DD awake sometimes for up to two hours after bedtime.

[Kasterborous]

Our nearly fifteen month old DD usually goes to bed around 7pm. She has a story, bath, milk, teeth brushed then bed. She seems tired but then we can hear her happily chatting away to herself in her cot until almost 9pm some evenings. She never cries and sounds happy. She doesn't usually get up until 8am and has a two ish hour nap in the afternoon. Do we need to put her to bed a bit later?

Can you plan to drop the nap.....she's obviously happy at bedtime so I wouldn't worry about her talking to herself. She might be sleepy at a certain time in the afternoon, so try and get her out in the fresh air at "napping time" making sure she's engaged with something she likes. A walk in the park....Make her hungry for teatime/bath time and see if she sleeps better.

I would get her up at 7 and put her down for her nap a bit earlier. So that she does not sleep quite so late into the afternoon and see if that helps bedtime

She's too young to just drop the nap - esp if she is happily taking it each day. Sounds like she is getting an ideal 11hrs at night + 2 hr nap in day, just all needs shifting a bit earlier.

Agree with sedgieloo I would wake her up a bit earlier so she'll go for her nap earlier & will then settle better at bedtime. Around that age we did

Up 7
Nap 12.30-2.30
Bed 7 (sometimes 7.30 before asleep). As he got older nap moved to 1pm & bedtime to 8pm.

Under no circumstances would I drop the nap! I firmly believe that a child that is able to nap in the day needs to nap. In my experience, nap dropping is a painful process, and I would not force it on a child who still regularly falls asleep in the daytime.

Is there a problem with the current schedule? I would only change if you think she isn't getting enough sleep (it sounds like she is) or if you need her to get up earlier.

My 3.5 year old spends at least that long getting to sleep. I allow her to keep a small light on for looking at books. These little people experience a lot every day that they need to reflect on and process -- it sounds like your DD is doing that. Also, they need a break from us.

Well, hope this thread isn't useless to you. . . we all came up with conflicting advice! Take your pick. . .

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I won't be dropping her afternoon nap, she needs it. I might try getting her up a bit earlier say 7am instead of when she wakes up. She does play with her dolls in her cot at bedtime we can hear her, she is often awake for a bit longer if she has had a busy day with new experiences, so yes she is probably processing everything.

If she's not getting up until 8 am and having a 2 hour sleep I would put her to bed a bit later.