Twins 2-1 nap transition - please help!

[Babyshark1750]

My twins are 14 months old. Until a week ago were waking 6ish, napping 9.30 and 1.45, bed 6.45pm. DT1 started resisting pm nap and was crying whenever put down in the afternoon for two and a half weeks. We were also waking them from both naps to fit two naps in before bedtime. I tried stretching the middle wake time before the afternoon nap but DT1 still wouldn't sleep, so I thought he is ready for one nap. Started stretching morning wake time by half an hour and put them down at 10 a week ago. The first day they slept 2h40mins! But it's all gone downhill from there DT1 is loving his new schedule and sleeps 2h30mins-3h for his nap, sleeps through the night 6pm-6am. However DT2 is really struggling. She was perfectly happy on two naps and slept through until 6am. She's now napping 40 mins, waking up screaming, but refusing to nap again if I put her down in the afternoon. She's also waking at 5am. I feel awful for messing up her routine but I just had to put DT1 onto one nap and lots of friends said this age DT2 would be fine on one nap even if not quite ready. The question is what to do next? Will DT2 get used to the new routine and start napping longer and sleeping better again, or do I need to find a different solution? She won't nap in buggy or car in the afternoon either - tried both. I can't keep her on two and him on one nap because they'd have to have their meals at different times and too hard for one caregiver to put one down for a nap leaving the other one alone etc., and would never be able to take them outside - I tried it at the 3-2 transition and it was absolutely impossible. He was ready before her then as well. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be really grateful! If helpful to anyone their current schedule is:
6am wake (DT2 now waking at 5am)
6.30am breakfast
9am big snack (more like half of lunch)
10am nap
1pm rest of lunch
4.45pm supper
5.30pm bath
6pm bed
Thank you in advance!!

As there’s nowhere to go or see at the moment would it be a right pain them being On a Different routine for the next few weeks or month?

Thank you for your reply. It's not the not being able to see people, it's a few things that would make two routines impossible. They would have to have snacks, lunch, dinner and bedtime at separate times from each other. The sole caregiver would have to find a way to leave one twin in a safe place while putting the other one down for a nap. Bedtimes would be an hour apart so bath would also have to be separate. To top it all off they sleep in the same room (we live in a two bed flat) so one would be woken if the other one needed a sleep and would have to get back to sleep. Also I don't think it would be good for them never to go outdoors even for a walk or to the swings - we try to take them out every day even in bad weather.

If we had two routines, she would sleep 9.30-11, he would sleep 11-1/2, she would sleep 2-3.30, he would go to bed at 6 and she would go to bed at 7. So morning snack, lunch, dinner, bath would all have to be different. Could get out for a short walk at 4 and be back at 4.45 for one of them to have dinner. Doesn't solve the problem of not having a safe place to leave one while dealing with the other in another room. It just doesn't seem practical to me!

Ah ok! Sorry, that wasn’t helpful then!! You can tell I haven’t had twins!

Could they be on the same routine but the one who wants 2 naps goes down 30 min before the other twin so that’s closer to her wake up and then hopefully they sleep at same time?

Or what I would do is maybe just push through and she’ll adapt. I moved my youngest onto one nap slightly before he was ready as I find the whole one nap a day way easier to navigate with 2 kids.

Could you try putting them both down for the morning nap but go in and wake dt1 after 1/2 hour then both have the afternoon nap too? That way you don't have the problem of one awake in another room unsupervised.

I don't have twins but I did have two toddlers eighteen months apart so I've done half of lockdown with two nap schedules and no bloody bubble (my youngest is two months too young, thanks Boris, so sole caregiver).
I have got each of them to push through and drop a nap to fit in with the other, I think that's definitely the best way to go. They adapt quite quickly, or at least mine do, and just the morning nap gets a bit longer to compensate which is easier to deal with. Then if you have one that isn't ready for bed with the other at least you've done dinner and bath together and it's easier to keep one up for a bit if they're clean and fed in pyjamas.
In the meantime while they're learning to cope my best (only!) strategy for the struggling little one is babywearing. I can't generally pick her up when she's tired and upset because it's normally when I'm frantically trying to cook dinner etc so I pop her on my back (I have an ergo baby sling and she's about 22lb) which settles her enough to get to dinner time. She's also safe enough if she really needs a power nap.
Twins must be a different ball game though, you are probably a lot more organised than me! I hope this stage passes quickly for you x

Thank you for all the responses! She was a bit better today and managed to sleep 1h45mins and was in a much better mood before bed so maybe she is starting to get used to it... I'll stick with one nap for a week or two and hope she adjusts, otherwise perhaps will try waking DT1 early from first nap as suggested.