Two Naps to One... - San Francisco,CA

I started my duaghter out at a 12:00 nap. She is now at a 1:00 and naps better 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. She wakes between 7 & 7:30am.

Lucky you she is transitioning just now. My son transitioned from 2 naps to 1 when he was 11 months old (to my demise)... He is an early riser so he would wake up at 6:00 and wanted to go down around 9- 9:30 am for his ONLY nap... I tried to keep him entertained (mainly outside the boredom of the house) until around 10:30-11. Then I slowly shifted that time in 15 minute increments the key is to not overtire her. She will slowly be able to stay awake more and more during the day. I used the book The SleepEasy Solution for the sleep training. This book also teached you the amount of hours a child is supposed to be awake after waking up in the morning and after the nap.
He is now 19 months and his bedtime is about the same as your daughter's. His schedule now is:
6:30- 7:00 am (wake up - he has his 10oz cup of milk)
7:00 - 8:45 am (quiet play still at home)
9:00 - 11:00 am (Stroller Strides class and playground time)
11:30 (lunch)
Noon - 12:30 clean up quiet play
12:30 - 2:30 (in VERY lucky days 3 pm) nap
After nap (snack)
3:30 - 5:30 playground and outside activities
6:00 dinner and play with daddy
6:45 Bathtime
7:00 Bedtime

Good luck!

If I remember correctly (my older son just turned 2), the morning nap began to move later and blend into the second nap. He had been taking 2 naps a day (at 9am & 1pm), then started to seem more awake & ready for 1 nap a day by 15mths. So, there were a few mornings when he'd be nap at 10am and have a shorter afternoon nap. But, pretty quickly he was up until 11am & would have a 3hr nap, and no more afternoon nap. I'd try to get a good snack/lunch into him before he got really sleepy, and make the afternoon snack a bit bigger too. He basically slept through lunch time. Over a couple of months, the nap moved back to begin at 12:30 or so.

I used to get my son up at 8.30, give him his brekfast around 9-9.30, i would then put the TV on for him for an hour and gve him juice. then at 12 i would give him some milk and put him to sleep for 2 hours, if he slept throgh i would wake him up. then id give him lunch in front of the window, and when he was done i would take him outside to play some games, about 2 hours late w would come back in id give him juice then he would normally play by himself. I would give him a little snck when he came in with his juice and then dinner at 6 bath at 7.30 and bed at 8.30, the bed part didnt work to well but other than that he was perfect good luck :)

It definitely does depend on the needs of the child and the parent. In our case, doing home childcare, we've found that having our lunch with the kiddos around noon, (time dictated by the arrival of the one child who is in Kindergarten and gets out of school at 11:45) then put the children down for their naps at approximately 1 p.m. works well. That gives them an hour to eat lunch without feeling rushed, use the bathroom and brush their teeth before lying down. We expect the children to rest for an hour quietly on their cots (whether they sleep or not). This gives enough time for those who really need the sleep to fall asleep and for us to get a bit of relaxation time. At fifteen months of age most children are ready to handle the once a day naptimes. In childcare centers, they usually move from a bed baby room to a toddler room at just about the time of the first birthday, and go from the nap on demand routine to a once a day after lunch nap immediately. Just figure out what time seems to work best for you and your child and go with it.

Daycare made this transition cold turkey, so we just went with it. My son is about an hour earlier than yours for wake up and bedtime, and his afternoon name is 12:15 (or so) to about 2:30 (depending on the day, conditions, etc.). At home, on the weekends, he can usually do about 3 hours, and we try not to let him go much longer than that. So, I would recommend about 1:15 or 1:30 for the nap. The first few weekends, it was hard to get him to stay up that long, and he got a little grouchy, but it really wasn't long before he took to it.

You should pretty much let them dictate when they need sleep. I know plenty of people will argue that but they are the little ones that are tired and need their sleep. They need it for a reason. Happy baby, happy mommy! My 15 month old used to take a morning nap 3 hrs after waking and an afternoon nap around 2 or 4pm. Now he just takes one 2 hr nap about 3 - 3 1/2 hrs after waking I find if I work with that nap schedule....he is good to go for the rest of the day. Occasionally he'll lay down for 1/2 in his pack n' play not sleeping just resting about 4pm while I make dinner. And every once in awhile he will fall asleep in our arms late in the evening two hours before bedtime for a quick cat nap after his bottle. It just lasts about 20 mins, he's up for another 2 hrs then gets a final bottle before bed. Do whatever works with your little one. She'll let you know when she's tired. The nap time will probably shift an hour or two as times goes by. Good luck, don't worry, be flexible and enjoy your little one!

We transitioned by moving the one nap to 11:00-11:30--after an early lunch.

Our twins gave up their second nap at 15 months, and the morning nap was the one they kept. We noticed with them that they needed their morning nap at the same time. It made for a very long afternoon/evening, but they were still rubbing their eyes and falling down at 10:00 in the morning. Every child is different, and you'll find what works for your daughter.