Struggling to fit in 2 naps 10 month old

[Tortoiseandhare89]

My baby’s wake windows keep extending (fighting naps if put down earlier) but it means bedtime is creeping later and I’m having to cap both of his naps, which I hate doing.

Current routine:
7am: I normally wake him
9.45/10am-11am: nap (wake window 2.75-3hrs). I always wake at 11am regardless of the time he went to sleep otherwise it pushes the rest of the day back too much.
2.30-3.30pm: - nap (wake window 3.5hrs) I always wake at 3.30 latest, regardless of when he went to sleep.
7.15pm: bedtime (wake window 3.75hrs)

However, bedtime is creeping closer to 7.30pm and his last wake window getting closer to 4hours, which is later than I’d like as I like a bit of time to myself in the evening. I’d prefer him to go to bed at 7pm. Also, if I keep waking him from naps, he often gets less than 2 hours of day sleep which I don’t think is enough?

Is it bad that I keep waking him? How can I move bedtime earlier whilst his wake windows are getting longer?

My 23 month old now doesn't fall asleep until 9pm if she naps .
She has also rarely done two hours of day sleep.
At 10 months she was doing more like 45 and 45 mins am and pm for naps.
You have to cut day sleep if you want an evening ime.

Have you experimented with dropping the 1st morning nap and letting the 2nd be as long as he needs?

Alternatively, could you wake him at 06.45 and see what difference that makes?

My other thought is that my 8mo DS benefits from a good long wind down, especially at bedtime. If I don't invest at least a solid 10 minutes, he fights sleep. We tend to aim for 20 minutes at bedtime with him in his sleeping bad, comforter in hand or as nearby as I can get, white noise on, lights dimmed and quietly reading or playing with quiet toys. Could you change nothing except invest in extra wind down time? And plenty of energy burning activities early in the awake windows to make sure he's proper tired?

Following with interest for my DS who's already pushing his awake windows and fitting guidance that's generally a month or 2 ahead of his age.

Would you not be better trying to keep him awake until after lunch around 12:30/1pm and then letting him nap for 2-3 hours then

I'd be inclined to cut the first nap shorter so he can sleep longer in the afternoon. You know your baby best, but maybe try a 20 or 10 min nap and see if that makes a difference?

It's not outside the realms of possibility for a 10 mo to be on one nap. What you're describing reminds me of when my son dropped to one, but I would suggest trying a power nap for a week or so to see if there's an improvement.

10 months was when we consolidated and went down to one nap from about 11:30 - 1:30 and then bedtime at 7.

You do have to wake them when they’re going through a transition or it’ll eat more and more into your evening and make it harder for them to drop the nap as they’re used to making up the sleep in the day. That said you will have a stage where they aren’t quite ready to drop it but need later bedtime that you just have to deal with for a bit.

Try waking after half an hour/45 mins in the morning, bringing the afternoon a bit earlier.