Nap transition hell . . . How do I get back on track?

[TS123]

DD is now 14.5 months and had started to have trouble napping in the afternoon after even a brief morning snooze so I took her cue and started letting her skip her morning nap and go down right after lunch for a long nap. Seemed to be going well until . . . (please bear with me):
Day 1-3 - Up at 6:30am, Nap at 12:30pm, Bed at 7:30pm
Day 4: woke with cold, very tired and cranky Nap1: 9:45-10:30 Nap2: 1:30-4pm Bed 8pm.
Day 5: Up at 6am, Nap1: 9:45-10:30am Nap2: 2:30-4pm Bed 8pm
Day 6: Up at 6am, Nap 1: 9:45-10:30am Nap 2: 3-3:40pm Bed at 7:30pm
Day 7: Early thunderstorm wakes the whole family! Not sure when she was up. But based on Day 6, thought she did better with 1 nap per day. So, Nap at 12:30 - 2pm, and very restless. By 5pm, exhausted and need to crash from 5:30-6pm. Bed at 8:00- didn't sleep until 8:30pm
Day 8: By now, I figure I'm screwed. Nap1: 9:30-10:15am, Nap 2: 2:30 -4pm (had to wake her) Bed at 8Pm but didnt sleep till 8:30pm. Day 9: Up at 6am. Wont return to sleep. Napped 10:00-10:20 in the stroller. Wouldn`t settle for afternoon nap until 2:30pm. Now still napping.

But I need to get her back on track. She was WAY better off napping once per day however, were in a cycle now of late afternoon nap, that is long and delays bedtime. Then shes up even earlier than she used to be, so she falls asleep in the mid-morning if shes in the stroller or car, then this makes it hard for her to fall asleep after lunch until 2:30!! Do I wake her from this afternoon nap so she will go to bed easily and get a long enough night sleep so she isnt too tired to get through the morning. What would you do????

No advice, sorry but watching this with interest as am in a very similar boat with DS (also 14.5m). He currently sleeps through from 7pm but wakes too early (5.30ish the last two mornings) - then he's knackered and has a morning nap really early (8.45 - 9.45) but then goes for ages and has a too-late afternoon nap (currently still asleep at nearly 4.30).

I try to get him back to sleep after the early wakings but nothing helps. Maybe I need blackout blinds?

I too have tried black out blinds - no help. Will this happen on its own ie. they start to sleep later in the morning? Or, is it a matter of just cutting out their morning nap and forcing them onto a one-nap schedule. I admit, I went through something similar with DS - who is now 5 years old. He always woke too early but then wanted to take a long morning nap and fought his afternoon nap. I ended up having to push him through the morning and finally, after months, he was used to taking his nap in the early afternoon. In her case, her afternoon nap is good, but its happening too late in the afternoon and then she doesn't want to go to bed until 8:30pm - which means she's bound to be too tired the next day to skip her morning nap . .. and . . . the cycle continues. I vow that once she's healthy again, I am going to force her to do one nap per day (she is still pretty sick and congested right now).

Well I've decided to help him push through the morning tiredness by being active and then giving him either an early lunch at 11-ish or a late one when he wakes up and moving the nap to the middle of the day. He didn't take an afternoon nap for the last week or so, and I think it's worth a try. I'll give it a week or two and let you know what happens.

Mmmm can you put her to bed earlier, say half 6, while she's having the early wakings - you might need to make tea earlier etc. Just so she catches up on sleep while you drop the morning nap? We've dropped DS's morning nap and his sleep has gone all to pot. A 6am wake would be great! His molars started coming through at 15 months or so which cause no end of trouble (still are at 18 months).

To cope I've put him to bed early where I can and he has a nap at 12.30-1ish for 90mins or so.

Day 3 of experiment and he is doing fine going through the morning without a sleep. Sleeps nearly 3 hours in the afternoon and this morning didn't wake until 6.30. Hope it lasts.

How is this going? dd will soon be 10months and the morning naps are causing issues as they push back her pm nap and then make it difficult to get her to go to bed at 7ish. One midday nap would be great for her I think but she doesnt respond too well when she misses her am nap.

At this age I would put my dd down for a nap after lunch about 12.30 and not let her sleep more than 2 hours max, then she would be ready for bed again at 7pm, later than 7pm then weirdly they start waking earlier (something to do with sleep cycles )

Also my dd needed a morning and lunchtime nap until she was 18months but after a year I was strict on times so the morning nap roughly 45mins - 1hr, and afternoon nap 2 hrs max!

It worked for us xXx

We are also in nap transition for my DS (11 months). He used to be awake for hours in the middle of the night which only stopped when we cut his morning nap. He still wakes early though (best was today, 6:30, yay, but normally it's 5:30).
But he still often needs a morning nap or otherwise he gets overtired. So I usually do not give him more than 15 minutes around 10 and then he sleeps for about 1.5 hours at about 12:30. I obviously have to wake him up from deep sleep which I hate and it takes him about 10 minutes and a little snack to perk up. But then he is fine to have his lunch and to go down for his long nap shortly after.
A short power nap in the morning between 9:30 and 10 might be worth a try for nap transition to 1 nap.

We seem to be settled pretty well with the new routine. He sleeps for two hours in the middle of the day and then at night from 7pm to around 6am. Would prefer him to sleep a little later in the morning but it is an improvement on 5!