Sleep - nap times for an 8.5 month old

[vp01]

my little boy goes to bed around 6.30-7.00pm and sleeps til aound 7am (usually wakes up once at around 5-6am but goes back to sleep easily if you put his dummy back in). He has always had a nap of around 30-45 mins at 9-930ish but for the last couple of days he has taken around half an hour to settle then only slept for around 20 minutes which makes me think he is ready to drop this sleep. his next nap is usually after lunch -12-12.30ish, for anything from 1-2 hours, will he last until this sleep or do I let him have a later morning nap before lunch and move the time for his second nap?

If you move his second nap, that might knock on his bedtime. I moved the second nap a bit earlier giving lunch early. Sometimes that was as early as 11:30. You'll have a few weeks of transition, but should get used to it. As he gets older you can move lunch & nap back. My DS now 2 goes to sleep at 1:15 - 1:30 and he has to be up by 3 for the school run. Good luck

Every child is different but my 2 ds's pretty much followed the same routine.

When they started to struggle to settle for their morning nap I dropped it and watched for their signs of tiredness (rubbing the eyes was the best sign for us) before I put them down for a nap. This usually worked out to be around 11 ish and both then slept for about 2 hours.

Its a tricky one because then they have the whole long afternoon stretching ahead of them and you don't want them to nap too late in the afternoon or they won't settle at night.

All I can advise is see how long DS lasts before needing a nap. If you can make it to lunch time then great. (remember if baby too tired/won't eat as well).

If naps before lunch then so be it. They may need another smaller nap in the afternoon.
hth

Agree with usaukMUM - There is a transition period of a few weeks but you will soon have it sorted.

DS dropped his morning sleep at similar age.

We ended up shifting naps to 10-11 and 2-3 instead (previously 9-9.45, 12-1.30 and 3.30-4.15)