone back to them. In fact, at the weekend we didn't let him sleep because we were in the car, and on Monday he had a complete meltdown at KG. I collected him at 12.30pm and he was asleep on a little sofa.

Ds is 2.9 and usually has a nap in the afternoon. He's very difficult at bed time when he hasn't had one.

dd1[2.9] and dd2[20mths] can vary greatly between needing a nap for 1hr,30mins,or no nap at all. Generally I try to get them to have a 30min nap which they have now chosen to do on the afternoon school run when I go to pick up ds.

It varies enormously.

Dd was 20 months, ds was nearly 3½. He is now in Reception and they have a little quiet/sleeping corner, so I'm sure the nursery would have something similar.

Around 3 years' old?

It is a gradual process. For example, my dd would nap at nursery but drop her naps on weekends with us but get very ratty. Until she dropped her naps completely and her body adjusted to the next regime. The good thing about dropping naps is that her bedtime got earlier - 7-ish. But now that she is older 5, her bedtime is creeping later, now around 8:30.

Just to clear up some of the comments/questions - its a montessori nursery school rather than a daycare nursery so I don't think they have a naptime - in fact I'm sure of this as it was discussed during a nursery tour.

mine started dropping his just past 2 1/2, and for the last two months he's gone back to having them, big time - he's 3.3 now.

DS1 is 2.6 and sleeps 2-3 hours in middle of day. He occasionally doesn't nap and he survives, but is really ratty the next day.

I don't think any/many nurseries would offer a nap if a child is only doing a half day. DS1's nursery do offer naps to any child that still wants / needs one regardless of age but if they do half days there 8-1 or 1-6 then I don't think a nap would be offered. Even less so if it is not a day nursery, eg child going from say 12:30 to 3:30 I would imagine.

maybe you could try a short nap late morning? ds1 is 3 and a bit and still likes a nap some days.