18 month old learned fake crying and turning it into a real one.

Little miss has now learned that if and when she cries she’ll get what she wants or she’ll be coddled. I know it’s common but mine has learned to start fake crying and then would turn it into a real outburst to the level that she starts gasping. I managed to stop it one or two times as soon as she starts. But today when she didn’t want to take the evening nap and was trying to be difficult, I told her firmly that she can’t do that every time and she had the worst outburst. Is this common? How to tackle it?

Also, do 18 months old drop their evening naps? Mine takes 1-1.5 hour nap around 11-11.30 in the morning and post that she used to take another nap around 4:30-5. But lately she’s dropping her evening naps.