My baby girl is almost 4. During this age they start to transition away from regular nap taking. Recently we tried taking naps out of the daily routine schedule since we were having difficulty getting her to bed And Asleep before 10:30-11:00 at night. We think we have found a possible compromise in allowing her a nap that has a time limit on it. We used to let her sleep until she awoke on her own, but that worked out to be 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. as a common occurrence. This is just too long for our little girl as she then has difficulty being put down for bed around 9. She would then stay awake and sing or talk to herself in bed until 11 or so--too long.
Hopefully this will solve our quandary and give our daughter the proper sleep she needs without throwing the household schedule out of whack.