1 Year Old Having Difficulty at Bedtime

I think you did the right thing by shortening the second nap. If you haven't already, give that new , limited nap a week before passing judgment on adjusting her early bedtime.

I also feel it is a good idea to have the second nap longer than the 1st, so if the morning nap starts to stretch out, you might want to limit that too (especially as it could push back the second nap).

I finally realized that my son has a certain amount of sleep that he will take in a 24 hour period and the length of his naps was affecting his early bedtime. This discovery was after months of trying to encourage more sleep and then finally realizing that he was as rested as he could get.

I tried early bedtime..that only worked for him if he was a little sleep deprived and needed to catch up.

Also, congrats on such a great napper!

My daughter is the same age. I think your timing is good with bedtime. The only possible issue could be that she doesn't need two naps anymore, though I feel like if that were the case, that she'd be resising the naps themselves, not at nighttime. I think you should look at the nursery and black out the windows and get rid of all distractions, and put a good noise machine in there, like the Marsona white noise machine. It may help her be able to soothe herself to sleep better. Good luck what ever you decide to do.

With our new baby the earlier bedtime idea works.
With our first (and while she was our only), she napped beautifully and went to bed at 7:30-8 consistently. It worked for a long time, but at a certain point in toddlerhood, the naps remained great and bedtime wasn't working anymore.
We found putting her to bed LATER worked for her AND our lifestyle. She got to see Daddy after work often and we got to go out more with no worries (when #2 came along we put her to bed early again!). If earlier doesn't work, go out to dinner and put her to bed when you get home. See if it works for a while, esp during daylight savings.
Good luck. It is a fine balancing act!

Do you think some music in her room would distract her and get her interest at bedtime? Might be worth a try.

Is she miserable-tired by 7-7:30? If so definitely move up her bedtime to a bit earlier.

I have the Fisher price aquarium attached to my son's crib. He is still using it at 18 months. He will press the button to turn it on and lay down to watch the fish move and listen to music. Pretty soon he is sound asleep. I LOVE that toy!!!

Is she showing early signs of being tired at bedtime? If she's already really tired, then perhaps you are missing the right window to put her down. However, keep in mind that at a year, many babies give up their second nap and dont' need to nap in the morning just a couple of hours after getting up. Transitioning to one nap can mean an early lunch, down for the nap around 11:30 and up around 2:00, so she should be good and ready for bed at 7:00. Good luck