Daytime naps for toddlers - when and how?

[skiingsheep]

Does anyone have any tips for when and how to get toddlers to sleep in the day? My 17-month-old is normally a good sleeper at night. However, we're now having a lot of trouble settling him in the day. Nothing seems to work even though he is obviously tired - I've tried rocking him to sleep (wakes up and cries when I put him in the cot), sitting with him (wakes up the second I move), and leaving him to cry (just cries for ages!). He's at nursery in the week where they say he goes off to sleep easily after lunch so I tend to try and do the same, but often at home he seems tired around 11am. Can anyone help? I'm due to leave work in a few weeks time to look after him full-time and am quite worried about how we'll manage.

when ds1 was that age and younger i used to put him doen after lunch. he really has maintained that though he is now 3.5 and will have an afternoon nap every 3-4 days. if at home you think he is sleepy at 11 i would be inclined to let him sleep then. maybe by just after lunch he is over tired. as for his routine in nursery, ds has a completely different routine at the childminder than he does with me

Thank you! That is reassuring, especially about the different routines for childminders and home. We're going to try the 11am nap this weekend and see if it's any better. Fingers crossed!

My dd is 26 months and she still has her daytime nap about 11/11.30am. She's a very early riser and is tired out and ready for it then. If I try to wait till after lunch she's often too tired to eat any lunch and can get over-tired.