Sleep schedule for 15-month-old twins

We have 15-month-old twins (girl/boy). They still sleep in the same room and are not in daycare. They seem to be dropping their second nap but are only sleeping 1.50 hours in the morning. They are begging to go to bed now at 7 pm (fall asleep around 7:30) and sleep straight through until about 6:45/7:30 am. They take their morning nap at about 10:30 am and sleep until about 12/12:30. They used to go down at 9:30 - 11/11:30 and then again at 2:30/3:00 pm - 4:30 pm and then at 7:30 pm. Granted they are easily getting about 13 - 14 hours of total sleep and I know that is the more-than recommended amount; however, I thought they were supposed to be going to bed later as they got older and that the 1 nap was to be more than 2 hours. We still put them up for the second nap around 3:00 and they just play together, talking, etc. Should we put them down later in the morning? Not sure what to do. They have always been on the same schedule, too.

 

My twins dropped the morning nap around that age and Hannah did as well. She has been going to bed earlier since she dropped it too....she actually goes down between 6-630 and sleeps until 7-730. My boys are almost 3 and they go to bed around 7 but they also went to bed around 6 for a long time as well so they don't necessarily stay up later as they get older

Find what time works for you and aim to put them down for their nap then (either in the morning or afternoon) and adjust their bedtime accordingly. I prefer afternoon naps so Hannah goes down around 12 and naps until 2-3pm and goes to bed early.

 

Thanks. That makes me feel better. We can't keep them up later than 10:30 am because they start getting cranky and start laying on the floor and signing "sleep". I guess the main thing is that they are still sleeping through the night and wake up happy in the morning and from their nap. We thought about separating them, but they both cry if the other isn't in the room with them. Darn twins!

 

It really does sound like they are doing great with sleep. I would keep the nap when they say they are ready for nap and keep the sleep schedule the way it is right now. If you start to notice differences in behavior (crankiness, etc.) you can always tweak it.

 

There is no real "supposed to" - you should do what works for your kids. If they seem to be happy and getting enough sleep, then don't mess with what is working. 1.5 hour nap is good if they are happy and don't seem tired.

My boys still go to bed at 7:30pm and they are almost 22 months. Roughly, they do 7:30pm-6:45am (their wake up can vary by as much as 30 minutes in either direction), and then nap at 12:30pm. Some days they nap an hour, some days they nap 2.5 hours.

When they were 15 months like your kids are, it was very hard to get them to make it to 12:30 for their nap. We switched to one nap around 14 months, but for about 2 months, it was a tough adjustment - many days they were falling asleep in their lunch, etc. and we would put them down early. We finally found our groove after a bit and now have a pretty consistent schedule. I imagine yours will do the same thing, so do what works and don't worry about the supposed to idea - some kids and people just need more or less sleep than others.

 

This sounds EXACTLY like mine. They want to drop their 2nd one too, but we just put them in there and they play and talk to each other. They are wanting to go to bed by 7:15 now....I don't get it!! That's a little too early in my opnion. I'm not ready for only 1 nap....makes for a LOOONG day-hehe

 

We're keeping them up until 11am & waking them after 1-1 1/2 hr, then down again at 2 until 430 or 5, then 8p-8a. They don't sleep that whole time. I usually hear then around 7a, but I don't get then up until 8a.

 

7:15 is quite normal for a bedtime, and actually good for them Little ones thrive on early bedtimes (according to Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child - my bible for sleep!) My 3 1/2 year old goes to bed at 7pm. And my 14 month old twins at 6:30pm. They dropped their after noon nap about a month ago and are just now getting fully adjusted, There were days when I had to put them down a little before 6!! Now thst was EARLY!

Just think, when they start school they will already be used to an early bedtime ritual so you wont have re-train themI am a SAHM so I love the early betimes, gives me a little time to myself/DH at night. But I can understand it may be difficult if you work til 5 or so...

 

Thanks for everyone's information. It does seem that they are on the schedule they want to be on. I guess it's just hard for Mom & Dad to get on board with it. I think we have a harder time adjusting to it then the kids. We're just a little off with their lunchtime schedule now. We're trying to lunch them at 11:30 and then down for the nap at about 12:15, but they're not eating their normal lunch. I think they will adjust, though. I guess the good news is that they are sleeping about 12 hours straight through the night (7:15 pm to 7:15[ish] am), so we're not really complaining. Now it just comes down to how to entertain them during their long waking hours??!!

 

Is there a reason they can't eat their lunch when they wake up from their nap? I think you said they wake up at 12 or 12:30, right? You could give them a snack before their nap, and then lunch afterwards.

Yes, the long waking hours take some adjustment. It was warm outside when we were making the adjustment, and we found it really helped to let them play outside during that time. I don't know where you live, but if that is an option, it's something to consider. It definitely helped keep them awake longer and kept them from getting bored.

 

that is almost exactly my 15 monthers schedules. They get up between 8 and 9. They eat breakfast, we play, watch sesame street and then nap at 11. Up between 1:30 and 2, lunch, play the rest of the afternoon or run erronds etc then dinner bath and bed between 7 and 7:30.

 

They go down for their nap about 12;15/12:30 and are sleeping until about 2 or so. We're in NJ so it's already cold and rainy out. My husband & I work full time, so they have sitters. This is the first time in our kids' lives that we wished they were in daycare just for the interaction with others.

 

So your kids are napping at 11 and then eating lunch when they wake? That sounds like a better schedule. What time is dinner? My kids won't sit still for TV. The only TV they watch is while in their highchairs after they eat, they watch either a reading video or a sign language video. We tried putting on kids shows while they run around the house, but they won't even really acknowledge the TV, nevermind sit down to watch TV.

 

Yes they have lunch when they get up. They don't so much "watch" as will stop dance and keep running lol. We have dinner between 6 and 6:30. Then they go from dinner table to bathtub and dh and I take turns one of us gives baths and gets jammies on and one of us cleans up supper. Then its cuddles and we will read a book if I can keep my eyes open lol then they are in bed between 7 and 7:30. Honestly the seseme street thing is let mommy unload the dishwasher or switch the laundrey without having to be in the floor with your attention time. They will stop and stand and watch/dance/sing to Abby's flying fairy school (about 5 minutes) and Elmos world (another 5 minutes).

 

We also did a later lunch when mine first transitioned to 1 nap. We did a quick snack before nap and lunch after. Dinner was still about 6 ish so that bedtime could be 7-7:30. What I found was that gradually over time mine started wanting to go down for nap later. When the nap got late enough, I changed the pre-nap snack to lunch. By 2 they were napping 1-3 or 4 but it took a while to get there.

 

So far it has been about a week and a half and they seem to be adjusting. Lunch at 11:30 started to improve. They have been going to bed at about 12:30, but not falling asleep until about 1. The sleep for about 2 - 3 hours and crash at 7:15 PM for the evening. We'll see how this goes.

 

My girls are the same age and sleep 7pm to 7am and take a 2 hour nap from 12-2pm, I would say its about right

 

So far we're good; however, now 16 months old, they just returned to the 2 naps a day. I did here that for the next couple of months, they will go back and forth. They're still sleeping 12 hours at night and naps can range to a total of 2 to 3.50 hours a day. Amazingly, it all seems to work out.

 

My boys are 16 months...they were napping from 9 - 10 am and then 2-3:30 -4ish...

As of late...they are not sleeping in the morning anymore but I STILL put them in their cribs at 9 am to "rest" altho they don't sleep....gives me a chance to get some things done or to relax myself and they don't seem to mind...they just play...

So now they just sleep from about 1-3:30pm or 4