How long is 'normal' for a 3 year old to sleep during the day?

[Holymoly321]

DS1 is coming up to his third birthday. He goes to bed about 7.30pm and wakes up around 6.30am and has a nap at 1pm of anything from one to two hours - usually nearer two hours. This is great for me because I also have a 9mth old tocope with so the break at lunch time is great, but it's suddenly occured to me that maybe he is sleeping too much? How long is normal for a 3 year old to sleep?

I think there must be a huge difference in kids' sleep needs. While her friends all dropped their naps ages ago, my DD (just over 3) is only just dropping her daytime sleep and I hate it. I also have a baby and it gave me a bit of downtime during the day as the baby will still not nap alone (and is generally a bit cr**p at sleeping all round ) but will feed/nap if I sit in a comfy chair and relax. I would enjoy it while you can as you may find that he drops the nap before too long. Unless, you have reason to suspect he is otherwise ill (e.g. pale, circles under eyes, low energy levels). You need and deserve all the rest you can get (as well all do). If anyone suggests to you that he shouldn't be having naps at this age, I would politely suggest they are a wee bit jealous!!

I don't think there is a 'normal'. My ds (now 4.5) did very much the same as yours at that age, but a lot of his friends had dropped their nap completely much earlier on. I don't think a 3 year old can have too much sleep! We started dropping it gradually when he was getting reluctant to go to bed at 7.30. And we started getting busier during the day so it wasn't always convenient. By the time he was nearly 4 he was having an occasional after lunch nap if he seemed very tired and grumpy, infact he still does sometimes now. If it isn't affecting his bedtime routine, then I'd say there isn't a problem. Enjoy!

no nap here since just over 2

thanks all, think I will stop worrying and just relax about it. There have been times when we are out and about during the day and so he hasn't had the nap but you can tell he hasn't had it as by 4pm he is either super grumpy or super hyper! I was just worried he should be awake 'absorbing' 'stuff' but will just chill now.

It varies hugely between children, but I think you will know when it is time to drop the lunchtime nap. With DD1 when she was about 2.9 she fought the nap like crazy so I swapped to quiet time with a story CD for a bit and sometimes she'd sleep and sometimes not, but then, if she did sleep I'd find she'd be awake until about 9pm (in her room, but driving me crazy - hopping in and out of bed, going to the loo over and over etc) so I gave in and dropped the nap and 7pm bed time was restored (or at least for a while a blissful 6.30pm bedtime as she was initially so tired she'd be dropping by then). Sounds like you are lucky enought to have a little one who still needs his nap.