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Hi Elen,
It sounds like moving the nap time later is really helping your little one.
It’s fantastic that you’re giving her a chance to settle herself back to sleep when she cries out during naps. I expect that as she gets used to this new nap schedule, the crying before and during naps will decrease and eventually stop.
She may have cried at bedtime because she wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep. Pushing her bedtime later could be beneficial in ensuring she’s ready for sleep.
As for waking her up at 6:30 am, I recommend sticking with this since it aligns with her natural wake-up time.
The reason behind shifting her nap time later was because she wasn’t falling asleep at 11:30 am, which suggested she hadn’t been awake long enough to build sufficient sleep pressure. By delaying her nap, you’ve increased her morning wake window, allowing her enough time to feel naturally sleepy, and this adjustment also syncs well with the natural dip in her circadian rhythm. Now that she’s napping later into the afternoon, it’s necessary to shift her bedtime back so that she has enough awake time to build up the sleep pressure to fall asleep at bedtime and stay asleep.
Does that make sense?
Emma