How to calm 14-15month old for bed at night?

[Jenn98]

DD has always been a relatively good sleeper, but it has been a struggle to get her to bed at night the last few months. I'm looking for ways to help her unwind. Here's our situation:

She gets up at about 8am no matter when she goes to bed at night.
Usually naps between 1-3, although it's not unheard of her to only nap for 45 minutes and wake up crying.
Is clearly tired by 8:30pm and asleep by 9-10pm

She usually goes down easily for nap (sound asleep in about 10 minutes), but it can take a lot lot longer to get her down at night. She's clearly tired, but it seems like she's all wound up and having a hard time calming down. I still rock her to sleep, but we also sometimes put her in her crib and I sit in the doorway and play on the computer while she drifts off to sleep. (please no CIO advice, that just doesn't work for us. I'm willing to let her fuss, but not scream herself to sleep)

Like I said, it seems like she's all wound up and having a hard time getting calmed enough to sit still long enough to fall asleep. She has always loved her bath until recently, so those aren't calming. We do read a few books before bed, but it hasn't been the miracle I had hoped for ;)

I'm just wondering why she can get to sleep for her nap so easily, but take an hour to get down at night when she is clearly tired (rubbing red eyes, yawning, etc.) Most of the sleep books focus on establishing a routine and getting baby to sleep through the night, neither of which is our problem. I just can't get her to sleep - once she's asleep we have no problems. Any advice?

[Momof3Labs]

Try putting her down earlier. If she's clearly tired by 8:30pm, try putting her down at 7:30 or 8pm, before she is overtired. If she's sleeping 10pm-8am and then napping for 45 minutes, she may not be getting all the sleep that she needs. And I truly believe from experience that sleep begets sleep!

[Jenn98]

I've tried that once or twice, but maybe if I was more consistent it might help. The times I did try that it took twice as long to get her to sleep, so she was still falling asleep at around 9:30ish, but it took me 2 hours to do it. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just ask DD what she needed? ;) Thanks for the suggestion - I'll try it!!