2 1/2 - 3 year olds & sleep

How much nightime sleep is your 2 1/2 - 3 year olds getting? AND...are they still napping?

We are starting to have napping/bedtime battles. So, I am just wondering. Thanks!

 

Hi Laura,

My girls are 2 years and 4 months, they sleep an average of 10 hours at night and take a two hour nap.
We are also having sleep issues, partly because we took the sides off their cribs last week and partyl because I think their 2 hour nap in the afternoon might be a tad too long.

Oy, the sleep thing! Does it EVER end?!

Good Luck.

Leslie

 

My DS is 2 yr 11 mos. We put him in bed at 8, but I think he doesn't go to sleep alot until 9 or later, but he knows he has to be quiet, so I don't really know when he goes to sleep. He gets up around 7:30 to 8, so I think he gets 10 - 12 hours of sleep a night, depending. His nap is related to his sleep schedule, usually 2 - 3 hours.

Once in awhile, we are out and he can't get his nap in. When that's the case, it's obvious by 7 or so that he's exhausted, so I know he still needs that nap!

 

My girls are also 2 years, 4 months. I have one good sleeper and one who puts up a fight. The good sleeper sleeps 11-12 hours a night and takes a 2-3 hour nap each day. She actually asks to go to bed when she is tired! My other daughter is put to bed at 8 p.m. and typically is still awake at 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. She sleeps 8-9 hours a night and takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, but frequently takes a long time to go to sleep before the nap too. When school is out and I'm home for the summer, I'm going to experiment with the naps (maybe shortening them) to see if that helps with night time sleep.

 

My girls are 2 yrs. 6 months and they sleep 12-13 hours a night. They just recently gave up Naps, but I do still make them have Quiet time each day (at the same times naps used to be), where they watch a movie and they are not allowed to get up and play. It seems to work well here, and by 7:30 they are both ready to go to bed, but they are not completely over tired which helps avoid a lot of the battles at bedtime.

 

We started having huge bedtime battles at that age. But I don't think it was because they didn't need the sleep -- it was just power struggles. They still napped 2-3 hours during the day (until around age 3, then it started becoming much more sporadic) and slept from about 8-8:30 at night until 6:30-7 in the morning.

Maybe bedtimes would have been quicker if we had cut out their naps, but it would have been very ugly. Even at age 3-3.5, we had difficult evenings if they didn't nap.

I think the bedtime battles are just a function of that age. Every day it seemed like we were making new rules, because they kept thinking of new ways to keep us running back and forth, or new things to have meltdowns about.

 

Hey Laura,

My two sleep about 9-10 hours at night. They still take a nap at daycare, usually 1-2 hours. If they don't nap, they will be asleep an hour or so earlier.

 

This exactly.

 

Mine are getting 9-10 hours of sleep as well....where as they use to get 12-13 hours just a few months ago. They don't go down easy for a nap anymore. If they don't nap, they are complete crank pots and it's hard to keep them awake through dinner at 6:30pm. BUT...if they do nap for just an hour even, they won't go to bed until 9:30 or 10:00pm. The other night it was 10:20pm before Cooper went to sleep. I am tired of fighting them and thought maybe it was time to give up naps.

When they give up naps does it take awhile before they can make it through the evening or is that a sign that they are not ready to give them up?

 

My twins generally get 10-11 hours of sleep at night and 1-2 hours of nap during the day, for a total of 11-13 hours of sleep. DS is very consistent with his nap, although I do have to rock him to sleep now, whereas DD will not nap several times a week. In just the last few months, I have had to move their nap later in the day or else they won't fall asleep. So far, it hasn't impacted bedtime yet.

Our schedule is usually like this:
Up between 6:30-7:00
Nap between 1:30/2:00-3:30/4:00
Asleep around 8:30

 

That's EXACTLY what was happening here. Try the quiet time. It gives them a chance to rest, and for us it has stopped the horribly cranky afternoons/evenings due to lack of not taking naps. It also ensures that they still have a decent bedtime. Good Luck!

 

M-F up at 6:15, nap at daycare from 1:00-2:30, bed at 8:00.

Weekends, bed at 8, up at 8. No naps normally.

 

Sleep 8ish-6ish (10 hours) Up at least once to nurse.
Nap from 0-2 hours

Total- 10-12 hours a day

 

My girls are sleeping 10-11 hours at night and usually take a 2 1/2 - 3 hour nap. They been sleeping this much since we transitioned to 1 nap. They've been giving me a lot of trouble at bedtime lately but I think it's just them pushing their boundaries with me. I dread the day they give up their naps and stop sleeping as much.

 

Our sleep changed over the past month.

Now bedtime is 8-8:15 & wake time is 6:30-7. Naps range from 1-2 hours. Since we moved bedtime to 8pm (from 7:15-7:30), naps have come back. Whew!

 

I will definately give it a try. Thanks!

 

At 3 mine were both still napping about 1.5-2 hours a day and sleeping 11.5-12 hours a night.


Now at 4,they do not nap, but have a quiet time for at least an hour. They still sleep 11.5-12 hours a night. :good:

 

Mine are ALMOST 2.5yrs. They have NEVER been good nappers and we are going on a month with no naps at all....UGH! They have always been good night sleepers though and go to bed around 7/7:30pm and sleep until 7 or 8ish. I do put them to bed earlier sometimes since they seem crabby sometimes. I do think they could use a nap still but they climb out of the crib and throw total fits so most times it's not worth the fight!

 

My girls will be three in a week. They are in bed by 7pm, asleep usually by 7:30ish. They wake up around 7am, and nap for an hour during the week and 2.5 hours on the weekends. So they sleep between 12.5 and 14 hours a day.

 

My kids are 27months old, and they go to bed at 7pm and are awake anywhere between 6-645am. They also nap everyday which lasts anywhere from 1hr to 3hrs! So on average my kids get anywhere from about 13-15hrs of sleep a day. They do go through times periods when they only nap one hour/day, but lately have been napping a good 2-2.5hrs (yah for that!).

 

mine are 2y, 4m. they sleep 10.5-11.5 hours/night. they nap genearlly around 2 hours. they often wake up during that time, though, and i have to get them back to sleep.

here's an extremely useful sleep needs chart put out by boston children's hospital. apparently, children's sleep needs have recently been changed due to more up-to-date research.

 

Mine sleep 10 - 11 hours at night and nap 1 - 2.5 hours during the day. If we are out and about I let them skip their nap, but I've noticed they aren't really ready for that. If I let them skip their nap they might randomly fall asleep on the couch or on the floor around dinner time and then bedtime is really a battle.

 

Thanks Jeri Lynn for the link. I was concerned about the nighttime sleep not being enough, but according to that chart they are right on track.

 

glad it helped. it gave me a lot of comfort, too!