What's your 2-3 year old sleeping schedule?

Sleep, or the lack there of, the bane of my existence.

My boys have been refusing to go to sleep for months now, so I'm beginning to wonder if our schedule is a little off. In the days of cribs they went to bed around 7 or 8, it changed depending on their number of naps. They woke anywhere from 5:30-6:30, and took their one nap from 11-1. Eli slept 1.5 hours-2 hours on his nap, and 10 hours at night. Mark usually slept 10-10.5 hours at night, and 2-2.5 hours during the day.

Now it's like this. Wake between 7-7:30, go down for nap around noon (and argue and fight until 1 :laughing: ), wake from nap between 2:30-3:00. Try to go to bed between 8-8:30, fight and argue until 9PM or later.

So what does your kids schedule look like these days?

 

Maybe you all have a different schedule or routine that can help us.

 

At that age, my 2 were just starting to give up their naps (way too early for me but none of my kids napped much past 2). So, they were going to bed around 7:30 (still are now) and sleeping until around 7 or 7:30 in the morning with no naps during the day. Sometimes I thought it didn't seem like enough sleep but they didn't get overly cranky or anything and they fell asleep really quickly at night so ardon: .

 

My girls have different ideas about sleeping. Here's what we do most days:

Wake up between 6:00-6:30

Nap at noon and sleep til 2:00-3:00 (Karina falls asleep instantly. Annelise talks, sings, yodels for up to an hour before falling asleep)

Bedtime at 7:45ish (Karina falls asleep instantly. Annelise talks, sings, yodels for up to two hours before falling asleep.

Annelise sort of fights sleep, but she's happy while doing it, so we just leave her in bed and she entertains herself until she falls asleep.

ETA: Annelise probably could give up the nap, but I'm not ready to do that yet!

 

Sounds like I'm in the same boat as you. Before we switched to toddler beds we had the schedule of my dreams - up at 9am, nap from 2-5 (they probably slept for 2-2.5 hours most of the time, not usually a full 3 hours) and in bed around 9:30. It was easy and there was never any fighting about it. And I love when they are on a routine so I can plan my day. Now that we switched to beds a few weeks ago our schedule is gone and they are completely off track. Well my son, the bad sleeper is anyway. I think my daughter would have gotten back on it if it weren't for him. Now it's wake around 7:30 (today it was 6:40), nap around 1:30 (still sleeping now - 2 hours later so that's good that at least a nap is getting back on track) and in bed around 9:30 still, but my son takes a long time to fall asleep. So he's up late, wakes up much earlier than before and is a crabby mess during the day (though it has gotten a little better, so maybe he is adjusting to less sleep). I need a good consistent schedule back, for my own sanity!

oh, and I think the only reason my son is taking naps again is because we put a bed rail on his toddler bed. It's made for a bigger bed, so it pretty much takes up the whole side leaving no room for him to get up and down by himself. Might as well have gone back to a crib, but then my daughter would want her crib too and she's doing great in her bed.

 

Mine go down for bed around 7:30-8pm..sometimes they both go to sleep right away but there are a few nights I hear Sophia singing to herself almost to 9pm :faint:

Usually they are up around 7:30am-8:00 am
Naptime is usually between 1pm to 4pm (some days they don't take a nap or fall asleep around 2 or wake around 3:30pm). I figure if they are quiet and not making a huge fuss, I'll leave them up there for quiet time.

 

All 3 of my little ones are on the same schedule... They are up at 7am, nap from 11:30-12p till 2:30 - 3pm. Then bedtime is 6:30p but they don't fall asleep till closer to 7:30. Good luck!

 

On a day at home: Mine wake up around 7, go down for a nap around 1 (not sure when they actually fall asleep, 1:30ish?), wake up around 3, go to bed around 7 or 7:30, but don't fall asleep for maybe an hour a lot of times-

But, if they don't nap or just take a little one in the car, which has been happening a lot this summer, they go to bed at 7, or even a little before, and usually fall right asleep then sleep until 7 the next morning. An 8 o'clock bedtime would probably be better for them, but their 4yo sister doesn't nap and needs to go to bed at 7 b/c she gets up at 6 or 6:30, so they go to bed when she does.

 

At that age mine were napping from 10 to 12pm usually. Now it's wake up 7am, nap 12pm-3pm (we had napping issues for a while then moved and now they nap great again), then bed around 8pm. We're still in cribs though.

 

Mine go to bed around 8:30pm and wake at 7am. They nap from 2-4:30.
I have one child that fights this whole schedule because of her newly found freedom from the crib. :headbang:

 

At 2 and a few months mine gave up their nap. Not my idea but figting at naps and bedtime. If you want naps past 2 they can not be expected to sleep that long at night. They probably need 12 hour total. Divide that between naps and night. We just have an hour of quiet time in front of a movie after lunch I( the only time they watch TV all day). Try it for a week and see if it works with no nap.

 

I disagree with the previous poster that if they nap past age 2 they won't need as much sleep at night-

Mine will be 3 in 2 months and our schedule looks like this:
7 am - wakeup
1-3:30 - nap (not sure if they're sleeping this entire time or simply resting but either way they're expected to be in their rooms and quiet durring this time) but 90% of the time they sleep a good 2 hours

6:30/7pm - bedtime

 

It is a bit messy around here. I have one of my twins waking up at 4 am which I think due to dreams and we have loud birds that fly over early in the AM which I think wake her up. She then calls out and we get her or she wakes up the other two. Today she immediately slept in our bed until 7:30 !! RARE -- usually everyone is up at 5:30 am likely since my dh is up at that time. It is quite bright here at 6 AM even if I try to black out the windows.

I find if I can get them in bed at 11:00 - 11:30 is the best -- if I get closer to 12 noon it is getting a bit late and they get a second wind, and may sleep too late in the afternoon. Often I can get 2.5 hours out of all three of them. The 15 month old is the worst sometimes she is only 2 hours.

Bedtime is 6 pm, but lately I think it has slowly crept up to 6:30 pm. Yeah they chat away in their rooms, but other times if it has been a busy day they are quickly asleep.

I think for us the key is a slightly earlier mid-day nap time. You could try moving their midday nap ahead 30 mins and see if that helps you any. They might be getting a second wind at 12:00.

 

Weekdays are

6:30 am wake up
nap/quiet time at daycare from 12:00-2:00
8:00 pm bed, 8:30-8:45 fall asleep. There have been a few days when I go to sleep and they're still talking in their room, 9:30.

Weekends are a different beast: up at 7:45, no nap, bed at 8:00. So with no nap, it's around 12 hours sleep they need. If they do take a nap, they're usually up earlier the next day, so on Sundays I try to make them nap. If we have time, because weekends are used for running insane amounts of errands and fun things. We're only home this weekend because I'm determined to get Alice out of pull ups since she's getting rashes from them. Stupid huggies product.

 

At just turned two, this was our schedule:

Up around 6:30 am, nap from 11:30-1:30, bed at 7:30 pm and asleep within 15-30 minutes. That was a total of about 12.5 hours of sleep for a day.

By age 2.5, naptime moved a little later to 1:30-3:30 and bedtime creeped a little later to 8:00 or 8:30 but wakeup time stayed the same. So this was about 12 hours of sleep a day.

Now at 3, they're usually up between 6:30-7:00 am, nap from 1:30-3:30 generally and asleep by 8:30 pm. I try to get them in bed close to 8:00, but even when I do, they generally don't fall asleep until 8:30. Some nights, though they're up in their beds until 9:00. In the last few months, we've been able to be more flexible with naps too. DS can fall asleep as early as 1:00 or as late as 2:30 if need be. He generally naps for 1.5-2 hours. DD actually sleeps during naptime about every other day. She generally can't fall asleep for a nap much earlier than 1:30 or 2:00, but on the days she sleeps, she'll easily sleep until 4:00 or 4:30.

 

I had to give up toddler beds just last week b/c they would not settle down (and literally wind themselves up more and more) and fall asleep for naps or night for me (of course... they did for the nanny!) anyway, once I went back to cribs their sleep is back to about what it was a couple of months ago.

wake 7a, naptime is 1-4p (with probably 2 to 2.5 hrs of sleep) and bedtime 7:30p if we're lucky.

we've had some issues recently about them waking at night -- UGH! but I think its either a lack of eating during the day issue... or not enough big activity... in any case, for the most part we still get lots of good sleep now that they are back in cribs - with crib tents.

good luck!!!

 

Mine are still in cribs. They go to bed around 7:30pm. Abby usually falls asleep within a 1/2 hour. Ellie can be up for another hour or two playing. They usually get up around 7-7:30am or so. They nap from 1-3ish.

 

Mine are in bed and their schedule is like this:

Up at 6-6:30am
Nap at 12pm to 2pm
Bed at 8pm-8:30pm

 

At your boys' age, mine were up around 7-7:30am, nap from 1-3ish, and bed between 8 and 9.

Right now our schedule is similar except most days they don't nap so its up between 7 and 7:30am, and bed between 7:30 and 8pm. On nap days, they go to bed around 9pm.

 

My 2 1/2 yaer old still sleepin a crib and I don't plan to change her to a bed for another year or so...Seems like it could create sleep issues if you do it to soon, so with twins on the way I don't wanna go there!! :laughing: THis seems to also be the recommendation by my sleep "bible" which I love "Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child".

With that said, her sleep schedule is 7:30pm sharp bedtime, 7-7:30am wake up. Nap from noon to 1:30. She thrives on 13 hours of sleep, so she seems to even herself out. Example is if she wakes early one day, she would take a longer nap. We did cry it out as a baby with her, and occasionally have to do it again to "remind" her that night is for sleep. Usually after she is recovering from illness or teething, or other change, like a vacation.