15 month old not going to sleep at night

[yellow rose]

My 15 month old has always been so good about going to bed at night and takes good naps.  However, he has recently decided that it's much more fun to "play" and talk in his crib, than go to sleep.  His schedule has been as follows:

6:00 wake
8:30 snack
9:00/9:30 1-1/2 hour nap
12:00 lunch
2:00 1-1/2 hour nap
3:45 snack
6:00 dinner
7:00 bedtime

Like I said, he has always just laid down and gone to bed in the past, but not anymore.  I'm trying to figure out if I should start switching him to one nap now, thinking that he is getting too much daytime sleep and that is what is keeping him up at night.  My daycare provider, though, thinks it's too early because he is still ready for both naps each day and doesn't have a problem with his napping.  I don't want to push his bedtime back because when he does eventually switch to one nap, I think it will be important for him to keep an earlier bedtime.  At this point, I just stand at his door and every time I hear him stand or sit up, I open the door and he literally throws himself down onto his mattress.  He thinks it's really funny!  Now, tonight, I was able to get him to finally lay down and stay down by 7:25, so that's progress.  This has been going on now for over a week though.  Thoughts? 

[Layla]

I actually think that he is ready for 1 nap. About 50% are on 1 nap at 15months so I would try to make the transition.

Start pushing his morning nap until it gets to about 12pm. How much you want to push his A time depends on your lo. If he is very sensitive to changes then add 15mins every 3 days or so. Otherwise I would try to stretch it every 30mins. During the transition I would suggest an early bedtime - so as early as 6pm until his nap is taken more or less in the middle of the day. Don't be afraid that earlier bedtime means ealier wake up. Its only temporary until he is on 1 nap. You might have to be creative in regards to food. So maybe do a big snack 30mins before nap time to give him time to poop and then after nap do lunch, etc...

If you think he will not be able to handle the longer A time, try shortening him morning nap to 30mins so that he is taking a longer pm nap. This is what I had to do and then eventually mine stopped wanting the am nap and was just on 1 nap. The nap should be around 5.5hrs from the time he wakes up and he should be going to sleep about 5.5hrs from the wake of the nap

Good luck and let me know how it goes
Layla

[sarah*anne]

I just wanted to let you know that I am in the same situation with Jack.  He has always gone to bed so easily and naps fine.  However, in the past 2-3 weeks it has been very hard to get him to bed.  At first it was just when he stayed with my MIL.  I blamed it on her because she is no good at keeping schedules and tries to put him down when he is not ready leading to a long cry (so my daughter tells me ).  Now, it is more every day.  Some nights, it is a full blown mad sad angry upset cry that can last an hour.  But then last night it was just a talking playing 30 minutes!!

The thing about changing naps is that after being up 3-3.5 hours he is really ready for a nap.  I guess I would have to take it very slow with extending A time??  I guess the way this has progressed, I will have to do something soon   I will check and see how you are doing!!

[becky1969]

I agree with PP and think it's time to try 1 nap. My LO was also a great napper, and so I was so confused when we started having NWs! I thought it must be OT (that's usually what it is with him!), but when I pushed Bedtime forward, he just acted crazier. Finally, someone told me to try shortening the AM nap to 30 minutes, and that fixed everything! Of course, after awhile, that 30 minute nap was too much and we just had to take the plunge and go to one nap. 

My LO showed tired signs at 2.5 hours after waking. But, when I pushed him he could manage 4 hours at first! I was really surprised. I think the sleepy signs were out of habit b/c we'd been on the same routine for so long. I also think that when you have a good napper, they are sort of obedient about sleep - meaning, they'll sleep b/c they're used to it. but, Because they're older now they don't need as much, and so the extra sleep results in trouble at bedtime or NWs.

You can try limiting that AM nap to 30-45 minutes and see where that gets you. You could even keep it where it is now (9:30) but wake at 10.  Try for a second nap around 1:30, and hopefully it will last 1.5 hours.  That should get you to 3 pm, which is closer to where you wake from 2nd nap now.  Bedtime might have to be 30 minutes earlier until he can push the awake time more.  Once we started this process, Owen was able to strech his A time pretty quickly, so don't be afraid to monkey around with the times.  This is going to be a frustrating period until you safely get to 1 nap consistently.  They usually are too tired for 1 nap, but not tired enough for 2. So, your routine is going to be pretty variable day-to-day until your LO can consistently do 4.5-5 hours of A time at a stretch.  Just stick with it, and follow his cues. You'll get there eventually!

[yellow rose]

Thank you all for your replies.  Of course, the last two nights, he has gone to bed just fine.  Now, he has a cold and doesn't seem to be feeling too great, so I certainly don't want to change anything just yet.  I'll keep you posted on our progress.  It's just scary to me because he does so well now and I don't want to mess him up.  I'm sure it will be fine though and I'll probably be back to get your opinions again.