What type of napping schedule should my 12 month old be on?

My one year old goes to bed at 8:00 pm and wakes up at about 7:00 am. I have been putting him on two naps one in the morning about 9:00 to 10:00 and another in the afternoon about 2:00 to 3:00. I am just not sure if he should be taking one nap or two at this age.

A well-rested baby sleeps better and a 12-month old typically needs about 13-14 hours of sleep a day. So, 11 hours at night still leaves 2-3 during the day. Mine were on a 2 nap schedule until about 18/20 months old. A shorter one in the morning (around 9:30am-10:30) and a longer one in the afternoon (around 1:30pm-3:00). Sometimes you feel like you're making them sleep too much but 1) babies brains develop while they're sleeping and 2) enjoy it while you can!

My son is 14 months now, but at 12 months was when he started moving from a schedule very similar to the one you described to taking only 1 longer nap in the morning. He was home from daycare over winter break and being at home he started taking 2 hour naps in the morning then skipping his afternoon nap. He is still going back and forth now. Sometimes he only sleeps for an hour in the morning and sometimes that is enough to get him through the day, but other times he takes another nap later.

The best guidelines I have seen is that a baby that age should be sleeping around 13.5 hours out of every 24 hours. That combines night time sleep and naps. So if your current schedule works for you and your son then that should be perfect.

I would cut the naps down to one and have your child nap from 1pm-3pm, and then his bed time and wake-up time will probably remain the same.