18 mo 2 to 1 nap transition

[momtoavery]

Hello!

It has been a week working on my 18 mo DD's 2 to 1 nap transition. Every 3 days I move her nap 15 mins later. She used to nap at 10am to 11am and at 230pm to 4pm.

Her current schedule is this

Wake up between 6am-630am
Breakfast at 7am
9am bottle of milk
10am snack
1145am in bed for nap
115pm she wakes up by herself
130pm lunch
3pm bottle of milk
5pm dinner
6pm bottle of milk
630pm in bed

She usually falls asleep with in 30mins so by 7pm, with her current schedule, she is asleep but the past 2 days it has taken her 45min to 60min!

I cannot tell if she isn't tired enough or she is overtired.
She is very happy before bedtime and likes to babble while lying in her crib in the dark in her own room with the door shut.

Should I move her bedtime later? Currently she is awake from 1:15pm to 7pm usually so that is 5 hr 45 of awake time before falling asleep. Seems long to me already so I am scared to push her bedtime even later.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thx!

[jessmum46]

If she's new to one nap (it sounds like you had a great sleeper previously!) then I'd move BT earlier, not later.  She may well have an OT second wind and be too hyped up to settle at bedtime.  My DS dropped to one nap properly by about 15 months or so but even now at 2y1m his routine is

WU ~ 6.30
Nap 12/12.30ish for up to 2h
BT 7

So I'd say if your DD is high sleep needs then she needs a shorter day x

[momtoavery]

Thank you for replying!

Yes she is a great sleeper and she isnt a high sleep need child. She is usually a 10 to 10.5 hrs night sleeper when she had 2 naps. This past entire week she only napped 1.5 hrs every day and then sleep 11 to 11.5 hrs at night. Friday she fell asleep with in 30 mins. That is how long she normally takes to fall asleep at bedtime. Today she is still awake and it has been 45mins since we put her down at 645pm.

It is hard for us to put her to bed any earlier than 630/645pm due to our work schedules.

Is it common that many toddlers only nap 1.5 hrs when they have 1 nap? I teally hope she gets to napping at least 2 hrs during the day and fall asleep sooner than 45 min at bedtime! 😕

[jessmum46]

A lot of toddlers only nap 1.5h when first transitioning - it often takes a while for the nap to lengthen which is why an early bedtime can really help in the first few weeks x