Bedtime for a 2-Year-old

It may be time to move the bedtime up from 7 to 8. introduce a new routine. supper bath, story then bedtime. if the lights are off and he is laying in there talking its not a problem but if he is out of the bed every few minutes and wanting to play then you might want to give a shorter nap time.

I think that your instinct is correct -- you need to limit your son's pm naps to keep him on a more regular schedule. At least, that's what has helped my 2 yr old son (a May birthday too!)

Our bedtime routine starts at 7pm and he is down by 7:30pm. A couple months ago, he started taking 2.5-3hr naps, but then could not sleep at night until very late...and then he started skipping naps some days. I saw his overall sleep time fall to 11 hrs per day, and he was cranky much of the day and evening. So I cut his pm nap back to 1 hr of sleep time (in addition to the time he spends playing/soothing before he falls asleep). This has made a wonderful difference for him and he is back to getting about 13 hrs total per day.

I hope this helps!

Our son had the same schedule. He started to stay awake for long periods too, although he shortened his nap on his own before he started staying awake at night. We moved his bedtime back a half hour to 8:00, starting the night-time routine at 7:30. He now sleeps from 8-7 (11 hours at night) and he takes about an hour nap in the afternoon from 2-3, so he sleeps a total of 12 hours a day. Our son is VERY active, so on some days he takes longer naps than on other days. It's really sad when the kids don't need as much sleep, we really enjoy our evenings too. Good luck!

As you know every child is different, but here's what our kid (now 2 1/2) does:

bed between 6:50 - 7:00 PM
wake around 7:00 AM
nap from 12:30 - 3:30 PM

We, too, reached a point where when we put him down he'd be playing/talking in his crib for another 30 - 60 minutes. This was when he was still going to bed around 6:30 - 6:45. We started the nighttime routine about 15-30 minutes later and it seemed to make all the difference in the world. When we put him down at the later time, he would talk for about 5-10 minutes and then clock out for the evening.

If you choose to make any change, just do it gradually. Also, if he seems content and he isn't Mr. Cranky Pants then everything is probably cool with him. Some people don't fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow - I know I like to unwind, relax, and don't fall asleep sometimes until 30 minutes after I get into bed but it's not like I'm restless or lacking sleep. Maybe he's just using the time to wind down, close out his day, and prepare for sleep?

Good luck to you - sounds like you've done a great job guiding his sleep schedule!

That was definitely the age that we had to start cutting back our son's afternoon naps. Our doctor told us at the time to wake him up after he'd been sleeping for 45 minutes to an hour. It really helped!

Hi M. just try to be patient with him. He is still very young. At least he will stay in the bed even if he's not asleep. Have you tried reading to him or giving him so warm milk? I told know if cutting back on him nap will really help. He just not sleepy.

I have a 2 and a 4 year old and I put them in the bed before 8 pm as well and they don't fall asleep right away no matter how tired they maybe. But what I do is turn on the Noggin Network where they have Preschool programs on like Diego, and Dora and the Backyardigans it. They sing along and repeat numbers an there abc's. They do this in there cribs until they fall asleep about 9pm or so. I do this because it is educational with out all the cursing the the cartoon network does.

Hi, I was lucky, because I was blessed with 2 kids who just love to sleep and love to stay in their beds (just like Daddy)!!! When my son was 2, I would put him to bed at 7:30p (and he would talk until 9p or 9:3p and then finally fall asleep). But I figured, hey, he was still having quite time, and he seemed to enjoy himself! And then he wakes up around 7:30a (and stays in bed until around 8:30a). Then he went back down at 12:30p, woke up at 3:30p, and stayed in bed until 4:00p or 4:30p. If I tried to get him out earlier while he was still playing, he would get crabby, so he would call for me when he wanted out!!!!

Now my son is 2-1/2 years, and he is starting to get out of his naps, unfortunately. He takes them about 2 times a week is all. But because he doesn't take a nap, I put him down at 7p, and he doesn't wake up until 8p.

Good luck. I do believe, and always have, that sleep begets sleep!!!

Take care,

Keep the early bedtime because when he starts school one day he's going to have to get up earlier more than likely and that bedtime will serve him best to get the proper amount of rest.

Most children need at least 10 to 11 hours up until they are around 7 I think...could be older...then at least 8 hours.

I would consider cutting the nap out or down. Mine stopped taking naps when they were around 2. They still go to bed about 7:30 and they get up about the same time in the morning. I had to get the six year old up at 7am during the school year and if she went to bed much later than 7:30, she was very tired.

Besides you need the down time too before you go to bed to get the proper amount of rest that you need to be the best mommy you can be.

I would say it's the afternoon nap too. Our daughter had the same issue. By the time she was 3 1/2 if she had any kind of afternoon nap she would be up until afternoon 10 pm! Needless to say she gave up afternoon nap rather early, but she had also given up the morning nap at a very early age. She's always done very well with not having that afternoon nap and is an excellent night time sleeper.

I would just make sure he is taking his afternoon nap early enough in the day and try shortening it. It may take some playing around with it to see what works best - but that should help!

Good luck!
J.
www.yourgogreenteam.com

I think it really has to do with what your son needs. My son is 3 and somedays he needs naps and sometimes he can do without (just depending, he is extremely active too). When my son doesn't nap, he goes to bed at 7:30pm or sometimes earlier, otherwise his listening skills decrease dramatically. If he takes a nap we start the bedtime routine around 7:30pm with bath then stories, and are done around 8:30pm. He falls asleep looking at books himself before 9:00pm. I personally enjoy the nap in the middle of the day so I can take a break, or get somethings in the house done. It would be nice to have a little more time at night with him in bed, but kids are only little once and it is great family time. I think I would have a hard time leaving him in his room for so long when he is not tired, even if he is playing nicely.