My son took naps when he was younger. But he didn't sleep well or much at night (usually only 7 hrs at night). (he woke up, wanting me, way too often. He didn't want to sleep alone, etc). When he was turning 3 & about to start at a new school & have a new therepy schedule....we cut out naps. That really helped with his night time sleep. Without that 3 hr nap in the afternoon, he slept longer at night & he slept better, once he adjusted. It took a bit, but eventually he was sleeping all night & not waking up, crying for me (I've never done anything like cry it out). It was an adjustment, but it worked for him.

Ben has always been one to take a nap. I don't know how to advise you because he does it on his own...perhaps a schedule would help

I introduced naps to both of my children from very early on and, when they were babies, they both napped during the afternoon and went to bed on a schedule. My NT daughter continued to nap for at least an hour every afternoon until she was probably 4. However, my son started fighting the napping at a pretty young age and was completely not sleeping during the day by the time he was 3. Somewhere around that time I also started increasing his activity level during the day to try to help with his hyperactivity and get him to sleep at night.

My 4yr old has not napped since he was 2yrs..ugh. He would nap for a couple hours usually between 1-3pm. He has always been a good night time sleeper as well. We always put him down for bed around 7pm and he'd sleep till 6am. Between 3-4yrs of age, he'd get very cranky and sluggish early afternoon until he got his 'second wind'. At 4.5yrs of age, he will go to bed around 7:30pm and get up around 7am on his own. We established a bedtime routine very early on (bath,massage, book/cuddle time) and it's worked well thus far...thankfully! I will sometimes ask my son if he wants to take a nap if he's resting during the day, but he always says no.

My daughter WOULD NOT take naps, she was on her own schedule for sure so I just did'nt fight it, I actually increased her activities during the day so she slept MUCH better at night! :) Hope this helps!