Help with one nap--how to keep them up AND happy

Any tips? IF they take an am nap, there is no afternoon nap (today, they spent an hour throwing things to each other). So, I really want to do one nap but if I keep them awake past 9am, they get kind of cranky so I get cranky and we go take a nap. I tried a walk today but they nearly fell asleep because it was too quiet and peaceful. Any tips?

 

Sometimes it is a transition period and you might have to bounce around with one or two naps until the full transition is made.
Could you take them outside or to the playground to play? Or if it's too hot, have them play in the bathtub filled with a little bit of water?
Another thing, is if they take their nap at 9am but you want to push it back later, is try to keep them up a little longer past 9am (maybe moving up the time 15 to 30 minutes every couple of days ) until you hit your desired nap time.

 

Can you shorten the first nap and then still have a second nap? It sounds like they can't stay awake much past 9:00. My boys used to nap at 9am and 1pm. When they dropped the morning nap they stopped wanting to sleep at 9am and started napping at 11:30ish.

 

11.5 months seems really early to be dropping to one nap - is it possible there's anything else going on that could be disrupting their sleep? a new milestone? teething? that it might just be a phase that you need to ride out until they go back to two good naps a day?

also, you could try PP idea of having them take their 9:00am nap, but limiting it to an hour & see if that helps the afternoon nap at all. or you could try putting them down a bit later for their afternoon nap & see if that helps.

if you're sure they're ready to drop to one nap, i would try Nancy's suggestion of pushing the AM nap back by 15 - 30 minutes every few days & see how it goes. you may find you need a much earlier bedtime for a while until you get the nap more into the middle of the day. GL!

 

Mine seemed to want to drop their a.m. nap early too. I filled the time with something new that they don't always do. one thing was coloring and another thing was snacks bc we were only doing snacks in the p.m. Mine don't watch TV (curse and blessing sometimes!) but they will sit still for about 5 mins where I can cuddle and have a snack with them if they are being cranky and sometimes thats all it takes for them to regroup and be happy!
Also I would start lunch sooner and afternoon nap sooner...prolly bedtime sooner too for awhile until they get the hang of it