Can anyone relate/offer any advice?

Courtney

My son will be 8 months old next Friday, March 29th and has had a pretty solid nap and bedtime routine for awhile now. He has been taking 3 naps per day, averaging around 3 hours total for daytime sleep. He has been going to bed around 6:45 or 7:00 and then typically sleeps until 5:30 or 5:45. In NO way am I complaining because I know this is great for a little one his age. My question is this: for the last two days he has been taking 2 longer naps and then refusing the third nap...does this mean he’s ready to transition to 2 naps? The only problem is that he has been getting up at 1:15 after the second nap which means he has been staying awake close to almost 6:30, meaning he’s awake for over five hours before bedtime. I know...probably a huge mistake. But how do I fix this? Do I try to stretch out his awake time in between naps? Right now he’s usually awake 2 hours between naps. Should I try and stretch it out to 3? This morning he was up at 3:30 babbling in his crib and I finally got him up and had him lay with me on the couch and he fell back to sleep for another hour and 15 minutes. I’ve read that early wake times can be due to an overtired baby which I’m sure he is when he’s up for a 5 hour stretch before bedtime. I just don’t want to start any bad sleep habits and also don’t think having him up 5 hours between the last nap and bedtime is good for a little boy his age. So if anyone can offer any advice, please do! Thanks so much!