Day Sleeps

At what age did you child drop them? What were the signs?

I am a firm believer in day sleeps for kids under the age of 3 but Gabrielle is really struggling to go to sleep at night. She is always really tired, sucking her muslin etc when she goes to bed but as soon as we leave the room she starts chatting and singing. She stays in her bed and stays flat on her back but just doesn't sleep. You combine that will the hours she spends awake in the middle of the night and her total sleep time is down to about 8 hours.

She used to take up to 20mins to go to sleep but now it is more like 2 to 3 HOURS.    Last night she went to bed at 7.25 and was awake until 10. She was then awake from 4am to 6am and then slept until 8.

She seems to need a daysleep (gets tired in the day) but her total hours of sleep are rapidly decreasing.

Waking her after a short nap is not an ideal option as she is a mess...will often cry for an hour plus if woken prematurely. She is better with no nap or a long nap.

Jake still has them occasionally, and I find the days he has them (and I can't stop him, he just puts hiumself to bed or falls asleep onthe couch) it takes a long time to get him to go to sleep, so we tend to send him to bed about an hour to an hour and a half later, which sucks for us but is less stessfull. I found I would just ask him if he wanted a sleep or watch for his cues. If she's not going to sleep, I wouldn't bother the extra stress on yourself of trying to do it. (during the day) On the days Jake dosen't have a sleep, I do, however, make him have about an hour of quiet time, quiet reading, puzzles etc. That helps lots too.
I did get some good advice from a sleep expert, though, and have found it to be really good in terms of naps, is don't let him sleep for longer than about 1.5 hours and not after 3pm. I would go in and pull the curtains open and take his blankets off (and he would have massive tanys etc, just ignored them) he eventaully got used to it, although he still wakes grumpy, I just don't buy into it now.
I didn't find that "withholding" naps made him sleep more or better at night, in fact it was quite the opposite.

My dd is 2.5 and sleeps most days for an hour or hour and a half, she can go all day without one but then she's in bed by 6 or 6.30pm which is great for me but sucks for my hubby as he works all day then only gets to see her grumpy.

What time does she nap during the day?

Yeah I agree then to try and wake her up probably no later than 3:30pm, or could you maybe put her down haf an hour earlier so she has longer to 'play' in the afternoon.