Worried DS is not sleeping enough

[DietCokeLover]

DS is almost 3.5 and I fear he is not getting enough sleep. He dropped naps about 5 months ago. He goes to sleep about 7:30 everynight, but wakes up between 5:30 and 6:00 in the mornings. However, he wakes nearly every night around 2 and gets in bed with DH and me. Total, I am guessing he gets 9.5 to 10 hours per night.

He is extremely cranky late afternoon and has been having temper tantrums and angry outbursts frequently.

I can't figure out any way to increase his sleep. Help!

[hillview]

DS2 is 3.5 and goes to bed at 6:30-6:45. He has no naps. He wakes up right around 5:45. He used to get up in the middle of the night and come to our bed, we now bring him back to his bed and force him to sleep there (sometimes we sleep with him for an hour or so). Doing this consistently for a couple of weeks seemed to break the habit. I also got the "teach me time" clock and he knows he is supposed to get up when it turns green. He got a prize the first time he did it and then after 5 times. It works sort of well (for my 5 year old it is priceless).
/hillary

[DietCokeLover]

Bumping this up

[JBaxter]

Sounds about right Jack dropped his nap at 2 and ususally sleeps about 10 hrs a night. Evening is called the witching hour around here. Tantrums fights and general grumpiness abound

[egoldber]

It sounds very normal here I am afraid. Younger DD stopped napping a long time ago, even at daycare where most of the kids her age still sleep and the teachers try really hard to get them to sleep. She sleeps from around 8:00 to 6:30, but can be up as early as 6. The afternoons are very hard.

[mommylamb]

My DS will be 4 in June and he still naps, so he's sleeping a bit more than yours, but not much. He goes to sleep by 9 pm and wakes up around 6:30 am. During the work week he naps at daycare for 1-2 hours. on the weekends at home he naps for 1.5-3 hours. So, Total sleep is anywhere from 10.5 to 13 hours depending on the day. He gets really cranky if he doesn't nap (or doesn't sleep enough as a whole), but that doesn't happen often.

[cuca_]

DS, who turned 3 in december, goes to bed around 8:30 and is up between 5:30 and 6:30. I've tried everything to get him to sleep later, but nothing works. Putting him to bed earlier or later does not do the trick. He still naps, but I often have to take him for a walk in the stroller or a drive because he is resists going down. Without the nap he is a grump in the afternoon, so I am dreading the day he finally does drop it.