How can I tweak this nap schedule for my 15mo please?

[MoonBabysM]

DS is 15 months and has recently moved from 2 naps to 1 nap. He has begun waking up earlier than usual. I don't know if any of this is connected.

New current schedule is:

Nap 2hrs
12-2ish (sometimes 12.30-2.30)

Bath around 7.15 bedtime 7.30pm

Sleeps through the night 🙌 but waking up around 5.30/5.45.

He always used to wake around 6.45/7am.

I don't this this is adding up to enough sleep in total. They need 14 hrs at this age I gather, and this amounts to only 12/12.5.

Does anyone have any tips about where / how I could tweak his schedule to get him to wake up later?

Either nap time or bedtime later or both.

Mine is 16 months and pretty much exactly the same sorry to say.

Bed at 7/7:30, wakes between 5:30/6.

Nap can be anything from 1 hr to 2 hrs around 11:45 ish.

Babies sleep needs can differ, DS is happy with what he gets and so we have to be.

I forgot to add that he used to wake up babbling and happy (when he woke at 6.45/7) but now he wakes up crying and upset. No idea if that's related but I wondered if that was a sign of not enough sleep.

My DD started waking up a little earlier recently, but she’s 11months. Like yours she was crying, rather than waking up happy like before. I think it’s because she was cold, increased the tog sleeping bag, and she’s sleeping longer again.

If 14 hours is an average, don't forget that it means some will be needing 15 hours and others 13 hours.

@DressingGown87 that's definitely not it, our flat is really warm.

True @BananaPB

I know you said he's unhappy when he wakes, but how is he the rest of the day? If he's generally happy and active, then this might just be how much sleep he needs right now. In that case, I'd just try to rotate his schedule slightly so he goes to bed a little later and wakes a little later. (We picked 8pm-6am as the least worst option for 10 hours overnight sleep.)

If he seems a bit grumpy and tired during the day, and he's not cold, could he be hungry? Or would he sleep a bit more if you brought him into your bed at 5.30? In terms of tweaking the timings, you could also try bringing the nap a bit earlier so that he's had a bit longer awake before nap and bed – that might help him sleep longer at night.

My 17 month old dropped to 1 nap about a month or so ago now and I had the same problem. I actually put her down for nap before lunch so she sleeps 10:30-12:30 then bed for 7. I found it works better rather than having the nap after lunch but all babies are different!

Have you considered going back to two naps for another few weeks? Maybe he still needs a bit more daytime sleep and is overtired hence early wakes? I read somewhere that the average age to really not need two naps is 16 months... of course this may be complete bollocks!

Thanks all. Yes @Miriam101 you could be right about that. Today he woke just before 6 - still v early for him, and then he was tired and cranky by 9.30. I decided to give him a nap then and he slept. I woke him at 10.30 as we had to go out so now I'll face to try giving him a short afternoon nap. I hope it works and it doesn't go too late and then push bedtime back later!

I think in the long run one idea might be to bring bedtime earlier on sats when he has one nap. This is because if he's waking early regardless then better to give him a longer sleep.

I think it's probably true about the slightly earlier nap.