14 month old not napping

[Ratchet]

My DD is about 14 months and just recently started sleeping better at night.  She goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30am usually.  She used to always nap at 1pm without a problem.  Since she has started waking up less during the night, she seems to be harder to get down for her nap.  We have our pre-nap routine, and now she will toss and turn and sing to herself and play in her room-- she's on a mattress on the floor- I lay down with her, but I don't restrain her in the bed so if she wants to walk around I let her.  She used to occasionally play around for a few minutes before coming back to bed and falling asleep; now she does it for at least an hour, falls asleep at 2pm or so, then sleeps to 4pm, which then seems to push her bedtime later- to 9pm or so.  Still waking up at the same time.  would I be crazy to try dropping the nap, since she seems to be fighting it so much and overall she's not getting much more sleep since it makes her stay up later.  She's not having any problems now that seem to be related to being overtired.  I know I stopped napping by 2 for sure as a baby myself, maybe even earlier, just too busy!

[skycheattraffic]

Kids are all different and although it may be unusual, if she gets about 12 hours at night and isn't overtired then it may be worthwhile to try skipping the nap. Ultimately it comes down to her needs and yours. My 21 month old DD is similar but to me the midday break is very important so I keep getting her down for a nap and tolerate a later bedtime. If you drop the nap and after a few days you see that she is having a hard time, you can bring it back. An alternative I've used at times is quiet cuddle time (usually nursing) in a dark, quiet place for 45 min to an hour to help her rest even if she doesn't fall asleep. It helps her recharge a bit, enough to make it to bedtime without being inconsolable. FWIW at 11 months we had to put up blackout drapes and start using a fan for white noise or naps weren't happening at all. Good luck!

[newmamalizzy]

At that age I might be more inclined to purposely cut down on night-time sleep rather than dropping the nap.  Do you see any difference on the 7:30 wake-up days than the 8:30 days?  Maybe you could shoot for either a slightly later bedtime or a consistently early wake-up time and see if that helps?  Because 12 hours is a looooong stretch with a child that young...and you haven't even gotten into the full-blown toddler troubles yet!

(BTW - mine was done napping at about 24 months, and the last few hours before bed were dreadful for at least 3 months.  She always struggled with naps, so my perspective is generally "if you've got a kid that will nap, don't lose it!!!!")