I thought our 2.5YO daughter was a very good sleeper until someone commented that she's never heard of a child waking up at 8, 8:30 or 9:00AM. I shared with her that our daughter usually goes down at around 8:30PM (used to be 8:00 when she was an infant) and usually wakes at the same time, for a total of 12 hours. She also naps about 2 hours or slightly more at around 2, but is flexible on the hour depending on our schedule. We are lucky that we can be flexible about her sleep schedule- she doesn't need to be at daycare or be up at certain time. For this reason, we tried to keep to her natural sleep schedule. Now she does regularly make one cry at around 6:30 every morning, but usually sleeps through until the normal 8:00/8:30 routine time. She has lately been very active at bedtime, and we found that when she went to sleep at 9:00 she was ready and willing. She's been good about playing, singing or talking on her own when she is supposed to sleep. I should note that she is still in the crib and that she always slept on her own except for short naps with us when she was a baby. We're trying to wait as long as possible for the bed transition, so we moved her mattress all the way down to the ground to avoid her crawling out. (I guess that's another question!)
When I searched on this site for a similar question, all I saw were questions about how to get a toddler to sleep. I felt good about my daughter's sleep schedule until this person's comment. It got me wondering- is this sleep schedule okay, or is she accumulating too many total hours in a day? Is she waking up too late or going to bed too late? Any ideas are helpful. Thanks, Mamas!
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the support! I wasn't really offended by the comment. I just like to check in from time to time to see if I'm approaching things in the right way. I did like the tip about children feeling groggy if they've had too much sleep. Our daughter does do that occasionally when she wakes up from her afternoon nap, so we'll check in on her more often at the end of her nap. Thanks again!!
She sounds fine. I've known other children who sleep like that. If she's developing normally, is healthy and active when she's awake, then you've got nothing to worry about. Just look on this as a very good thing! Lucky you!
My 2.5 year old is still in a crib and sleeps from 7:30-7:30 and takes a nap from 1-3 every day. Aren't we lucky to have kids who need so much sleep?!
Gosh, wish my boys would do that. They have always only slept about 9-10hrs. No matter waht time they go/went to bed, they are always up at the butt crack of dawn. It drives me nuts (I'm not a morning person at all). They are now 4 and 5 and you'd think I'd be use to it by now. lol, nope! Sounds like you are doing a good job, others are probably just jealous. :) (I am, hehehe).
It sounds like a great schedule to me! I googled it and found several sites that said toddlers should get 10 - 13 hours of sleep per day with some needing as much as 15 hours.
It sounds like you're doing a great job!
On the bed transition I would wait until she shows signs of climbing out of the crib or seems to be uncomfortable in the crib.
Hi Nadia,
Toddler's brains need LOTS of sleep. Period. My boys both got 11 to 12 hours of sleep at night during their toddler years, along with 1 or even 2 naps a day. We made their bedtimes at 7 to ensure good grown-up time, but that's a personal choice.
Lack of sleep in infants and toddlers may be linked to ADHD and learning difficulties (studies are now under way).
t
Don't mess with perfection! That's pretty much a textbook amount of sleep for a toddler. That person who made the comment to you was likely either jealous that her toddler doesn't sleep like that, or that her children didn't sleep like that when they were toddlers. :) Enjoy your little awesome sleeper!
I didn't read the other comments, but why would you mess with something that works? If it isn't hurting her or causing problems for you, just leave it alone. Certainly getting enough sleep isn't hurting her, and YEA for you that you have that much down time each morning and afternoon! :)
I think this schedule sounds perfect!!! This is almost exactly what my child did until about a month ago. If she had to be up before 8, I was waking her up and she went to bed at 8 - sometimes earlier if she didn't take a 2 hour nap. She's just now starting to change (she'll be 3 in about a month) and sleep a bit less. I'd say it's awesome!
Your schedule is perfect for you and your daughter. Do not listen to anyone who tells you to change anything.
BTW: I used to dream about my daughters sleeping like yours does. Give her a big hug and keep up the good parenting mom.
I have read a lot of the post, I know you don't need more but I thought I would write you. My daughter is almost 4 and at 2.5 she slept just like your daughter. She went to bed at 8:30 or 9 and woke at 8:30 the next day. She would take about a 3 hr nap. At 3 she gave up her nap and we moved her bed time to 8, she still sleeps till 730 or 8. I am happy with our schedule, or son on the other hand is 21 months and he goes to bed at the same time and can be up any where from 7 to730 with his 2.5 hr nap.
Enjoy that you have a good sleeper.
Don't let other people tell you different.
Must be sour grapes:) Most parents would love to be in your position--enjoy the rest!
Don't let the friends comment upset you. Your daughter is getting the sleep she needs, and they need a lot of sleep when they are growing so fast.
If your friend says again she never heard of a child sleeping so much, just tell her she's heard about one now, because the amount not excessive at all.
I think it's great. Seems a wee bit late to put her to bed, but hey, it's working!
At her age, it's normal for them to get 12-14 total hours of sleep between night and naptime.
My daughter always napped well and slept 12 hours. Even now, at 4, she doesn't nap but she still sleeps 12 hrs almost on the dot. Be grateful you don't have the opposite problem :)
This is exactly the amount of sleep recommended for her age. Many children end up sleep deprived and it is tough to recognize. Sleep deprived kids tend to be quite energetic, but if they get extra sleep they'll act groggy, almost as if they had too much sleep. This is just their body winding down from getting enough sleep. In my experience, toddlers may undersleep on their own (including mine), but only oversleep if recovering from not sleeping or sick. Sounds like you're giving your daughter the sleep she needs, so as long as the hours work for your family, I don't see the problem (my son was on a similar schedule before he started preschool--now we all have to get up earlier to get him there on time!).
My 2 year old has this EXACT same sleep schedule and it's perfectly normal. You can't limit or make a kid sleep more than they need, remember kids at this age don't "want" to sleep they do it out of pure necessity. Sounds like you have a jealous parent who wishes their kid slept this way! Our two year old is also still in the crib, I just can't get comfy with the fact that she could get out of bed on her own because she knows how to lock and unlock the front door. Not to mention she probably wouldn't wake us up on the weekends (she likes to be alone when she knows she shouldn't be :) ) We'll wait for the big girl bed until she's efficiently potty training..
I didn't read the other responses, but I have a two year old (Feb. 2009) that sleeps almost exactly the same amount as your daughter. She goes to bed at 8 and wakes up anytime between 7-8:30 the next morning. At noon she goes down for a nap and is out at least 2 hours many times she will take a 3 hour nap. We spend most of our morning outside running around and playing so that she will take a good nap. I work from home so it's nice for me to get this time to make phone calls, answer emails, etc.
There have been a couple of days within the last month or so that she will play in her room for a little while before going down for nap, but she always puts herself back in her bed and is sleeping when I go check on her.
Hopefully it's a normal amount of sleep for your daughter, because it's the same as mine!
My daughter just turnEd 3 and had the same schedule as your daughter until recently. She goes to bed at 8:30 and used to wake at 8:30 and take a 2 hour nap. She started waking up around 7:30 over the last few months but still sleeps until 8 or 8:30 some days.
Sounds totally normal - lucky normal. Keep it up! Someday she'll quit the nap - enjoy until then.
Sounds great to me too! My 3 1/2yr old grand daughter has to get up and be at my house some days at 6am. She will may times lay down and fall asleep again for a couple hours. Shes a great napper too and I can put her down at 1-2 and she will sleep for 2 to 3 hours depending on her morning. Her M. can keep her up till 9 or later and she will sleep till 9 or 10 the next morning on the days she doesnt have to get up, and the times we have kept her over night she is easily down at 8 or so and sleeps a good 11-12 hours. Shes a great sleeper, even if its just on the couch with us up and making noise. Shes a much happier kid when she sleeps well and I will let her sleep as long as she wants most days. Id say the friend cant see anyone elses routine as right and may be jealous of yours. Everyone is different.
No worries! She is getting exactly what is recommended and you're lucky for it! My 20 month old usually goes down to bed at 9:00 PM. He sleeps until 8:00 or 8:30AM, then takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. At some point, I hope to move up his nap time so he goes to bed a little earlier at night.
This is a joke, right? Of course it isn't. You are a concerned mother that has been told by one person you are doing something wrong and are worried. Don't be worried. That person is probably jealous of the good luck you have with your normal, healthy, happy, child!
Some have said you should put her to bed earlier. Why? She sleeps 12 hours. And that 12 hours is the time you want her to sleep. It fits your schedule. I never put any of my children to bed before 9 every night because it fit our schedule. All 5 of my children were great sleepers and slept 11-12 hours a night also. And took a 2 hour nap each afternoon. And here's another shocker....by 2-3 months old they no longer woke up during the night to feed and I didn't wake them to feed them either! Several of my friends were jealous (and would tell me so) because their kids didn't do the same thing. All my children are grown now and have children of their own and wish their children would do the same thing they did!
Don't let the comment of one person make you feel you are doing something "wrong". It sounds like you are doing things just right for your child, you and your family.
I'm going to tell you what my ped. told me when I took my 6mo. old daughter in, worried because she almost never cried. She took one look at my happy, healthy daughter, laughed and said: "She's fine. Now get out of here before the other parents hear you worrying about such a gift. Enjoy it."
Kids are different and need different amounts of sleep. If this schedule works for all of you, it's perfect, whether your commenter has heard of such a thing or not.
She's just fine! Our 3.5 year old still sleeps like that on a regular basis. They need the sleep so their little bodies can grow. I wouldn't worry about it one bit. :-)
It's perfectly fine !!!!! As long as she is an active child when she is awake, and her schedule is not disturbing your schedule in any way, let her sleep as long as she wants. We should all be so lucky!
there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That is the schedule that works best for you and your daughter. I don't think it is possible for a child to GET too much sleep!! My son went through a phase where he got up at 8am (I wouldn't let him sleep any longer than that or he wouldn't nap) and he went to bed around the same time as your daughter and he is a happy, well-rested boy!! Don't listen to what anyone else says~ just your instincts as a mom.
Don't worry about the comment you received. My daughter is going to be 3 this month, she has also always been a great sleeper. She sleeps about 11-12 hrs at night and takes a 2 hr nap every day. When she takes her nap, it's funny because I have to go and get her out of bed and then she gets cranky that she wants to stay in bed and keep sleeping. Now, I'm sure there aren't many toddlers who actually love their bed and want to sleep, but mine is one of them. She's a very healthy well developed girl, who's generally very happy during the day (and cranky when she doesn't get her nap) and if we're busy running around doing stuff, she'll actually grab your hand around the time she's due for her nap and say "go upstairs nap nap". Children grow when they sleep, a toddler should be getting around 13 hrs of sleep per day! And your schedule is just fine, at least you have a schedule (unlike a lot of parents I know). Since my daughter is not in daycare and my husband works from home and watches her and I work pretty late hours as a lawyer, my daughter goes to sleep at 11 pm (this way, I can still see her in the evening when I come home and have some play time with her). She wakes up around 10 or 10:30 am, then goes for a nap around 4 until 6 pm, then goes to bed at 11 pm again. There's no rule on when kids should be going to sleep or not, whatever works for you is fine. I have a girlfriend who has a stay-home husband and her kids go to bed late also. In fact, I also know many people who put their kids to bed at 7 pm, then the kids wake up at 5:30 or 6 am and the parents hate it. And I ask, why? There's no set rule. Just like us - adults - some of us start work later, some earlier, and we don't all wake up at the same hour, do we? Also, as a side note, my daughter has been in a full size bed (we went straight from her crib to a toddler bed) since she was 18 months with bedrails on both sides, and we never had a problem with her sleep. Best of luck, you're doing great!
My son, who just turned 3, sleeps from 7:30-7/7:30. He will usually take a 2hr nap in the afternoon. I don't think your daughter is sleeping too much.
You've had lots of posts but I will confirm that my daughter too slept that much at that age. A little less now that she's close to 4, and we just transitioned her out of the crib into a toddler bed when she was 3 years 4 months old, so we did that too.
Most children so not get enough sleep these days. Most parents have no idea how important sleep is for children's neurological development. Lack of sleep in these early formative years may be responsive for all sorts of developmental disorders.
Be thankful you have a great sleeper who is getting what she needs. I wouldn't mess with a thing, and I wouldn't wake her from her nap earlier because someone posted that children might be groggy if they get too much sleep. I actually don't think there's such a thing as a child getting too much sleep (although if her daytime sleep was interfering with her night time sleep you might want to decease her nap - that doesn't sound like the case with your daughter).
Good luck!
Your friend probably puts her kids to bed earlier then you. At 2 my youngest slept from 730-530 and took a 1.5-2 hr nap it wasn't until we stopped the nap that he slept until 7. Lots of people have to be out the door by 8 so their kids are in bed earlier so they can wake up earlier. I say if her schedule works for you then don't mess with it. You might have to tweak it when she is old enough for school if she still sleeps in in the morning.
All kids are different, so just consider yourself lucky! If you're concerned, you could talk to your daughter's pedi, but I am of the opinion that if you have a good sleeper, then let them be and enjoy it! If you find that she isn't going to bed as well at night, you could try moving the nap to a little earlier in the day (around 1pm) or shortening it a little so that she is ready for bed at around 8-8:30. My kids sleep from 8:30-7 or 7:30, so that isn't so far off (they are 3 next week and 5).
One thing you'll have to learn as a parent is that you can't take what everyone says to heart. There are often as many opinions out there as there are people, so just try to go with your gut, have an open mind and take what advice you think is good and leave the rest, graciously. I say enjoy your quiet time in the mornings and let this comment go. :-)
I think that sounds fine! My daughter is three and she still sleeps 10-12 hrs at night (usually 7:30-6) plus she has a 2-3 hr nap during the day! She definitely sleeps more than some of her friends, but that's just they way she's always been. If I skip her nap or don't put her to bed on time she is very difficult to deal with so I just go with it. I think people are freaked out because so many kids wake up with the sun. Your child is just going down later, and therefore waking up later, than most kids her age. Enjoy it while it lasts!
