Please help me with my 15 mo’s nap(s)

[CuppaTea4Me]

DS goes to bed at 19:30 and usually sleeps through the night, but sadly only until 5:30-6. We’ve tried resettling him, with no joy.

He’s SO grizzly for a nap by about 9-9:30. On my/DH’s days off, we tend to put him down and then wake him up 45 mins later as a) we like to get out in the mornings and b) it’s the only way to get a nap in the afternoon. He’s grizzly again for a nap by 13:30 and sleeps for 1.5-2h (wakes himself)

At nursery they put him down between 9-9:30 and let him sleep. He’ll often pull 1.5-2.5 hours. They used to be able to get a cat nap in the afternoon but he’s resisted the last 2 weeks. He’s grumpy there for the first hour (until he has his nap) then has a great time. He’s a bit manic by the evening, but surprisingly okay for a baby who’s often been awake 8h, although it is only 2 days/week.

I feel like he’s ready for one nap, but how on earth do we get it close to lunch when he’s so cross by 9:30??

He's deffo ready for one.
Some children have their one nap on a morning and that's them done for the day.
If you want it at dinner time, every 3/4 days push the time back 15 mins till you hit the time you want

Thank you so much @moonshine3600!

To be honest, it doesn’t really matter too much to me/DH when he naps (although as most groups are in the morning, I’d rather he wasn’t asleep 9-11, but that’s quite small). Nursery however move him up in about 6 weeks where he won’t be able to nap until 12 and I’m quite stressed about it, because when he’s cross he’s really cross 😂

😂 yep I also had an angry boy when it came to his sleep, he knew everyday when it was nap time without me saying it.
Nursery should accommodate whilst he transitions to 1.
Where do they nap?
My DS nursery has a quiet room and they can go in as they please for sleep.
It's worth asking/telling them what your going to do so they can do the same

Have you tried playing around with his bedtime? If you bring it forward to 7pm would he still wake at the same time? DS is the same age and no matter what time we put him to bed, he still wakes at 6-6.30. So we go for 7pm so he gets more sleep. Maybe an extra 30mins may help him last a little longer in the mornings. I think I’d do as the pp says and move the nap back a little each day. Hopefully you’ll be able to get closer to 12pm in time for him to move up.

If you/nursery keep him busy and active through to an 11.30am lunch and 12pm nap, hopefully he will have a really long nap and not wake until 3-3.30pm

You can then push bedtime later in order to shift his body clock to get up later. Then if you have an 8.30pm-6.30am night, he will be better able to get through to lunchtime and so the improvement continues.

I would start aiming for later bedtimes ASAP because in 3 (?) Weeks time the clocks fall back an hour. So your 7.30pm-5.30am becomes 6 30pm-4.30am. So start pushing for (much) later bedtimes now.

When mine were small a long time ago I used to always go to a group in the mornings so that they stayed awake until 11.30 luckily there was a decent snack they had a quick Lunch and were nodding in their high chairs by 11.45 milk and a long solid sleep until 2.30 3pm then back down again at 7 and a solid 11 hours overnight I kept to exactly the same routine until they turned two when they dropped naps entirely It’s limiting but then I had three babies so everything was
Limited anyway

My DD done the same at 15 months so I dropped to 1 nap. I started putting her down a bit later in the morning so pushed it back by 15 minutes every few days. She then was napping 10/10:30-12/12:30 and that was her done for the day, asleep by 7pm.

Now shes 17 months and I’ve managed to push the nap back until after lunch.

Thanks all so much for your advice.

@moonshine3600 unless I’m misunderstanding, the expectation of the toddler room is that they all nap together straight after lunch. The baby room is very flexible, but I don’t think it is past 17 months?

@FATEdestiny it did occur to me that things would get worse when the clocks go back. I’m not sure if it’s currently worth trying to persevere with two naps, in order to push bedtime back first? I’m concerned dropping to one nap (I think it lasting 3-3.5h would be wishful thinking, but you never know) whilst concurrently moving bedtime to 20:30 at once might lead to a very over tired baby. Is it worth clearing the hurdle of the clock change and then dropping to one?

It may depend on your nursery etc but it's flexible at mine.
It's worth a chat with them so you figure out what the best approach is for him.