Toddler/preschooler Naps

Here are some ideas and a link with more info by Dr. Kyle Pruett:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2010/01/09/...
# The human brain is active during sleep, but the deepest sleep is typically at the beginning of the night.  Babies spend more time than older children in stimulating REM sleep, with eye movements and irregular breathing. Don’t worry about all that action in your child’s body – it too is growth.
# Start them young – do not ignore the importance of naps, watch for the yawn, and start bedtime early in the evening.
# The transition from crib to bed is also a time of sleep pattern changes, but most kids want it to work

My 5.5 year-old still naps, and will be going to a kg that naps this year. :) She has always needed it.
My son (2) naps about 2 hours or less each day, and his preschool teachers say that he is always the first one up, so I have a feeling he might lose nis nap when he's a bit younger than his sister but we'll see.

My niece stopped falling asleep during nap when she was about 2 1/2. Everyone is different. What you need to do is figure out how to get the best behavior in you child's situation. With this "quiet time," does he behave afterward as well as he did when he napped? If so, then, you don't have to try to get him to sleep. Most kids need at least 2 hours, but if you are only giving your son quiet, time, you could go 1-2 hours, depending on how much down time YOU need. If he behaves better with 3 hours of quiet time (since his former nap was 3-4 hours), then do that. Whatever works best for you both. His behavior should tell you if he's getting enough downtime.
Good luck!

My 2 year old wakes up usually by 10 am. By 1 or 2 pm she goes down for her nap. That is right about 2 hours long. Then she is good to go until 9 or 10 pm.

When my son was a toddler he'd nap apx 2 hours twice a day.

9 or 10am - 2hrs
1 or 2 pm - 2hrs

Around the age of 2.5 he dropped his morning nap.
By 3.5 he'd dropped his afternoon nap.

We were NEVER able to institute "quiet time", he has *always* been go-go-go unless we "plug him in" to something electronic (movie, interactive videogame -like www.starfall.com, etc.). ((BTW... for go-go-go I'm talking he'd run over 3 miles every day as I walked them - he'd run circles around me- even if we spent 8+ hours walking around Rome we NEVER used a stroller 3mi a day he didn't even break a sweat, be climbing trees, doing gymnastics, playing at the park, playing with friends/socializing)). He'd read with me, or do math, or do other mental gymnastics... but only if *someone* -myself, teacher, or friend- was doing them with him. So I intentionally plugged him in at least an hour a day for some peace and quiet. :D :D :D

My daughter is 3.5 and just started either not napping at all or taking very short naps. That is fine with me as then we just put her to bed 30 minutes earlier at night if she doesn't nap but I do implement "quiet" time for her and I. She still has a gate on her bedroom door so I tell her she has to go in her room and she can lay down and read books for an hour so that she has some down time and so does mommy. I think its good for both of us.

My oldest stopped napping when he turned 4. My 3 year old hasn't napped in about 9 months. They do have "quiet time" of about an hour every day. They also go to bed at 7:30 and wake up at 7:30ish every day.
I think as long as you can assure that he is safe alone you can just let him play quietly by himself. He'll sleep if he is tired.