6.5 month old last nap trouble!

[Kerriam]

My LO is 6.5 months old and has really been struggling with the last nap each day. Sometimes it takes him 20 minutes to go down and he'll sleep for only 15 minutes and wake up crying and tired! I don't think he's ready to drop the nap though because he gets soooo overtired by the time bedtime comes around. I feel myself having to push his bedtime earlier because which messes up his wake up time and the entire following day. Here is our schedule:

6:15-6:30  wake and nurse
8:30 nap (usually 45mins - 1hr)
10:30 nurse
11:00 solids
12-12:30 nap (usually 1hr 20mins)
2:30 nurse
3:00 solids
4-4:30 try to get a nap in but this is where we struggle
6-6:30 bath and bedtime routine
6:45 asleep
No MOTN feed

I thought about giving more A time before his first and second naps but he can't handle more than 2-2 1/4 A time. He gets so fussy, buries his head in my shoulder and rubs his eyes. It enevitably makes for crying while trying to get to nap if I keep him up any longer. Any advice?

[lauradj]

My suggestion is you try to extend the A time to 2hrs 15 mins, 2.5hrs gradually.  I know you mentioned that he starts to rub his eyes and bury his head in your shoulder so my suggestion is you just try 5 minute increments.  That could be as simple as cleaning up the toys before his nap, or a quiet story on the couch with you.  If you just do 5 minutes every 4/5 days, that would be an easier transition.  I find grocery shopping really helps keep my LO awake because there's so much to see! 
Regarding the CN at the end of the day, you can shorten it to 30 minutes but if he's taking 20 minutes to settle I would suggest you just drop it and try to really focus on the A times to help make the day reasonable.  I tried to slowly wean DS2 of his CN, sometimes I'd try to put him down for one if he looked tired but he just didn't need it any more and it was more hassle than it was worth.  For the first little bit, move BT forward to 6:30 and see if that helps.  15 minutes can make a big difference to a baby, as you know 

[Baby_A_Mama]

I just wanted to say we are having a similar thing with our nearly 7 month old. Coincidentally, I was just going to pop on here and ask the question if I should be really forcing a longer A time because, like you, my little guy is rubbing his eyes, getting fussy after just 2 hours. 

Thanks Lauradj for answering my question before I asked it!  I will as well, try to really push that A time.  Some days he does really well and we only do 2 naps, but others (today) he didn't nap well, and I went with the eye rubbing and put him down, so we're on 3 naps.  I'll keep pushing that A time because I think he will let me push it out.