If your 2,5y old still naps at daytime, when is the bedtime?

[SoggyWhiteBread]

So my DS is 27m and wakes up in the morning anywhere between 6 and 7 and then having his nap at around 1pm for around 1,5 -2h. I’ve tried to shorten them a couple of times to just 1h but it always ends up with a big cry and he’s unhappy and fussy and generally I can see that one hour is not enough so I don’t wake him up anymore and let him have his nap, specially if we’ve been out all morning.
So then his bedtime is around 8, means dinner and teeth are done so we are in the bed already. The some cuddles, laugh and generally he falls asleep then around 9ish.

But I keep reading here that toddlers go to the bed around 6:30, 7ish. How do you do that, seriously if they still nap at daytime? If he’s waking up around 3 there’s no way he will sleep at 7 because at that time he’s not tired and his wake window is just too short to sleep after waking up just 4h before.

At that age of mine had a nap they didn’t go to sleep until 9pm, as I wanted an evening to myself (I do have 4 kids) the naps soon stopped so that they were in bed early!!!

At that age my dc were in nursery. We woke at 7 had a drink got to nursery at 8, they would eat breakfast there, play, snack, play, lunch then nap for 2 hours, play, tea, play and collect at 6 where they'd fall asleep in buggy on train we'd get home at just gone 7, sometimes they'd stay asleep if they woke up I'd put them back down at 9ish with a warm milk.
Weekends were different though, woke up at 7 still and they napped at 12 for an hour then they went to sleep for the evening at 8 latest

Mine is 2.5 and still has a 1.5 hour nap 3-4 days a week (never naps at nursery) but I try to keep bedtime consistent at 7pm. Mostly because I need time in the evening to myself and she is super ratty if she doesn`t have a nap when she needs one. Sometimes if we have been busy and it is the day after a no nap day she will still go to sleep immediately at 7pm. Other days she is less tired but will just play with her toys in bed for 30-60 minutes. I see it as a good wind down and think I lucked out with a toddler that will happily amuse herself before sleep.

Mine doesn't nap anymore but used to do 1hr at 12.30 ish. Bed at 7.30-7.45, wake up at 6.30-6.45am.

When my DS was 2.5 he napped around 12:30/1 and often wasn't up till 3 and still was asleep at 7. Think it depends on the child, routine etc.

Mine is 27 months and still naps for 1.5 to 2 hours between 1pm and 3pm (as a very heavily pregnant SAHM, this is something I am grateful for every single day). Bedtime is 7pm - she gets put in her cot at 7, and we leave her to it. Typically it takes her up to 20-30 minutes of nattering and rolling about before she's actually sleep. She'll then sleep through till 6.30/7am. The relatively short wake window between waking from her nap and bed just doesn't seem to worry her, and she's definitely happy to be in her cot by 7. She's always had a much longer window earlier in the day though, so a shorter one before bed isn't new for her.

She used to be a right shitty sleeper, so I feel I've done my punishment and am enjoying life while the now sun shines (or at least until it inevitably all goes to shit again, probably timed perfectly for when the baby arrives!!)

My 29 month old is up at 6, nap 1-2 (would be longer but we/nursery restrict it), bed at 645, asleep by 7. It happens because we make it happen! Sleep trained at 6m and if she whinges/cries a bit we ignore it, never more than 5 mins.

My boys are just over 2.5 and still nap. Bedtime is a little after 9pm.

It's not ideal, it means bugger all child free time at the moment. But if I try to cut their nap they have a really broken night. Bit of a pain at the moment, I went through something similar with eldest at this age. It'll all sort itself out in a few months with with bit of luck! Nap transitions are always difficult. We'll probably keep the nap till the summer holidays.

They are all different.

Mine is nearly 3. She naps at nursery and then doesn't sleep till 10 ish which is a nightmare 😭

If she doesn't nap she's asleep by 7.30/8, and up at 6.30ish

My 2.5 year old wakes at 7am. Naps for around 1.5hrs at lunch time. Bed is 9pm at the EARLIEST. I hate it too but he's a miserable mess without his nap.
I experimented dropping the nap, he was a stumbling, hysterical crying mess by 5pm. Went to bed at 6pm. Woke up at 3am for the day 😫

Mine is 23 months, naps for anywhere between 1.5 - 2.5 (occasionally 3!) hours a day. Pre clock change it was easy to get her to sleep around 7.30-7.45 but since the lighter evenings, even with blackout blinds it's impossible to get her asleep before 8.30. It was stressing me out for ages battling to get her to bed earlier but it's so much easier now to go with the flow with the understanding that this is her current bedtime. I don't think the length of nap actually seems to affect the bedtime tbh, at nursery she quite often has a shorter nap of an hour or less but it doesn't make her fall asleep any earlier at night.

My 2.5 year old wakes at 8am, has a nap 12:30-3pm, then bed time at 7pm. He's always loved sleep, and is miserable without the nap.

Can you try an earlier nap. Shift it 15m every 2/3 day so 1230
First week. Then early lunch and 12 ish second week

See if settles then and sleep for 2hrs and bed by 7ish

Mini
Blondes at 2 was still sleeping 1/3 and bed around 7/730 tops

When gave up nap she was in bed by 630pm ans slept I3hrs till 730am

Even now she does 630/7 tops and wakes always after 7. Often 730pm ans is 6

Guess you have to decide

Nap and bed 8/9

battle through no naps and bed early

Nap wake after hour and grumpy

Earlier nap 12-2 and bed 7

We have a 1.5-2 hour nap for our 2.5 year old. Bedtime is 7:45-8 but she often stays up singing to herself/rearranging her toys/flipping through a book until 8:30/9. She gets up in the morning later than yours though - around 7:30.

I’m dreading dropping the nap - I need my midday break!

2.5 year old, deffo needs a nap but is capped at an hour, he hates it but otherwise he doesn't sleep properly at night. I start rousing gently at 45 mins and have his favourite snack and tv programme ready 🤣 nap is anywhere from 11am til 2pm but if he falls asleep at 3 then it's capped at 30mins else he won't go to bed till 9pm 🙃

2yr8months, only naps a couple of times a month but will be wide awake until at least 11pm if she does! 8.30pm is a normal no nap day. She's just wired this way and has always been lower sleep needs than she 'should' for her age. I think people who think the routine they're imposing does all the work don't realise that their child just has particular sleep habits that work that way. Trying to give my DD a 7pm bedtime would mean starting the day around 4am!

My little girl is 2.5 and dropped her nap (definitely her choice, not mine!) at 22 months!! Usually now without a nap she is asleep between 7 and 8. If, for some reason, she’s fallen asleep in the car or whatever, she’s up bouncing around until 9.30-10 😱

Mine dropped his nap just before age 2. He's now 2.5 years and wakes 6-6.30am, bedtime at about 6.30pm.

He has a power nap of about 5 mins in the car at about 11.30 each morning which sees him through. I do avoid the car after 3pm though as it would mean a later bedtime as he would fall asleep on a journey.

We love our evenings and I actually prefer the day without a nap which I never thought I'd say!
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27 month old
Wakes between half 7 and 8
Naps from half one until 3
Bedtime starts at 20.15 (milk, teeth, bath, story)
She is usually asleep between 21.15 and 21.30