Should I wake him or let him sleep? Is it transition time?

[Java]

Kael is turning 15m next week and he's a pretty solid 2 nap napper (lasting 1.5-2 hours each). Lately, it's taking him longer to fall asleep (30-45 minutes but the length of the naps remain the same) so that's pushing everything later - bedtime went from 7:30pm to now 9pm. His wake-up time is between 6:00 and 7:00am.

I'm reading that it's time to transition him to 1 nap but they are such solid naps that I'm uncertain. He sometimes wakes after 45-60 minutes into his nap and he's obviously still so tired that he's easily patted back to sleep for another hour. He had such a difficult time getting into a good nap groove that I hate to ruin a good thing.

I think my options are (unless someone has a better idea):
1) Leave the 2 naps but shorten the PM nap to just an hour (or don't pat him back to sleep); OR
2) Start transitioning him to 1 nap by delaying the AM nap and.... what do I do with the PM nap in the meantime??

So what do you all think?

[squimp]

We were sort of in that boat at 10 months. We ended up dropping the morning nap and putting DD to bed for the night an hour or two earlier. She takes one early afternoon nap, 2 hours from 2-4 like clockwork. Then goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes for the day at 8.

I think having one long nap is better from a sleep rejuvenation perspective, as opposed to 2 short naps. (OK - I just made that up about sleep rejuvenation, but you know what I mean :)). Like you say, DD sometimes wakes after 1 hour, but it's clear to us that she's not refreshed.

So I guess I'm not giving advice, just sharing what works for us. I'm loving the earlier bedtime since it gives me time to relax at night.

[Saartje]

Not that I have any experience with this, but I generally figure if something's working for you and your baby, don't mess with it. Unless it's going to do some harm, why worry about something you've read when the reality may be very different for your baby?

[Java]

It is sort of working for us now but his bedtime is moving later and later because the PM nap is moving later. I don't want his bedtime at 9, 9:30pm - that's just too late for us since he wakes up at the same time regardless of when he goes down.

With the holidays coming up and a 2 week trip planned, I think we're going to wing it and try to keep the same 2 nap schedule. I don't want to start anything new when we're traveling. Hopefully he won't be too off at my parents' house!