Two naps to one...

My DS is coming up one, and currently naps around 9.30am for an hour or hour and 1/2, and another around 2-2.30pm, for an hour to an hour and 1/2. He sleeps really well for both and goes down without a peep. However, we are having trouble getting him down around 7-7.30pm for bed. He SCREAMS and can sometimes go on for more than an hour.

I know at least a small part of the problem is the heat (we have a very well insulated house and his room is up to 25 degrees at that time, however it is warm during the day too!), but I wonder whether if he just had the one nap around 11-11.30am whether he would settle better? I am a bit scared to try it as I worry he won't sleep long enough at 11am and then what? :-)

Yeah that is what I thought. He dropped his third nap by fighting it.

I have a fan, and an evaporative cooler but neither help his room get below 25 degrees. Still working on a solution for that one.

I just wondered whether there was some other issue, as we have had three nights in a row with no problems at bedtime. Then last night back to being upset. His night wakings have gone down to two, so we are making progress without tears.

Our wee boy who is 1 in two weeks is exactly the same, I used to get him back up in the evenings, now I just leave him and he eventually goes to sleep. I have no answers either but I have found if he has a bath before bed it seems to settle him more and he doesnt seem to cry as often.

you might find that he is actually getting too much sleep during the day which bring about the fight at night. But reducing it to one sleep straight away could be a disaster!
The best way to do it is reduce his morning sleep so that his afternoon sleep is earlier - and he'll have more time up to get rid of his energy!!
Try reducing it down to a half hour and then his lunch time sleep will be closer to 1pm. Also getting him up by 3pm no matter what will help as well. If he settles in with half an hour in the morning but still fighting at night make sure he is only having an hour and a half at the lunch time sleep.

hope this helps!

I was just thinking... Re his arvo nap, Lily's naps are much the same and she's in the process of some days she'll have 2 naps but most days just one.

Has a first nap anywhere from 9.30am (earliest) - 11am (latest) for 2 hours. If she goes down at 9.30-10am she tends to need another nap about 2.30-3pm... But because she sleeps for 2 hours and it takes her a good 3-4 hours to get tired... Means she often isn't read for bed until about 9!

My suggestion would be to just see what happens if you try extend his first nap out a bit, by 30 mins - hour... But also what time does he wake for the day? and How long can he handle being up for?

If Lily goes down around 11-12pm for her first nap, she'll usually sleep about 2 hours and then doesn't need an afternoon nap and will happily go to bed at 7ish.