2.5 year old nap length

[SarahDay1990]

What is the normal nap time for 2.5 year old? My DD is definitely not ready to drop her nap - she’s very energetic and by about 12.30/1 she’s asking me if she can go for a nap. In nursery she generally doesn’t nap and is so upset and exhausted when she gets home so I know she still needs her sleep. At home I don’t let her sleep longer than 1.5 hours (usually get her up at 2.30/2.45) But lately she’s taking ages to settle at night - Normally don’t fall asleep until 9ish and then wakes around 6.30. She’s not ready to drop a nap but wonder if I should cap the nap to one hour? Or maybe try the nap earlier in the day so she’s more tired?

Mine was like this, she loved her afternoon nap and would regularly sleep for two hours. But the nights were dragging as whilst she was tired, she wouldn't sleep. I dropped her nap in the end, and whilst between 4pm and 6pm she's like a tornado, by 7pm she's fast asleep and usually sleeps until around 6am (caveat: she wakes a couple of times in the night usually).

Sounds like she is nearly ready to drop her nap. You could try an earlier nap of no longer than 45 minutes, but sounds like our 2.5 year old. He would happily nap for two hours at lunch and be a nightmare at bed time. We tried shortening the naps but it made limited difference. Spoke to a sleep consultant and she suggested dropping the nap. He occasionally grabs 20mins if he's in the buggy/ car in the afternoon, but is no longer shattered in the evenings (but goes down easily and will sleep for a solid 11/12 hours). I am a bit gutted as his older siblings napped well past 3 years, and I appreciated the nap when his siblings are in school !

I'd try an earlier nap at around 12 for 45 minutes - 1hour. I found with my DS that he ended up not needing a nap every day but every 3 days or so he'd be completely shattered so would have one. We're 6 months down the line now and he usually has a sofa nap after lunch on a Friday now as he's worn out!

I would do an earlier, longer nap.

At this age I wouldn't let the nap go longer than 3pm (For an 8-8.30pm bedtime). But naps routinely started at 12pm, so 3h nap.

It wasn't until past 3rd birthday that it dropped to a 2h nap (1-3pm). I have four children. They have all kept the afternoon nap past their 4th birthdays.

Thanks everyone! I’m hesitant to drop the nap because she’s usually exhausted by lunch time and falls asleep straight away but also if she doesn’t nap she’s beyond tired and literally just cries and cries!

My 2.5 year old sleeps for 2.5 hours at home and around 2 at nursery. Recently he’s started being able to skip it but has tantrums in the afternoon if he does (otherwise he never tantrums).
My 3.5 year old sleeps for 1.5 hours. She can skip it without having a meltdown but she’s just so much happier when she sleeps.

I'd try for mega early lunch and start nap as soon after 12 as possible if she is tired. Then you can have a longer awake time after nap.

DS is just over 2 and we are finding going over 2 hours or sleeping past 3 affects bedtime. Not that he usually can anyway due to the school run.

With DD we could just let her sleep. She would often sleep for 3 hours until 4 and still go to bed fine! She carried on napping til age 4. I'm hoping we can continue for a long time with DS.

At that age We dropped down to 1hr max at nursery and at home. Then we started to drop it to naps only on nursery days and at home a quiet hr with the iPad in the middle of the day- dropped nap at 3.5yrs old totally.