What is the A time for 1 nap a day?

[sydneyrose22]

My lo is barely 9 mo but is already at a 3h45m A time. His second nap is falling so late and pushing BT back so late that I am wondering if it is time to switch him to 1 nap?

[creations]

You'd be looking at an A time of 5hrs or more to drop to one nap. At this age it would be more appropriate to move to one long nap and one CN.
If your LO prefers a long first nap then you could keep that (extending first A time slightly as needed to maintain the long restorative nap of 1.5-2hrs) and reduce the second nap to a shorter nap (the second A time can sometimes be shorter than the first as LO doesn't need to be so tired for this nap) which will bring BT earlier.  It's also fine to have a short first nap with a long second nap. It really depends on what suits your LO and to some extent which nap you prefer to maintain as the long nap to fit in best with your day.
Either way you get one long and one short nap.

It is not entirely unheard of for a 9 month old to switch to one nap but it's considered early even for a 11 or 12 month old to switch. 9 months is very very early. from your A time I wouldn't expect your LO to be ready to make that switch yet.

There's some more info here:
From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)
Please feel free to ask more questions if needed

[sydneyrose22]

Ok so does that mean it is ok for the day to be longer than 13 hrs then?
Here is our EASY today:

WU:620
E: 7
A
E: 9
A
S: 950-12
E: 12
A
E:2
A
S: 320-4
E:430

So at this point his projected BT would be 730-745, but I thought we were to keep the day to 13 hrs.

[creations]

Sorry, based on your EASY I'm not sure why BT would be 7.45pm?
It looks like your A time is currently 3hr20/30 rather than 3hr 45.  Here's how I see your EASY:

WU 6.20
A 3hr 30
S 9.50 - 12 (very good nap!)
A 3hr 20
S 3.20 - 4.00 (CN)
A 3hr 20
BT 7.20
Over night 11 hrs (day 13hrs)

Are you saying that there is BT refusal unless he has 3hrs 45 A before BT?
If yes then:
Is that usually after nap 2 is long (longer than 40mins) or is that usually after nap 2 is a CN of 40mins?

I thought we were to keep the day to 13 hrs.

In general, yes, however during transitions LOs might find it more restful to have 2 naps and a shorter night for a period of time.  This can happen leading up to the 2-1 transition when they just can't manage to go without the second nap.
During the transition period you can also begin to cap the CN shorter to maintain a decent length night, if your LO is well rested on a routine with a very short CN (some keep capping shorter and shorter until LO is doing only 10 mins CN for example, mine would not have been happy with that at all so had 2 naps and later BT until we dropped to 1 nap).
When you finally make the switch to 1 nap EBT will be very useful, your day would then be much shorter, possibly even 10hrs with a 14 hr night for a period whilst LO adjusts to the new routine.

Here's a sample, if your LO can do 3hr 45 A time, for a one nap day. Do you see how early BT needs to be?  This would not be recommended.
WU 6.20
A 3hr 45
S 9.55 - 11.55
A 3hr 45
BT 3.40

Does this help?

[*Ali*]

As PP said it is more likely he needs one long nap and one short (capped) catnap. After the CN he should require a significantly shorter A time than usual as it won't have been as restorative as a full nap would have been.

If you do choose to go with one nap then I would try for a 4.5hr A time first thing and then let him sleep as long as he likes and then do EBT if you think he would tack on the lost sleep to his night sleep.

When my DS1 moved to one nap at 12mo he did a 3hr nap with 4.5hr A times either side and a 12hr night and it suited him well but he was high sleep needs and I often had to wake him from that long nap. I don't think you could make one nap work just yet unless your LO can manage at least a 4.5hr A time, do a long nap of 3hrs and/or do a long night to make up lost day sleep. Otherwise you will end up with an OT baby I fear.

My DS2 didn't move to one nap until 15mo (mainly as it fit in better with our afternoon activities for the older one) and he was on pretty much the same 2-nap routine from 9-15mo. It looked like this
6.30 WU
A 3.5hrs
S 10-11.30 (1.5hrs)
A 3hr45
S 3.30-4 (30 mins) this was 45mins in the earlier months btw
A 3hr30
BT 7.30

He was low sleep needs and prone to EW at 5/5.30am which is why I pushed BT so late. He would probably have gone to bed at 7pm but it would have meant a much earlier start so I held him out.

You can even cut the CN to 20 or 30 minutes in time before moving to one nap. Many people AP this nap in the buggy, car or even allowing them to doze in arms after a feed just enough to take the edge off and make it through to A reasonable BT. You don't need to worry about the AP as this nap will be gone soon anyway. The general rule is to hold on to two naps as long as you can.

Be sure to check out the FAQ in Creations' first post as it has some really useful tips for when you need to be a bit creative to make it through the day.

HTH

[sydneyrose22]

Well, I had him at 3hr30 and then his nap started getting down to 1hr15m so I lengthened his A time to 3hr45 and he started sleeping 1.5-2hrs. But the last few days I have been a bit confused what to do because he missed his 2nd nap the other day and he has been so grumpy in the mornings I've put him down earlier and I think I got him in an OT/UT loop. And I think that's why he slept well with the 3hr30 A time that day. So I guess I'm not totally sure about his A time.

But you guys have helped regardless. He definitely seems to prefer the long morning nap and afternoon CN so I think I might just AP the afternoon because he doesn't show many tired signs for that one. And I don't think he will be in a good mood if I cap it, so we will see what happens there down the road I guess. Thanks for your help.