Does This Mean That He Is Ready?!

Give him two short naps if one longer one is not working out yet. If I read right you are having a hard time keeping him up until then for the nap, so give him 2, 45 min - 60 min naps a day until he is less cranky and ready for a single nap.

I am confused. You think he should go to 1 nap because he only sleeps 1 1/2 hours instead of two? How would dropping an afternoon nap make him sleep longer in the morning? Usually, people drop the afternoon nap because the kid is staying up too late. I think my son had 1 nap at 20 months because by 2 1/2 he had no nap at all.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but are you trying to make him drop to 1 nap when he still wants to take 2?
Why?

Unless you have a reason (daycare or something) that he can't take 2 naps each day, why would you not let him sleep when he wants to?
He'll drop to 1 on his own when he's ready...and trust me, you won't be unsure!
If you're trying to force the issue, and he's not sleeping well during that 1 nap that he IS getting, then for sure...he is not ready. What that means is that he's overtired by the time you put him down, which is why he's sleeping less during that 1 nap. Pretty soon you'll see the night time sleep start to go, too.
So please...let him keep taking 2 naps. He's already showing you that he's not ready for just 1. Remember...sleep begets sleep. If you shorten his sleep schedule before he's naturally ready, he'll actually sleep LESS. (And be cranky).
Read Healthy Sleep Habits from Dr. Weissbluth. It'll give you some great insight.

I'd be really cautious about eliminating ANY sleeping that a child seems inclined to do. Sleep is incredibly important to normal brain development and even physical growth. And kids who don't get enough sleep may become too "buzzed" from being overtired to sleep when they do have the opportunity.

Here's an outstanding resource discussing children and sleep – just about anything you might wonder about: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/sleep.htm

Please don't compare him to "most toddlers"...every kid is different and wherever you read that one nap toddlers take a 2 hour nap is probably taking the average. That means that your toddlers 1 1/2 hour nap falls within that time range that would average to 2 hours.

When he gets to the end of the night, is he cranky and in desperate need of sleep? If not, then he's fine!

hi, i operate a licensed preschool in St Peters and our young, just turning 2 year olds nap from 12 noon right after lunch to 2:30. Then they have snack, play outside, music time, and social play with many other children their age. Our children are served lunched at 11:30am due to becoming tired around that time, keep in mind our children arrive around 7:30am and are kept very busy, with themes, music, learning time, storytime, outside time, etc, so they get pretty tired out by lunch and the nap time starts at 12, most are fast asleep by 12:15 with quiet music, and some do wake up around 2, and are given books or puzzles, but other then that, 2:30 seems to work fine, and then the children are picked up around 5:30pm and I have never had a complaint that the nap was too long, and most ready for bed again by 8pm. I give you a pat on the back for trying to get his schedule ready for starting preschool. :) hopes this helps a bit.

No its not too long. I didnt read the other responses but the way he is sleeping now is typical sleeping habits for that age. I have a 22 month old and he take one 2 hour nap a day. He wake up everyday at 9am. I keep him up until 12 noon and I put him in the crib for a nap regardless if he want to or not. He always go to sleep within minutes. I wake him at 2pm when the rest of the kids come home. And he's off to sleep at 9pm when the rest of the kids go to sleep. If I wake him earlier, he is always ready for a nap after 3 hours of being awake.

He should be ready for one nap. My kids wake up at the same time as yours and are 22 months. If I keep them busy enough they can stay up till 12:30-1. If we've been at home all morning they start acting tired before noon, but I don't put them down until at least 12. They sleep on average 2 hours but sometimes it is closer to 1.5, some days (especially the dark, rainy days) they sleep 3 hours. So, sometimes they are up from 1:30 to 8 pm and I think they are doing fine! Good luck.

I would do a sleep journal for a week or so.. write down the times he sleeps for naps and at night.. add up the hours.. you will probably notice that he sleeps almost exactly the same number of hours each day. so you can play with the times.. a little bit. but not much.

sounds like he is getting 11 hours at night , and 1.5 hours of nap. if he is pleasant most of hte day.. that is a good amount of sleep for him. I do think bedtime is a bit late for him.. I would try to move up bedtime a bit .. most kids wake up at the same time no manner when they go to bed.. so I get mine to bed early.

So, when he gets up at 1:00 do you give him another nap later in the afternoon?

All 3 of my kids stopped taking 2 naps at about 15 months.

Our DD was about 18 months when she started showing us and the day care that one nap was fine. There are times when her crankiness is out of control but overall, she does ok. We usually put her down about noon and she is down for almost 2 hours. This past weekend though, she only napped for one hour and fifteen mins. It varies. Just go with the cues you are picking up and go from there. Maybe try the two little naps and if not, give the longer nap a couple more tries. Good luck!

I teach at a preschool and when it comes to naps, they don't take one until after lunch. Most preschools are like that. Our school, they eat lunch at around 11 and then play some and then nap. When they wake up they get a snack. Every preschool I've taught at that is how it is. Only one nap and it is after lunch. If you plan on enrolling him you may want to get him ready for that. I'd call the preschools you are interested in and see what their lunch and nap schedule is and you can train him to coinside with that. It is not fun for the teachers when a student in class is on an odd schedule and they have to train that child to go a long with the rest of the class. It is exhausting to deal with the child that is not on a schedule with the rest of the class. Good luck and God Bless.