15.5 month old and nap dilemma - complicated but help needed please!

[cruisemum1]

My ds 15.5 mths is currently on two naps most days but sometimes refuses his first one so we are left with one after lunch. Ideal in principal but.........
If he has one nap he cannot really hold out beyond 12:30pm for it. ot a problem. At first he would sleep for around 2 - 2.5hrs and last until his bedtime at 8pm - perfect! But now he only seems able to nap for around 1 hour which is not enough to sustain him until 8pm so I put him to bed earlier but.... he then wakes early (6:15am ish) which means he cannot last until 12:30pm for his one and only nap so I end up putting him down for morning and afternoon nap (sometimes he will have both other times not). Am I messing his routine up by not being consistent or should I just carry on winging it until he gets it right iyswim. I don't mind the switch to one nap but if he is only doing one hour and strugglung to cope for the afternoon what do i do?? Your invaluable advice please ladies

oh crap! I have put him down for 2nd nap (usually 3 - 4pm) and he is grizzling in his cot. I don't want him to sleep beyond 4pm but if he doesn't sleep now there is no way he will last until bedtime as he has only had one hour 10 - 11am this morning. Friggin ell! What do I do?

This is a difficult age when the number of naps changes. Same when they drop the day time nap. A few months of being all over the place
When he has the one nap, is it warm/dark etc. He's not hungry or with a full nappy?
It does pass I promise.

he is always well watered/fed/warm etc at naptime. He will nap anywhere - buggy, car, cot so that is not the problem. He is in his cot in his dimly lit bedroom at the mo but is rapidly running out of nap time whether he wants one or not! He is still grizzling - not yelling but i really don't want him sleeping beyond 4pm as it will bugger up bedtime. Then again I don't want to have a grumpy baby for the next 3 - 4hrs. Oh Feck! What to do??????

Take him out and do whatever you do. If he gets unbearble and falls asleep, let him nap for 20 mins only. Its like a powernap so hopefully shouldn't mess up bedtime.
We have a 3 yo who is total pain in butt over her daytime nap so do this if she hasn't slept by 4pm.

thansk nmc. I think he has gone to sleep - I'll take your advice and wake him at 4:05pm! That should make 20mins - feel horrid waking him but not as horrid as I would feel being crabby after 8 when he refuses to go to sleep! Oh and btw - congrats on having a 3yo who still naps at all! My dd (now 9yo) gave up daytime naps at around 2.3yo.

When mine went through this stage I used to put them down about 11am for a 2 hour nap and give them a late lunch, which worked well for us. The phase only lasted a few weeks till they were ready to go till after lunch (about 12.30) for the long nap.

She doesn't go to bed till 10pm Cruise [grin} but it works for us as she needs to eat at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm plus fit in 2 bottles and her medications.
plus she co-sleeps as she has seizures and can't sleep alone so I go to bed when she does.
If she went any earlier I'd miss Holby!

jellycat - sounds great but my lo seems to have lost the ability to nap beyond around 1hr . Makes for a very grumpy toddler and a VERY long afternoon! He can lazst until 12:30pm but the nap is not long enough. ~did you put yhour lo's to bed early on these occasions? Did they wake earlier?

nmc - you deserve a medal

If you try napping him a bit earlier he might actually go for longer - sounds illogical I know, but they don't sleep as well if they are overtired. Also, getting overtired during the day can adversely affect night time sleep.

The other thing you can try is only letting him have a short (15-30 min.) morning nap, but I found this didn't work too well for us as they were very grouchy at being woken after such a short time).

ta jellycat - flippin mine field innit!

I know
But I do have 3 loud teenagers too so staying up late isn't a biggie anymore. Not like I'd get an evening's peace anyhow!

Hi Cruise, Our naps are all over the place at the moment too. Similar problems to you sleeps too early in the day and wants to sleep at 4 which is too late. On the couple of times I've let her drop off I've woken her about 4.45 and she's screamed the house down for an hour!! (obviously doesn't like being woken). It's a nightmare, absolutely no chance of any kind of routine here.

hi ginger! this seems to be my lifes work at the moment . I will be glad when i have it sussed. He looks tired by about 10am though and i feel guilty keeping him up but then i feel guilty if he resists a nap too. then i feel guilty if he has a npa and then ihave to wake him from it...and on and on and on. you getting any sleep yet? I do hope so

More sleep than this time last year! however we're having teething hell at the moment. Four molars in a few weeks = one miserable child and a tired mummy. Can't believe they're not babies any more, where did the time go?

My dd is 15 months.
She gets up at about 7am , has a nap after lunch (usually at 12pm). Sometimes it is for an hour and sometimes an hour and a half. She goes to bed at 6.30pm.