Take Away Toddlers Nap?

When you say it is taking her an hour or more to fall asleep, what is that like? Is she in her crib talking to herself, flipping through a book, or playing with a toy? If this is the case, I wouldn't worry much at all. There are some people who fall asleep when their head hits the pillow and then there are some who entertain a little before falling asleep. In my opinion, this is fine as long as she isn't screaming or pitching a major fit.

Often our son takes 15-30 minutes before he falls asleep. He is either tucking in his toys and saying "night-night" to them, reading his book, or talking to himself - which is really cute because he usually talks about the events of his day and names places we went or people we saw. He's been doing this for a few months now and STILL takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and sleeps for a stretch of 12+ hours nightly.

I would NOT get rid of the nap. I think I'd start w/ leaving things alone for a week or two and see how that goes. If she still has trouble, consider shortening it or limiting it to 2 hours. What time is she going to bed at night and when does she wake?

My son is 3 and still takes a 1-2 hour nap each afternoon, and boy does he need it! I think even when a child is ready to give up a nap having some enforced "quiet time" where they read in bed or whatever is really important. Not to mention, it is key for your sanity as a mother!

I would not take the nap away. If the child didn't need the nap, they would not sleep! You didn't say what time you are putting the child to bed. It could be that it is summer time and still light out at bedtime. I would adjust the bedtime slightly.

Toddlers need their naps and I'm sure you need that break for yourself too. What I do is make sure my son (23 mos.) does not nap longer than 2 hours and gets up by 2:00 - 2:30 p.m. It usually takes him about 30 min. to fall asleep at night so I sometimes put him to bed 30 minutes earlier at 7:30-8:00 p.m. According to a great book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" here are the stats: Mos. 13 to 15 - 1% have 3 naps, 43% have 2 naps, 56% have one nap. Mos. 16 to 21 - 23% have 2 naps, 77% have 1 nap at 18 mos.; 12% have 2 naps, 88% have 1 nap at 21 months. Mos. 21 to 36 - 5% have 2 naps and 95% have 1 nap at 24 mos.; 0% have 2 naps, 91% have one nap and 9% have no naps at 36 mos. On their third birthday, most children (91%) are still napping every day. At age 4, about 50% nap 5 days each week, and by age 5, about 25% are napping about 4 days each week. Naps are usually gone by age 6.
Hope this helps.
Bernie

My kids all had that kind of trouble as well. I would make the afternoon nap earlier, and shorten if necessary. Don't lose the nap yet, because usually they need it.

Shorten her nap! That's too long... We went through the same thing when our son was that age. Our doc suggested waking him up after an hour. Also, lots and lots of physical activity outdoors! That's really important.

I agree that shortning the nap is the way to go. I have a 3-1/2 year old who still naps, and he very much still needs that nap, but I wake him up after about 1-1/2 hours, otherwise he'd sleep for 3 hours and he'd be up until 11pm.