B.C.
My son has always been an early riser. 5:30 - 6:30 is usually the latest he sleeps. He is almost 7 and goes to bed at 8pm. I would say at 2 1/2, she can definitely go to bed earlier if she is cranky in the morning. Sleep reccomendations for this age are 12-14 hours per day, so I would move forward her bedtime to 7pm. She will probably stop taking her nap soon and when that happens, move her bedtime up even futher. Around age 3 when my kids stopped their naps, sometimes they were in bed by 5:30 or 6pm. Not sure if this has anything to do with nightmares. At some point she will need to learn to go back to sleep on her own with out your intervention.