how long should they sleep for?

this morning was a 5am wake-up and it was rough.

my LO's go down around 7ish but haven't been falling asleep until 745/800. they nap from 12 - 2ish....some days till 230.

they wake up crying and we try to soothe them, leave them be, bring them to our beds - anything to sleep later. it's not working!!
any ideas?

 

here is the latest from boston univ. but you can google "toddler sleep needs" and get several other answers, unfortunately! if they are cranky and upset easily, they are probably not getting enough sleep.... but (sigh) don't ask me how to help you get them more sleep. i have no idea!!

good luck. it's the hardest part of parenting, imho!

jl

 

Could they be getting their 2 year molars?


If not, another idea would be to shorten their naps and put them to bed earlier and see if that helps.

 

I'd get room-darkening shades, and tell them that it's still night-time when they wake up that early. That worked for me for a long time! Now my guys have to get up to pee, and can see for themselves that the sun is up.

 

According to the author of Good Night, Sleep Tight, Kim West (who solved all my sleep problems), children at this age need 11-12 hours of sleep a day, between night and naps. Mine sleep about 11 at night and usually nap for an hour or so. You can get advice at Kim's website www.sleeplady.com. HTH.

 

so you think they might be sleeping too long during naptime?

this 5am thing and being newly pregnant is killing me. one wakes up, then wakes the other than its a vicious cycle.

this morning i told them it was still night time. they replied with, 'im done' and wanted to get up. their room is pitch black, too.

 

Ok, granted my boys are only 22 months but they sleep very well. I do tire them out, though... They ususally wake around 6.45-7 am, we get breakfast and ready for the day. I let them watch some tv until I get ready then we head out. Rain or shine...it's either a walk, or the park, or grocery shopping or whatever....
Their nap time is 12-2.30-3 sometimes!!! We have snack, then again, we play outside for a little while. Dinner is at 5.30 and at 6 we are out the door again... Usually don't even come in until 7.30. We play with other kids in our neighborhood, or just on our drive way. Then we come in and I give them a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream (yes, every night...I read it somewhere that it supposed to regulate their blood sugar througout the night therefore they sleep better) then take a bath and they are in bed by 8-8.10 pm.
I know until they reach 4, they need a lot of activity. So I give them all they want. I understand you are pregnant, so it must be so much harder for you...make lots of play dates, it tires them out to be around other kids as well.
And try to see if you could cut back on their afternoon nap.

 

Sounds like the afternoon nap may be the culprit. You don't want them up any later than 8, so maybe if you cut afternoon nap down to 60-90 minutes that may help. I know you're probably exhausted being newly pregnant, so one suggestion is to put on some lively kids music so you can relax on the couch while they tire themselves out with dancing. As much activity as possible may help them sleep later in the morning. Good luck!

 

TY for the advice. i take them out alllllll day as well. some mornings we play inside but if you could see their playroom, you can understand why sometimes they play for 3 hours.
we do get out - park, zoos, beaches, etc....i'll have to try their naps. this morning they slept till almost 8 and it was DIVINE. HOWEVER - i did give them motrin. maybe it is their molars....hmm...

 

Yes, this was about the age that i cut down their naps. It went from a blissful 2 hours to 1 hour. One of my DD's wasn't sleeping anyway so it was great that she only had to stay quiet for an hour! But the other one was so upset when I had to wake her. But the nights got better. Also the birds around my house are SUPER loud in the morning. I put a fan in the room in addition to dark curtains to help with that too!