Hello and welcome to BW forums
Your LO is at just the right age to see these issues with naps so the comforting thing is that everyone gets this at around this age and you're not alone.
This is the beginning of the 2-1 nap drop. Some LOs will reduce one nap in length (down to a CN or shorter) but continue with 2 naps for quite some time whilst others speed towards the nap drop and before you know it there is just one nap per day (even by 12 months).
Here's a link:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=163278.0I would suggest:
- first moving the first nap time later, this will encourage a later WU in the morning and avoid the nap refusal. Move in 15 min increments over a number of days until you have a longer nap and WU time has shifted to after 6am. If during the first few days you encounter nap refusal rather than fighting her for the nap just say "oh, you're not ready yet, okay, lets play" take her out of the room, do another 15 min A time and then try again.
- your first A time is 3hr 15 - 4hrs, I'd head towards 4hrs rather than the shorter time.
- I would try out not waking her from this nap but instead letting her sleep as long as she wants. This means some unpredictability to the routine for a while and there is a chance that further down the line capping this nap at 2hrs is actually the better option, but for now I'd just let her sleep and see what happens.
- Your second A time is super short for her age. It's not surprising she is refusing it as she is likely UT (under tired). Now it's okay to have this A time shorter than the first because you'll aim for 1 sleep cycle, an UT nap (but not so UT that she refuses) of say 40 min. It's okay if she needs/wants longer as she might not be ready for a nap this short, she might do an hour. As the A is only 2hrs or 2hr 30 at the moment I think it would be okay to increase this to by 30 mins in one step. 2hr 30 minimum and increasing to 3hr.
- She's doing approx 11hrs over night sleep. This is fine. Aim then for BT to be closer to 7pm or 7.30pm rather than 6.30pm (there is no problem with 6.30pm BT for LOs who suit that time or for times when the routine requires early bed time it's just that for you right now it is probably not the best time)
During all these changes (which you will need to do in steps) the routine will be unstable. If you don't get an afternoon nap you will either need to try again for the nap even if it is a very late one, then do a later BT (not such a bad thing as it will help shift the morning WU if it's just once or twice) or you will need to do a very EBT (early bed time) if the second nap is totally refused, this is to avoid too much OT.
As you progress with the changes things should start to settle. Your routine might look somethign like this:
WU 6
A 4hr
S 10 - 12/12.30
A 3hr ish (if she agrees to this length A time)
CN 3 - 3.45 (or 3.30 - 4.15 if nap 1 is longer as example)
A 3hr ish
BT 7pm
Although she self settles, during this time she may well need more help from you. Don't worry about helping her, it's a tricky time for her and this is where your soothing methods will help. Once she is in a more suitable routine she will return to self settling with little encouragement to do so.
I didn't see any snack times on your EASY - most LOs have a couple of snacks in the day if their milks have been reduced down to 2 as their tummies are still very small and it's a long time to wait for the solids meals.
Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on or if you have more questions.
