14.5 month old sitting up during nap

[TracyP21]

My DS is 14.5 months old and we have transitioned to 1 nap in the past couple of weeks and its going well apart from one thing - about 1hr10-20 into his nap he will sit up, start crying and wake himself up if I don't go into him.  If I lie him down he will get himself worked up and then nap time is over.  BUT if I pick him up and sit with him in the rocking chair he will happily got back to sleep for another 1hr-1hr 30.
If I try and put him back into the cot he will wake up and start crying.
He is teething molars but will do this regardless if he has meds or not.  He is an independent sleeper and sttn (so he can transition all night by himself).  He knows how to sit up and lie down but just not in his cot during the day!  Some days he will actually sleep through and others will wake up.  He definitely doesn't want to be awake.  Its dark enough, warm enough etc so not sure what is going on. 
The interesting thing is if he stays at my MIL's and sleeps in the portacot he will not do this and will sleep his usual 2hrs +. 

His EASY at mo is roughly:

WU:  6:00-6:30
Nap:  11:30-1:00/1:30
Bedtime:  6:30/7:00

Have I created some kind of prop for him?  Does anyone have experience with this and any thoughts on how to tackle it?

[jessmum46]

What does he do at your MILs in terms of activity?  It sounds like a OT waking to me and just wondering if there's a difference in level of stimulation/activity in the two settings? 

I would try if you can to avoid picking him out and letting him nap on you though.  If he's an independent sleeper you could try WIWO?  Walk In/Walk Out vs. The Gradual Withdrawal Method (HOW TO CHOOSE). He may short nap a few times but you can give him an EBT on those days and hopefully he'll realise he can just lie down again and go back to sleep.  Do you hang back until he's really crying for you properly?  I know you've said that nap is over if he gets worked up, but I wonder if you could be going in too soon and not really giving him a proper chance to resettle?

[TracyP21]

Yes, I thought it could be OT waking too.  In terms of stimulation he is getting more at MIL's - Nana and Grandad devote the entire day to that (lol) and he also goes visiting around the road to my SIL's.  When he is home with me we tend to go out and do messages or music/gym but I make sure I am home at least 40 mins before nap time so he can calm down a bit - maybe I am oversimulating him when I thought he was getting too much at the grandparents.
I admit I haven't been hanging back much because of being in the 2-1 transition I thought it was better to get as much sleep out of him as I could and not have a grumpy kid for the rest of the afternoon (selfish reasons I know).
WIWO will work best for him as he will get worked up if I stay in with him.
Does my EASY look okay at the moment with him.  What is a good amount of sleep on one nap.
Jessmum46 - we have had all sorts of short nap issues with him and you predict correctly that he may sleep better on one nap and he does!

[jessmum46]

His EASY looks great to be honest!  And so glad he is generally sleeping better on one nap

[TracyP21]

So day 3 of not getting him up when he wakes 1hr / 1hr 15 into sleep and no real progress.....at the moment he is going down at about 11:20, straight to sleep and waking up 12:25/12:30...he's dry, room dark and warm, had lunch before, meds as there are molars close to surface but in no obvious pain during day and no meds at night or NWs.  Wake up time the past couple of days has been 6:30/7:00 so don't think OT.  I have been leaving him for about 10-15 mins as he is just complaining really and angry sounding.  Then I have gone in and he is sitting up and I say to him "time for sleeps" and he will fling himself down crying then I leave him.  After that its grizzling, on/off crying...but no sleep.  I have been getting him up at 1:30pm (allowing for a 2hr nap) and then he is a bit of a mess for the rest of the day.  Will not have another nap if we offer one and then EBT of 6pm. Yesterday was a 50min nap!  He is straight to sleep at night, no call outs till he wakes up at 6:30.
Do we just keep plugging away at this until he realises that I will not pick him up so he can have another sleep on me?  Any ideas?

[jessmum46]

Could it possibly be UT?  Or under stimulated at home if its normally a lot busier with the grandparents?  I think *happy* has similar issues with her LO who sleeps great at the CM but not as well at home.  Could you try (as a one off) having a really physical busy morning, lots of outside time and fresh air and see if it makes a difference?