How much SLEEP does your 2 1/2 - 3 year old get???

[annasmom]

We are having some sleep/behavior issues with Anna that we desperately want to resolve before the new baby comes. In my opinion, I do not think she gets enough sleep at all.

The vast majority of mornings, she wakes up in the morning in a cranky mood, she fights her afternoon nap tooth and nail, she wakes up from her nap crying and cranky, she fights going to bed at night like we are torturing her.

We have pushed back her bedtime from 7:00 p.m. just a few months ago to 8:00 p.m., and then just last night I didn't start putting her to bed until 8:30 p.m. And that actually seemed to work, she didn't resist much at all. But, she didn't actually go to sleep until 9:00 p.m. by the time we were done reading, and imo, that is way too late of a bedtime for a girl her age (going to be 3 at the end of August).

She wakes up in the morning usually between 6:00-6:30 a.m., and if we are lucky will go back to sleep in our bed until 7:00 a.m. (if she isn't in our bed already - entirely other issue!).

She goes down for a nap between 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. and sleeps for about an hour, *maybe* 1 1/2 hours.


So, what is your 2 1/2 - 3 year old doing??? Is this typical?? Any advice??? TIA!!

[icunurse]

We're lucky that DS has always been a good sleeper (yes, we know that we will get payback with the next child). We usually put him to bed between 7-8p.m. (depending on what kind of day he's had), he will sleep until 7:30-9a.m. (again, depends on how exhausting his previous day was), and he takes a 2 hour nap. I will miss this...

Traci
~Connor's Mom 02/2004~
Agency paperwork completed - waiting (and waiting) for another baby!

[JBaxter]

Nathan goes down between 8 and 9 and sleeps till 630 - 8 ( depending if he hears DH get ready for work) He is taking 3 - 4 naps a week but when he does its 3-4hrs.

He is ALWAYS a grump when he wakes up. It takes him a good 45min to be nice.

[katerinasmom]

It's hard for us to give our DD a set bedtime because we don't get home from work until close to 7PM. She will go to sleep anywhere between 7 and 10PM. We try to get her in bed no later than 9 but sometimes that just doesn't work out. She is usually up at 6AM because that is when we leave in the mornings for work. She often falls back to sleep in the car each morning but doesn't continue to sleep for much longer once we reach my MIL's because she is too excited to see her friends (the other 2 children that my MIL watches most days). But if we do not have to get up and take her out, she will usually go back to sleep (in our bed) until about 9AM. She almost always takes at least a 2 hour nap around 11AM.
She has plenty of opportunities during the day to catch some extra sleep but does not use them. I do not think that she get nearly enough sleep each day but it doesn't seem to be affecting her mood, appetite, energy or disposition. So I try not to worry about it.

[o_mom]

On a napping day, DS1 will have about a 2 hour nap. Then he usually goes in bed about 8:30-9 and goes to sleep by about 9:30. He gets up anywhere from 7:30-8:30.

On a non-napping day (not my choice,LOL) he goes to bed at 7:30-8 and will usually sleep until at least 8-8:30.

So I guess anywhere from 12 to 14 hours in a 24 hour period.

[ctmom]

I think my 2 1/2 yo is dropping her nap...(very sad face) She is in her crib by 8:15pm and wakes up around 7:30am. Since it is the summer our routine is no more, and we aren't home as much. When we are home and I try to put her down for a nap, she doesn't sleep. The only naps she now gets are in the car. Sometimes by 7:30 she is a beast because she is exhausted.

On the nights when she goes to sleep later, how is her mood in the morning? If she goes down for her nap around 2pm does she fight it as much? She might be at the point when she is dropping her nap, or just needs a short cat nap, instead of 1 1/2 hours. Just a few months ago, when dd#1 was in preschool, dd#2 would nap for 2 hours every morning, that hasn't happen for at least a month.

I think we are dealing with the same thing. I'm going to try to let her not nap, but push her bedtime up a little, maybe getting her in bed by 7:45 and see how that goes.

Good luck!!!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[hez]

Payton's been falling asleep between 8 & 10 (depends on how wound up DH gets him!) and he's up 4 mornings at 6, the other 3 mornings between 7 & 8. He naps an hour and a half at the sitter's (the early mornings) and three hours at home (the late mornings), and the naps are offset by what time he woke up in the morning-- later naps when we're home. So, adding naps & overnight he's in the 10-12 hour range, 13 hours max, depending on what's going on.

Now, the above was our life last week (and several months preceeding). Payton has skipped two naps this week-- one at home on Sunday, and one yesterday at the sitter's. He's only gone to sleep a little bit earlier, but this morning he did sleep in 'til 8:15 with me (DH brought him in when he left for work). I'd really prefer he kept napping, but we'll go with his flow, I guess.

ETA: And yesterday was the third day of no naps this week. He did fall asleep at 7pm and stay soundly that way until ~7am. So 12 hours seems to be the magic number here.

[buttergirl12]

DS will be 3 in October. I don't think he ever slept more than 8 hours at 9. His bedtime is between 9:30 and 10pm and he wakes up around 6AM. He takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon at around 1:30pm. He is never cranky though and he doesn't fight bedtime ever. So that's the amount of sleep he needs. I don't think it's typical for a boy his age but it works for us. Sorry, not much advice just our situation.

Manja
WAHM to J 10/2003

http://b3.lilypie.com/wP8Zm5/.png[/img][/url]

[annasmom]

Mary - I definitely think we are in a transition stage when it comes to her nap. Most likely she will drop it soon, but she is definitely not ready as of yet. If she doesn't nap she is a complete nightmare. She really, really, really needs a nap. I don't push it if we are out on the weekend, at an event, with family etc., but it is definitely not the best situation.

She fights going for a nap any time of day. Actually the later I put her down, the worse she is when she wakes up. If (god forbid) she takes a nap at about 3:00, and doesn't wake up until 5:00 - all bets are off. I would rather her not nap at all!!

[annasmom]

Traci - maybe not!!LOL! My ds is a GREAT sleeper, always has been!! He goes down for bed at 7:00 p.m. on the dot, no fussing, and can sleep through the night until 8:00 a.m. He is also a great sleeper. Lately, I think because of the heat, he has been taking a solid 3-4 hour afternoon nap.

[crl]

Sleep has never been DS' strong suit. . . .

These days, at age 3, he's sleeping about 11 1/2 to 12 hours total. Some days he naps, some days not. Bedtime is adjusted accordingly. And I refuse to let him nap if he doesn't do it during quiet time (from around 1 to around 1:45) because he takes FOREVER to go to sleep at night if he naps past about 3 or 3:30. (Not that he ever voluntarily naps later, but he will fall asleep in the car or stroller if he is tired enough. I actually wake him up if he does this, because he will turn a 20 minute cat nap at 4pm into a 2 hour delay in going to sleep that night.)

I don't think this is enough sleep, but I can't make him sleep and I've tried everything I can think of to get him to sleep more so there you go. Sorry I don't have any advice.

[jennifer13]

We have had some similar struggles, but we are back in the groove so I will just give you advice based on what worked for us. We did what i called "back to basics" and moved the bedtime very early again and it really helped, naps got longer too. Seriously, the earlier we get her to bed the less she fights it, doesn't fight it at all! I have really come to see that fighting bedtime is a sign of being overtired. Norah wakes up at 6 on the dot every morning no matter what time she goes to bed, so the early bedtime ensured that she woke up well rested. I definitely would move the bed time earlier, and try an earlier nap too- maybe 12:30? The thing is, give it a few days- it will take several days for the early bedtime effect to kick in. I made that mistake before, abandoning the effort before seeing the results. By early bed time I mean 7 at the latest, since that was her previous bedtime, you could try 6:45 for a few days since she seems overtired. It has made a HUGE difference for us, I thought I might lose my mind, and then we just got hard core about the early bed time and it made all the difference. Good luck!!!
Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03
and Leah 3/24/05

[punkrockmama]

>How much SLEEP does your 2 1/2 - 3 year old get???

Sweet Jebus, NOT ENOUGH.

He goes to bed around 8pm, no later than 9pm. I'll give him a kiss goodnight and then DH gets him ready (change into jammies, brush teeth) while I tidy up downstairs. He wakes up in the morning anywhere between 4am and 7:30am. He takes a two hour nap in the early afternoon.

His mood and behavior is pretty good but I have such a feeling that he should be sleeping longer. There is no consistancy at all. One day he'll wake up at 3am and not go back to sleep. Other nights he'll wake up at 5am but then go back to sleep until 9am. Then there are times he'll just lay in his crib talking to himself until he finally passes out around 10pm. It's crazy.

Sleep is the hardest thing we've had to deal with. I had no idea that babies and children need to learn how to sleep. I just assumed they came out knowing how to do it. It was, and totally still is, something I struggle with.

[janeybwild]

Megan turned 3 at the end of April, but she's had the same routine for the past year. Into bed lights out at 7:30, always asleep by 8:00, wakes around 7:30. She takes a 1 to 1 1/12 hr aftenoon nap most days between 1:30-3:30 (otherwise its quiet time in her room for an hour). For us, if she goes to bed later after a party, she is crabby and irritable the next few days. That Anna is a little cranky at times ( :) ) does seem to suggest sleep issues to me too. Not of course that its easy to get a child to sleep longer in their own best interests...that's a whole 'nother post! Good luck.

[annasmom]

Wow Jennifer, I got to tell you I would be really scared to try that (of course for purely selfish reasons!) It actually makes a lot of sense though. When my dh suggested pushing her bedtime to 8:30, I thought to myself we need to be putting her to bed earlier, not later. The problem with pushing her bedtime later is that she doesn't wake up any later in the morning. Logistically I don't know how I could move her bedtime earlier wihtout interrupting Kieran's bedtime, iykwim?? What do you do with your little one??

[Moneypenny]

Well, DD is only 2, but whenever she has bedtime struggles we've found that pushing her bedtime earlier, not later, is the only thing that will help. We are currently back to a 6:45 bedtime after struggling for months to make it to 7:15. Nap is at 12:30 (used to be 1:00, but started having trouble with it, so moved it earlier) and she sleeps a couple of hours, although it's getting shorter as she gets older.

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]

[ellies mom]

DD goes to bed between 10-10:30pm and typically wakes up between 8-9:30am. On nap days (most days thankfully) she naps between 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

[mudder17]

Well, according to Trixie Tracker, Kaya has gotten between 12 and 13 hours of sleep/24 hours in the last several months. It's usually between 10 and 11 hours at night, and 1.5-2.5 hours for a nap. She usually goes to bed around 8 (plus or minus half an hour, but usually plus), wakes up around 6-7 (was 7, but lately has been earlier), and takes a ~2 hour nap at around 2:00. If she hasn't been getting as much sleep lately, she'll take a nap earlier and can sleep as long as 3 hours.

When Kaya starts getting cranky and all that, like a PP, we'll put her to bed or nap time much earlier and actually, she either doesn't fight it, or she'll really fight it (which usually means WAAAAY overtired--but we don't usually get that bad) and then she'll feel so much better. She does know that she gets crankier and whiney and all that when she doesn't get enough sleep. Funny thing is when she hears other toddlers acting out and crying and all that she'll say, "He needs a nap!"


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 28 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[jbowman]

Ellie goes to sleep between 7:30-8:30 pm, and wakes up around 6:30-7 am. She takes a nap everyday, and it usually lasts 2-3 hours (closer to three hours most days).

[Emmas Mom]

UGH! Sleep. I never feel like my DD gets enough. She typically goes to sleep around 8:00...sometimes earlier sometimes as late as 9:00. She almost ALWAYS is up by 6:00am. So, maybe 9 hours at night. She still is very good about taking a nap, but it's getting shorter. Usually 1-2 hours. I do not think 10 - 11 hours a day is enough for her age but she doesn't seem to be affected by it. Go figure. Still, I'd LOVE it if she'd sleep in until at least 7:00!

[g-mama]

Benjamin will be 3 next month. Right now, he goes to sleep at about 9pm (wish it could be earlier but dh isn't typically home til 7:30ish and they'd never see each other). He wakes up around 7 or 7:30am. He takes a nap around 1:30 or 2 that lasts anywhere from 1.5 - 3.5 hours. He seems to need a lot of sleep compared to other kids the same age. He definitely needs a nap still but it's getting harder to get him to take it because he realizes he's missing out on the action when I'm trying to take him upstairs because his older brother is awake and his younger brother is sometimes awake too because their naps don't always synch up.



~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[Momof3Labs]

Every time we have pushed Colin's bedtime earlier, he has NOT gotten up later. And his nighttime sleep improved considerably when we allowed him to drop the nap - even though he still needed the nap. It's an adjustment that she has to make, and her nighttime sleep may not improve until the nap drops.

[kath68]

Charlie's a little younger (2 1/4), but your post really resonates with me, so I'll respond too, if you don't mind.

Charlie is going to bed around 8:30 these days and is waking up around 7:00, so that's about 10 1/2 hours of sleep at night.

He naps at daycare for about 1 1/2 hours, between 1-3-ish. On weekends with us naps are a fight (unless he is in the car, but that's another post).

So in total he gets about 12 hrs of sleep per day, and he is usually pretty mellow. BUT, he has been getting much crankier around bedtime, and bedtime has crept later than I would like. I think he needs to be in bed by 8:00. Charlie masterful at the art of delay tactics, though. And it is also such a challenge to get home by 6:30, prepare and eat dinner, do the bathtime thing and get Charlie down by 8:00. There are just not enough hours in the day! 8:30 is so much more realistic. I am not looking forward to the nap dropping out of the picture.

[jennifer13]

Well, the little one goes to bed early too, and she doesn't have much of a routine because she is so extremely high energy she won't sit in my lap to read books. So if it's just me alone I get them both into pajamas at the same time, then brush the baby's teeth, and then Norah waits in her room while I sing to the baby and put her down in her crib. And then we seriously use a white noise machine and a fan so that child #2 doesn't hear the goings-on with child #1. But that's a different post. :) But overall Leah (16 months) goes to bed about 20 minutes earlier than Norah (38 months). They both wake up at about the same time, b/w 6 and 6:30 am.

The most important thing here is what Lori also said, which is that it IS frightening to put them down earlier but Norah does not get up earlier. If anything she might sleep a little later. If she goes to bed at 8 she still wakes up at 6, but cranky and tired all morning. I know it sounds radical but if it's a day she doesn't nap she goes to bed by 6:30. And it may be that if your daughter is giving up her nap, or they're getting shorter, all the more reason to get her to bed earlier. Now, I do know some kids who somehow sleep later, and my little one seems more able to do that, but my 3 year old just isn't programmed that way, she has been an early bird since the beginning. But one thing that's for sure is that when she gets overtired she resists going to bed and resists naps and then we get into a terrible cycle which makes me the most miserable mommy on the block.

So, I hear your fear, and the logistics are hard, but the rewards might be worth it. You could try getting progressively a little earlier each night and see how she does and how it works with the routine.

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03
and Leah 3/24/05

[melissaflorida]

My daughter is 27 months and she gets her bath at 6:30pm and is in bed by 7pm. She sleeps until 7-7:30 am and takes a nap from 12:45 -2:45-3ish.

She has always had the same bedtime routine and has been (knock on wood) a great sleeper.

HTH,
Melissa

[dhano923]

DS is not a great sleeper. He gets into bed around 9:30, but doesn't fall asleep until about 10 (after reading a bedtime story). He wakes up around 7-7:30. He used to sleep from 10:30-8:30, but he started school a couple weeks ago so we moved his bedtime and wake-up time up by an hour. He naps from 2-4 on the days he has school (MWF) and the other days it depends on how tired he is. He also fights his sleep, and has since he was born! LOL

[dhano923]

DS is not a great sleeper. He gets into bed around 9:30, but doesn't fall asleep until about 10 (after reading a bedtime story). He wakes up around 7-7:30. He used to sleep from 10:30-8:30, but he started school a couple weeks ago so we moved his bedtime and wake-up time up by an hour. He naps from 2-4 on the days he has school (MWF) and the other days it depends on how tired he is. He also fights his sleep, and has since he was born! LOL

[punkrockmama]

>Well, according to Trixie Tracker, Kaya has gotten between 12
>and 13 hours of sleep/24 hours in the last several months.
>
>>>Eileen
>


Eileen, what is this Trixie Tracker thing you speak of?

[TraciG]

Sydney goes to bed around 8:45 these days, she used to get up around 7 but is seem's it's changing to 6:30 ( not liking that ) I might start to get her in the crib a little earlier like by 8:30, 15 minutes at least, that is if she keeps waking up at 6:30.

Sydney naps these day's for 2 hours, usually from 2-4

Good luck sleep issues are the WORST !!!!!!!!!!!
Also all kids are different.

[mudder17]

It's basically an online tracker of all possible stats you could think of to track a newborn. I signed up with Kaya as a beta tester and they gave me a free year so I decided to track her sleep and her poops (in an effort to potty train) as well as her nursings. I will probably sign up (and pay the fee--not too expensive) for my next one just because I kept all of Kaya's early stuff in a notebook and it was not as easy to see patterns and such. This is much easier.

http://trixietracker.com/


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 28 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[annasmom]

Lori & Jennifer -

Well, this is interesting because we kind of tried this out last night by accident.

Yesterday afternoon Anna absolutely refused to take a nap. I put her back into her bed no less than 4-5 times, and then just called it quits. She was in a good mood. My dh came home and we all went to pick up pizza for dinner, and Anna fell asleep in the car on the way there - it was about 7:00 p.m. So when we came home we put both of our dc to bed. It was the most relaxing night we have had in months!! They both woke up at 6:00 a.m. Not bad, right??

I did like putting them to bed at different times so I could spend time with them individually. When I get them ready for bed together, there are fights about who gets to stand on the stool in the bathroom to brush their teeth first and they fight over my lap which is becoming increasingly smaller these days!

But I definitely plan to try to cut out her nap today too, and see if we have the same good results. Thanks for all of your advice!!

[jennifer13]

How exciting! That sounds very promising. And i hear you about the difficulties of doing two at once, right now Leah is still a baby so I can control things a lot more. Part of our routine is that Norah is alone in her room for a little bit while I get the baby ready for bed. She seems to like it, she makes faces at herself in her little mirror and has interesting conversations with her animals. She also likes to say she wants her privacy.

Keep us posted! Isn't amazing how huge this stuff is?

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03
and Leah 3/24/05