When did your toddler drop their afternoon nap?

[thereistheball]

DD is 23 months and has just gone her 2nd day in a row, and 3rd this week without an afternoon nap (instead she dropped off in her pram 5 minutes before we got home but then woke up and was full of beans). Yesterday evening she was very strung out, today is a bit better. I'd expected her to carry on with her nap for months yet, without having thought about it much. Is this about the right age for her to drop it?

Both my boys had a two hour nap every afternoon right up until they started school full time, aged 4. Ds2, now 5.5 would still have one every day if he could.

I'm so glad to see that there are other toddlers who've dropped their naps at around 24 months! All the toddlers we know of my dd's age (25 months) all still nap - my dd stopped napping for me at about 23 mths, but still naps like a dream on the days my mum looks after her (you can imagine the "you're not being firm enough" comments I've had from my mum!). She will still fall asleep in the car though, so I spend some afternoons sitting in the car reading the paper (!) rather than running round doing chores like I used to.

ds was 3

dd will be 3 on Tuesday and today asked to go to bed at 12.30pm

but 2 is normal, i think

Ds1 is 2.7 and has just dropped his by the look of it -- hasn't napped since Monday

this coincided with going into a bed -- once he realised he could get out and wander around the room, that seemed much more exciting!

I am gutted as have a 4mo too and could really use the downtime! Am going to get a few DVDs for him to watch after lunch instead.

I am more worried now about not giving ds spaghetti and meatballs. he has never had spagehtti

my dd dropped all naps at 6 bloody months!
It was a nightmare

dd2 seems to be going the same way

My poor childminder!

DS1 (now 3.5)at 16months, tho' still napped at nursery for another 6m, then he had to be banished at nap time as he kept everyone else awake by telling them stories!
DD2 is 9m and naps are shortening rapidly. Looks like we've got another one who'll drop it early.
"Time out" in pushchair in the afternoon is helpful as it's less full-on for them (DS1 has always woken before 6, usually around 530, so days are very long even with 630 bedtime).
We did no TV till over 3, but can be useful for very over tired DS occasionally (about 1/ month)

DD dropped her naps bang on 2, just as we swapped from cot to bed. We gave her chill out time, and still do, where she sits on her bed and "reads" books, or we curl up on the sofa and I read to her. Even now a year on, when she's shattered she will not give in to the nap, but reading will recharge her batteries enough to keep her going till bedtime.

DS is 23 months and still needs to be woken after 2 hours (thank the lord!). I've heard of lots of DC dropping their naps once they move into a bed, so DS is DEFINITELY not going into a bed until he's already dropped his nap, which hopefully won't be for a long time yet.

DD is 24 months and trying to drop her nap. I've started to run the legs off her in the mornings, so she does nap because when she misses a nap she gets grumpy as anything around 5pm. When she has a nap she's angelic (ish) until bedtime at 7ish.

3.5 and still needs one/two hours every afternoon, although occasionally she can go without. personally i think children need a nap for way longer than most parents think, and it's worth persevering with trying to put them down when they go through the don't want to nap phase around 2.

that means they probably go to bed a bit later than the hallowed 7pm but are happier all the time.

7 pm bedtime is not a gospel and i always feel sorry for those poor children walking around completely zombified by 5pm, plus it's still light outside till 6 so plenty of time to run around and play. having said that now that the days start getting shorter i may well try and cut dd1's nap down to 45 min/1 hour otherwise we'll have no afternoon at all...

but of course all children are different and no doubt my dd2 will drop her nap ridiculously early and that'll teach me...

DD now 19mths has not really napped since she was 17mths.

I have found that offering her a nap every 5 days or so might work

Also to avoid the cranky evenings I have brought tea forward to 4pm, then she is in bed by 6/6.30.

Also a bath normally revives crankyness

Ds is 3 in Nov - he gave up going to bed of an afternoon when he was about 2 and a half and became a nightmare at bedtime if was still a live wire - now he can go all day or sometimes falls asleep on his bean bag watching cbeebies or in the car but i dont let him have more than 20 mins to half hr depending on the time of day then hes fine and enough tired to go down at 7 again. If hes off colour i leave him sleep as long as he needs.

dd is 2.2 and still has 2 hours a day although sometimes it takes her a while to drop off now, ive always tried to be at home by 2pm to put her in the cot.
she is still in her cot and not sure if that makes a difference.
she only sleeps 9hrs at night though.

Ds (2.5 tomorrow) has an hour's nap every day, but only in the car when he's with me (he sleeps easily at nursery). I do purposely go out in the car because I think he still needs this nap.And, particularly while pregnant, I enjoy the relax and reading my book! He doesn't go to bed until 8.30pm at night, though. We have never done the '7pm' thing. It doesn't suit DS or us.

Just after 2yrs. I was bereft! It got much easier to go out after that though.

Once bedtime was getting later and wakings in the night getting more frequent (and waking at 5am every morning !!) .......I then cut it down and down and then cut it out. It was a very tricky 3 - 4 months when he was 2 yrs 3 months but he got over it eventually - now he's just over 3 and will occasionally sleep in the car if we nip out over lunchtime but usually will watch tv after his lunch whilst his sister of 7 mos kips upstairs.

I think if you don't mind the later bed but really want the time during the day then carry on but if they're resisting it sounds like you don't have much choice. The transition period is quite difficult but they get used to it.