Hyperactive 3yr old - nightmares if doesn't have nap

[amunt]

If our (very hyper) 3 yr old son does not have an afternoon nap he wakes up with a scream two or three times in the night. If he has a nap it's impossible to get him to sleep before ten o' clock and then he's quite tired mid morning at nursery.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has experienced this or has advice. I'm sure the solution is to find a way to release stress in the day without a sleep, but no idea how.
Thanks

Try not having a nap and record the time he is waking screaming. If a pattern emerges try rousing him slightly from sleep by offering him a drink or something just before the time he would normally have a night terror/scream.

Thanks, I don't think there is a pattern, but I'll make a note and give it a try.

Can you try a nap every other day, and limit it to a certain length?

So, enough to take the edge off his tiredness without the 10pm bedtimes.

We did this with DC2 and it seemed to work.

@ChristmasJumperWearer
Great idea - don't know why I hadn't thought of it. Seems ridiculously obvious now. Cheers, will give it a go.