2 Year Old, up at 5:55 and Only Napping for 1 1/2 Hours, Sleep Training???

Sounds like he needs one more sleep cycle somewhere. Read the Elizabeth Pantley's "No-Cry Sleep Solution" books for ideas. She's got one for babies, one for toddlers and preschoolers, and a new one for naps. I suggest starting the with nap book, then move to the toddler and preschooler book. Lots of good ideas, flexible advice.

Good luck!

I would suggest that maybe you should put him to bed a tiny bit later, and maybe he would sleep later? I agree that sleep breeds sleep...(so earlier should be better) but it seems a bit early.
i would however try the nap a bit earlier. If he is in fact up at 6am then that means he is up for 7 hrs. by 1pm and might be over tired and then not sleeping long enough? Which seems backward, but...
My son is 2 1/2 and just went through a similar pattern. I found that if he was down for his nap right after lunch like 12:15-12:30 he usually sleeps like 3 hrs. which has him up at 3 - 3:30ish and leaves enough awake time before bed at 8pm. But if I put him down for a nap late he is sometimes too wound up and won't sleep well. Or hs e is so tired he wants to sleep until 5pm and then won't sleep at night and we start again in the morning!
If my son sleeps 5 minutes and wakes up at nap time, that is IT he will not sleep any longer...

At two years old, that sounds about average to me. When my oldest was 2, she didn't take a nap anymore but slept for about 11-12 hours a night...about what yours does total. He doesn't really sound sleep deprived.

My kids were never great sleepers either...but your son's sleep habits don't sound abnormal to me. I also have a 2 yr old and his "routine" is very similar to this.

I've read all the sleep books too, and never found any great insights.

The best thing I can recommend is make sure he's getting enough physical exercise in the morning. I have DEFINITELY found that if we run around outside, go swimming, etc. the kids sleep better at naptime.

I don't think you can make any big, sweeping changes to his sleep schedule. If he's acting tired, but won't sleep there's little you can do. If he wakes from a nap, you can't MAKE him go back to sleep.

I say RUN the energy out of him. Feed him lunch early that day and try to get him down for a nap before 1pm. Put him down right after lunch - never let his feet hit the floor.

Then at bedtime stick to a firm routine...dinner, bath, book, bed. Make sure that after dinner, dim lights, keep the house quieter than normal, and give him all the cues that it's "relaxing time" - no tvs blaring, other kids running around, etc.

I'd love to hear back from you on how it's going.

Good luck!

My youngest is two as well. Our schedule is this: Waking at 6:00 am, nap is 12-2 and bedtime at 7:30 pm with her falling asleep sometime before 8:30 pm but never immediately. I actually don't see anything wrong with the sleep times personally. I would love my daughter to sleep longer so I can get more sleep or get more done while she naps.

If you want him to sleep more then keep him as busy as possible during the day so he is tired at naptime and bedtime. Limit quiet times to a minimum except when in trouble or right before rest and then establish a set schedule at naptime and bedtime. Routine is key with little ones at this age. It is definitely harder on the parents. He may not require as much sleep now as he did when he was a little younger. You didnt mention if he has behavioral issues at night due to being tired? Talk with your pediatrician as well but he sounds like a normal 2 year old to me.

Sounds pretty normal, actually. Sometimes kids change their sleep routines from time to time. It's not as if he's only sleeping 5 hours a night. I think it's pointless & counterproductive to try & force a kid to sleep or nap more - instead they cry & scream & they get super worked up. I might push the bedtime back to 8:00 & see what happens. I wouldn't be worried, though, personally, he's getting plenty of sleep.

I would suggest an earlier nap too. Both mine did better with an 11:30 nap at that age and would nap for 3 hours. Every child is different. 11 1/2 hours may be enough for your son.

I'm a fan of Weisbluth, but honestly your son's schedule sounds pretty typical for his age. The only change I would suggest would be to try getting rid of the nap and see if he starts sleeping later in the morning that way. But I don't really think there's anything "off" with this schedule.

My daughter is 2 also, at 2 yrs old we moved her to a big girl bed and she loved it! She goes down between 730-8. Up by 7 am. We read stories in her room, give hugs, and lights out. she will wake up sometimes once a night. I usually change her if wet and then lay her back down and she is out. She also naps from 1 to about 230-3. We also have room darkening curtains and I just started adding a little light so she can sleep in any conditions. I try to look at it this way...she will not always want me to come and give her hugs so I enjoy the times she does wake up and wants mommy or daddy. But be sure to only be in room a short amount of time. less than 5 min. You have to follow their cues not what some book says they need each child is different. good luck..

Everything sounds pretty normal to me. However, when I started working from home I did want my DD to sleep in a little later. If I heard here rustling in her crib too early (600am) for me I would go in, change her diaper and hold her for a min or so, and then put her back down in her crib and she would sometimes sleep til 8am or so. If that doesn't work with your schedule, I would also try putting your son down for a nap closer to 12 and maybe he'll sleep for 2 hrs for you. Your schedule sounds alot like my SILs and her kids are 2 and 3 and they are up around 6a and nap from 11:30/12 to 2-3pm and then the youngest is asleep by 730 and the 3 yr old is asleep by 830 at the latest.

Hope this works for you. Good luck.

Every child is different but with my experience with my own 3 year old I would try the following:
Put him to bed for a nap earlier, between 12 and 12:30. If his nap does not lengthen, put him to bed earlier...he may be overtired at night and that may be why he isn't falling asleep right away. I wish you the best of luck! I have been there and done that and it can be a very frustrating process!

Wow, sleeping is such a hot topic. My daughter did not sleep much either and I read HSHHC and I tried letting her "cry it out" and honestly it just got worse. She would get herself seriously worked up and she would sleep even less.

I am not sure why you think 11 1/2 hours is not enough sleep for a 2 year old. My son is pretty much on the schedule you mention above, bed time is 8 pm, he wakes up at 6 am and he takes a 1 to 2 hour nap. He is perfectly happy and energetic. When does your son tell you he is tired? Is it after prompting of some type? I find that with my daughter (who fights sleep a lot) will tell me she is tired whenever she wants to misbehave because I used to tell her she was grumpy and acting up because she was tired. She started to think it was an excuse.

I personally don't think that you leaving him in his crib after he wakes up from his nap will make him sleep any longer. It may teach him how to get out of his crib on his own, if he is an independent child : ) I don't think it will cause any harm. At 2 I am sure that if you explain it to him he understands, even if he is not happy about it. My recommendation though would be to go in when he wakes up and explain to him that nap time (we call it quiet time in our house) is not over and that you will be back when it is over. He will find a way to occupy himself once he resigns himself to it. This is what I had to do with my daughter who decided that she didn't need a nap any longer when she was about 2. We instituted quiet time and I told her that she had to be in bed and be quiet, but I would let her take some books with her and I would explain that quiet time lasted x number of minutes and I would be back when it was over. She would call me in few times at first and I would explain that quiet time wasn't over. Most days she slept, some days she didn't. Now she if 5 and she still does a quiet time, but she mostly never sleeps now.

Good Luck,
D.

I have not been a sleeper for my entire life. Who knows why. Once when there was a fire next door to our family no one woke up to the sounds of the engines or the smell of smoke. I was away asleep overnite at my aunt's house. My mother said if I had been there, everyone would have known. My sons sleep hours and hours (not always the case-one of them was up a lot when he was little.) To date I am awake half the night, but have figured some things out about my own self. I discovered a full tummy is a restful tummy, so make sure he has the right things and plenty of it. Certain foods are calming and some are not so good right before sleep. He is also at that age where he is going to be clingy, they get separation anxiety.How about pictures of you around him, cuddly things, etc. ( I did not read Dr. Weisbluth's book so these could be in there). Maybe the night light is not necessarily a great idea, perhaps it could be elsewhere but still available because I know when I even look at our electric clock the light wakes me up. Can you put him to sleep later? Can you spare some extra time with him then and let him self soothe for awhile while you read a book or something? And start by waking him in the morning same time, so that he can fall asleep during the day. It's tough because you are already giving up some things in life right now, but it will work out. Until he is a teenager. Then you will need the sleep.

It appears this child is getting nearly 10 hours of sleep at night, which seems to me to be a good amount. If you want him to sleep later in the morning, I suggest putting him down a little later at night (at least starting at 7:45, which is apparently when he falls asleep anyway). Also, don't keep him in his crib for long periods when he's resisting by screaming and crying. If he comes to regard being in his crib as some type of punishment, you could have even bigger problems.
Finally, I suggest talking to your son's doctor about how much sleep is necessary daily at your son's age, getting ideas for how to improve this situation, and asking whether the sleep problems are contributing to his illnesses.
Frankly, it sounds to me like much of this is pretty typical for his age. Perhaps you're overthinking things a bit.

He sounds like he is sleeping fine to me. 10-13 hrs is the normal range for a toddler and he falls into that.

Get to the root cause of why he isn't able to sleep. Maybe the laundry products you are using are effecting him ( yep, those commercial laundry products and cleaners mess with childrens nero transmitters). What are you feeding him? Is there Aspertame in something, too much sugar given during the day. Allergy to dairy because of the growth hormones in all the milk, cheese and yogurt. Yes the lack of sleep weakens his immune system. But what is causing him not to sleep "restfully?"

Having found some answers to these problems myself, I'd be happy to share privately.

I agree that this sounds normal. My 2 yo son wakes up at 6:30-7am, naps at noon for 1-1/2hrs - every now and then I'll get 2hrs - and goes to bed around 7:30-8pm. If your child is complaining about being tired all the time, I'd speak with the pediatrician. I also agree with the poster about "quiet time." We did that with my daughter, who is now 5, and she still takes quiet time where she can read, draw/color, watch an educational program, sleep (which she very rarely does) or play quietly. Good luck!

Earlier nap. My 2.5 yo goes to bed at 8 and is asleep within minutes, gets up between 645 and 715 and goes to nap at 12:30. I am thinking maybe there are too many hours between waking and nap. Also have you tried comforting him in the morn and telling him it is still night night sleepy time? Sometimes if mine wakes early, it works! I have a 4 yo, 2.5 yo and 4 mo old. Best wishes!