Is she ready to drop the nap?

DD will be 3 in November. I have been home with her for the Summer and most days she naps, but it takes her a whilllllllle to go down. There have been a few times where she skipped it altogether (like today). During the school year she naps from 12:30-3 @ daycare. With me, she goes down around 1:30-2 and sometimes sleeps until 4.

When she naps, its a good 2+hour nap. But I do notice bedtime gets A LOT later (like past 9:30) and she REALLY gives us a hard time.

I am wondering if I should just nap her on an as needed basis. When she goes back to daycare in September she will most likely nap for them.

When did your LO drop the nap?

Re: Is she ready to drop the nap?

My 2 year old DD was never a good napper, and she recently stopped napping completely, not even in the car!

Re: Is she ready to drop the nap?

DD is also 3 and the same thing was happening. She was fighting the nap a bit but when she fell asleep she would sleep for at least 2 hours.
However, it completely messed with her bedtime. She would go to bed at 8 pm but would not fall asleep until 10 or sometime 11 pm. Then when she had to get up so I could drop her off to go to work she was miserable. So, I just dropped the nap all together. She will sometimes fall asleep in the car or if I know we are going out late in the evening, I will let her nap. Now without the nap she goes to bed at 8 and is passed out in under a minute.

eta - now that it is summer and we are doing pool/sun activities DD will go to be earlier and pass out right away - she will sleep anywhere from 12-14 hours

Message edited 8/8/2013 9:18:35 PM.

Re: Is she ready to drop the nap?

DS turned 3 on July 1st and we are reaching the same point. For daycare he will only nap 20-30 minutes so it doesn't change his bedtime. But on the weekends, he will nap 2-3 hours and then bedtime becomes rough unless it's been an insanely busy day.

Today he took no nap and was in bed by 7:30. Curious to see how late he sleeps in tomorrow.

Re: Is she ready to drop the nap?

I've been thinking the same thing! And almost EXACT situation as you. DS will be 3 in November. He takes a nap around 1:30/2, and usually sleeps a good 2 hours. BUT then he isn't ready for bed until 9, and doesn't actually fall asleep until 10 some nights! But, he does sleep until 8:30 AM or so...
I'm a SAHM right now, so I've just been rolling with it. I like the 2 hour break in the afternoon, and the later bedtime makes it a little easier to go out to parties, dinner, etc on the weekends with him. We don't have to run home for an 8 pM bedtime.
BUT he starts nursery school in a couple weeks and will need to be at school by 9. So I think I'm gonna start waking him up a little earlier in the AM, and trying to move his nap earlier. That way hopefully he'll do an earlier bedtime. He always falls asleep quickly for his naps, so I don't think he's totally ready to give it up completely yet.

Re: Is she ready to drop the nap?

My DD started to drop naps around 3y3m. She would have trouble falling asleep, or she'd wake up soon after putting her down, and some days she didn't want to sleep at all. It took probably a good 2 or so months for her to eliminate them all together but by 3.5 she was completely done with them.