nap issue in 2.5 yo

[Sabine]

I posted about some weird sleep probs earlier.  These have thankfully resolved.
My 2.5 yo lo is back to his previous pattern of 10h at night and 2h nap during the day.  THe problem of latest being he will occasionally refuse his afternoon nap at which point dh and I will put him to bed earlier.

His schedule is this

wake 6-630
nap 12-1230 (~2hrs)
bedtime 730 (usually asleep by 830)--it takes him a while to wind down to fall asleep

On days he refuses nap, we do quiet time and put him to bed by 630-645 but he usually doesnt fall asleep until 715-730 ( i am assuming he is OT) and the next morning will wake exactly after 10hrs of sleep.  i thought when lo's drop their naps they are supposed to make up the hours. 

thankfully he'll usually go down the next afternoon without a problem.

any solutions on how to fix this or is this normal??

[Layla]

When my 2.5yo was dropping her nap, I would put her down at 6pm & she would fall asleep within a few minutes & would wake at 6am the next day. I have personally never had a problem with her not making up for sleep at night... she's always done 12hrs (or very close to).. but if I do later bedtime she would still only wake at 6am & we'd have a brief night waking as well.

On the day she would nap she would only sleep 1hr or so.... I would suggest cutting the nap to 1.5hrs which might help him fall asleep sooner than 8.30pm & he might sleep 10.5hrs at night instead.

Personally on the days he doesn't nap I would aim for bedtime earlier than 6.30pm. We used to do dinner by 4ishpm, milk & then snack around 5.30pm, potty & books so that she was in her cot & I was out of her room by 6pm.

hth
Layla

[Sabine]

so yesterday no nap, then in bed by 7.  not asleep until 745 and still up at 6 am with one night waking. thankfully he took his nap today.  is it normal for lo's to take upto an hour to wind down before bed?> even if they are tired?? 

[Layla]

What do you do before bedtime? Any tv or anything else stimulating? Its normal for them to take that long at that age to windown IF they are napping but in most cases on the days they don't nap they fall asleep almost straight away (well at least with us that was the case)

Do you sit by his bed at night?

Could you try an earlier bedtime? Could you maybe try something closer to 6pm if he's waking up at 6am??? I really think an earlier bedtime would help him settle sooner!

[Sabine]

no tv just quiet play, bath, 3 stories with snack and bedtime.  all pretty low key.   i'll try your suggestion and keep you posted .