9.5 mo - Inconsistent afternoon nap

[DMTMom16]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me with troubleshooting our schedule.  LO's afternoon nap has been extremely inconsistent for awhile, he'll either sleep for about 1hr 15, not take it at the normal time and then fall asleep in my arms during the next feeding for 20-30 min, or just refuse it all together.  I'm constantly having to shift BT up, I feel like we're stuck and I never know what we're going to get.  We had been doing 3hr A times if we stayed home between naps 1 and 2 or I'd try 3.5/4hr A time if we had run errands during the A time but got home for nap time.  This was another part of the inconsistency, he'd fight the nap mostly on days we had gone out during A time.  Today I just pushed his first A time to 3.25 and tried 3.5 for nap 2, which didn't work (he had been showing tired signs at this point so I thought we had a chance).  He also didn't fall asleep during the next feed so we have yet another day where he will be up from 11:30am-BT, which will need to be early.  I don't mind the early BT but is it okay that he's up for such a long stretch?  It hasn't impacted nighttime yet but I'm afraid it will as this happens more and more. He also was fighting the first nap this week too, which is why I pushed that A time today.  Do we just need a big push in A time before nap 2 or are we looking at the 2:1 transition?  How should we handle this when is morning nap is early and kind of short (typically 1hr 15) and the second nap is often non-existent? 

This was today's schedule:
7:00am E
10:13am - 11:30am nap
3:00pm -  in crib for nap, just stood in crib for awhile then cried
Will aim for BT around 6:00pm

Another day this week:
DH handled naps this day, he went by tired signs instead of A times and had better luck!
7:40am E (normally this is 7 but this day was just prior to DST time change and we were shifting LO's schedule back)
10:40am - 11:50am Nap
2:30pm-3:55pm Nap
7:00pm BT

[Scottishmummy]

Hi there!

It's a tricky stage. I struggle to get a routine that worked for my DD from 9mo until about 12mo!
There is a big developmental leap around this age and a sleep regression wothbit. That could be affecting the nap. Could also be the start of the 2-1. Have a look at this link and see if any of the suggestions there might work for your LO. From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

The suggestion for LOs who refuse the afternoon Nap is usually to try cutting the morning one shorter. Maybe try 1hr? Keep for a few days then try 45mins for first nap is still gettting pm nap refusal.

[DMTMom16]

Thanks for the advice!  Glad to know that it's maybe this particular age that's causing the issues, he's also cutting a tooth right now so I'm hoping that played a big part as well.  Our morning nap has been a bit inconsistent this week despite stretching wake times but once we get that one back on track I'll try capping it at an hour and see how that works.  Hopefully it all settles down soon!