Help with awake time/bedtime for 22-month-old

[MommaHolmes]

I would encourage you to think about just jumping to an earlier time.
He needs to recover from OT and the sooner you give him the opportunity to do that, the better for all of you.

I also wonder whether by gradually moving it you may just end up gradually shifting his whole day without lengthening his night sleep 

[Hayden and Violet's mom]

Hello again!  It is now almost May and I am still dealing with this issue.  We are putting Hayden to bed earlier now, no later than 7:30 (except last night because his grandparents came for a visit and he woke up at 4:50am today, yippee!)  I try for 7pm on daycare days but I still haven't tried 6:30 because my husband usually convinces me it is too early, but after today, I am aiming for 6:30 tonight after his daycare day.  I have really been observing his sleep patterns over the weeks and there kind of seems to be this pattern after his Monday daycare day -
Monday night we put him to bed earlier than usual and he sometimes sleeps later in the morning. 
Then Tuesday he will take his nap at around 12-1230 and still wants to sleep up to 3hrs so I let him usually because I want him to get the sleep he needs.
But then we put him to bed Tuesday night maybe 715 or 730 and he takes a long time to fall asleep, almost as if he has had too much sleep, he lies there talking and falls asleep after 8pm sometime and then wakes early again Wed morning. 

So my question is, when I put him down at 6:30pm now on daycare days and he wakes up later in the morning the next day - should I shorten his nap on the Tues. and then what time do I put him to bed on the Tues?
I have been having the same issue with Violet sometimes - Saturday night she was very tired and went to bed at 7pm instead of 730 and woke up at 730 am.  She then took at nap Sunday morning for a couple hours and then 1.5 hrs in the afternoon.  My mom was babysitting and put her to bed at about 715 and then this morning she woke up at 5:55am?!

I need some advice.  Thanks again.

[MommaHolmes]

The most straightforward thing to do would be to structure his days at home to match what he does at daycare, so limit the nap and keep the earlier bedtime. At least that way his biological clock will be able to settle into a routine and that should help get some consistency.

I know what you mean about DH saying 'too early' for bedtime before 7pm, my hubby was exactly the same. But the results spoke for themselves, early bedtime meant better night's sleep and later wake up for all of us so he eventually came round!

[Hayden and Violet's mom]

Thanks for your reply.  So I should be consistent then, which is what I was thinking.  So my day should look like this then?

nap 12-130 wake him at 1:30.
Then bedtime 6:30.

could I maybe let him sleep until 2pm when he is at home and then put him down at 7pm on those days?

I was just a little confused about what to do the next day after they sleep in.  If I put them to bed at the same time I find they don't wake up as late or they may sleep a little longer than usual.  And, if I put them to bed a bit later, say 30min or so, they don't sleep well at all?

[MommaHolmes]

Sounds like a sensible plan. I think if you fix his naps to match what he has to do at daycare then you will probably find that the wake up times settle down too. Just keep putting him down at the same times for a few days and see how it goes.