Two Year Old Bedtime

My son will be 2 in August, since he was around 8 months we have put him to be anywhere between 8-9 typically 8:30 and he wakes around 7:30 on his own, I have to wake him up @ 7am to get him to his Daddy's in the morning. He is not completley used to the time and when I say it's nah night time he grabs his blanky and goes to bed. I say keep a routine maybe push back the time a bit and see what happens. I agree 5:30 is way to early for a child to start their day. good luck.

My 2 year old gets to watch cartoons in my bed from 8 to 8:30 and then it's off to her own bed. She usaually wakes around 7:30 the next morning.

My daughter, who will be 2 in august, goes to be between 8pm and 8:30pm. She gets up around 7/8am. Takes a 2hr nap around 2pm.

If she is really tired she has gone to bed at 7pm but she usually keeps going till about 8pm. Since it is lighter out later I like giving her the extra outside time... even though it is lighter earlier in the morning she usually sleeps till 7:30am.

i would either shorten the nap or laten the bedtime and see if it helps. trial and error.

Mine goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and wakes up around 7-7:30 am, with a 2hour nap in the afternoon. Basically, around age two, I had to adjust his schedule by 30 minutes as i was having the same issue...so try adjusting your 2-year old's schedule by about 30 minutes for 3 days or so (it sometimes takes them about 3 days to adjust), and see what happens!

I think you are maybe putting him to bed too early. My daughter is 22 months and goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes around 7:45am. Plus she takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I also recommend blacking out his windows. I didn't invest in darkening shades, but I just tapes black trash bags to her window - cheap, I know - but she doesn't ever play in there, so the room is just for sleep. You can even tell, because she has cute curtains that cover them up. I would give the trash bags a try for a few days and then if it works, maybe invest in darkening shades. The sun rises around 5:30, so I have a feeling that could be what is waking him. Good luck!

He is either ready to give up the nap or go to bed later. You can choose which but at this age they usually still benefit from a nap. Try moving his bed time later by half an hour and see if it makes a difference.

He may be getting up earlier because the sun is coming up earlier. If his windows are not blacked out, try this it may help him sleep a while longer. As the days get shorter he may begin to sleep later again. Small children's internal time clocks have not been messed up by schedules & alram clocks yet so they wake when it is light, and go to sleep when it gets dark.

My son goes to bed between 8-8:30 and ususally sleeps until about 6:30-7:30 (7:30 during the week when i have to wake him & of course 6:30 on the weekend when hw could sleep later if he wanted to, go figure).

each child is different so you need to find what works best for him, it may take some exprrimenting and it is ok to be flexible. If he needs to go down early do so, if you know he will not go down at the scheduled time it will not disrupt things too m uch let him stay up a little longer doing a quiet activity.

My 2 year old is in bed by 8 but usually doesn't fall asleep until 8:30 unless he has had a short nap that day. He briefly wakes up at 5:30 but then goes back to sleep until 6:45-7. His naps really vary a lot. Anywhere from 1 hr to 2 1/2 hours. I would say his average nap is about 2 hours at daycare and 1 1/2 at home

I hear your pain!! We've been struggling with this as well! Last summer our then 2 year old was up with the sun - we kept his bedtime at 7-7:30ish but got blackout fabric sewn as backing to his curtians (you can get this at most fabric stores) and that worked like a charm (it also increased the amount of time he slept during his nap).

Now he's 3 and waking up an hour earlier again - this time we're changing his bedtime to a little after 8 and that does seem to help...I'm not sure if a 2 year old could handle a later bedtime..perhaps you could try blackout fabric? Sorry for the rambling!!

K.

It might just be the longer daytime hours due to summertime. Have you tried room darkening shades? I would try that first. Otherwise, you may need to shorten the nap to 1 1/2 hours to see if they sleep longer in the morning. You could also try just letting them go to see if they go back to sleep on their own? Good luck!

Our bodies produce chemicals to awaken us when the sun comes up. Since it is summer time it is coming up earlier. I would put up room darkening shades in his room. My 2 and 6 year old go to bed at 7ish pm and wake up at 7ish am. My 2 year old also takes at least a 2 hour afternoon nap.

Our daughter goes to bed around 7:30-8:30 and wakes about 7:00 or after. She takes about 1.5 to 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Hi T.,

Their bedtimes vary amongst the different 2 year-olds I have had. It usually averages around 8 pm, which is a good time. Sleeping is a habit, so it doesn't necessarily mean the later they go to bed, the later they will sleep. Strangely, some children go to bed too late, so therefore get up earlier, and some children that go to bed earlier sleep in later. Never give up that afternoon nap...I have 8 and 9 year olds that still take a nap for me in the summer. If adults can lay down and take a nap everyday, I don't know what makes an adult think a child doesn't need one a day. Also, you set the bedtime, don't let them. Since when did a child ever know what was best for them as far as bedtime is concerned? I can also remember telling my children it was too early to get up, and to get back in bed for awhile.

Good luck!

C.

As our older daughter started getting older her bedtime gradually got later and later until she quit taking that afternoon nap and then it went back to 7:30 ish. I think before she gave up that nap though her bedtime was as late as 9:00 pm.

Hi T.,
My 2.5 year old goes to be between 830-930pm depending on his nap. His nap varies depending on what the day brings, the earlier his 1.5 hr nap the earlier he goes to bed. He usually wakes up around 730-8am. I should say if he has a busy morning he will take a late nap and sometimes won't fall asleep till 10pm. We obviously have the option of being flexible with a SAHD, and our 1.5 girls are flexible nappers too, but they are consistently tired at 8pm every night. I do notice that if I don't blackout the room they are up very early also during summer and chitchatty at night if it is still light. So we make sure our curtains are shut.

WOW-what a good sleeper! I would say a later bedtime couldn't hurt, just so the day doesn't start out so early.

Our 22 month old used to go to bed at 8:00 but now refuses to go to bed until 9:30. We wake him up at 7:00 a.m. to head to daycare. He takes at least a 2 hour nap at daycare in the afternoon but shows no signs of being tired or wanting to go to bed before 9:30. He sleeps in until about 9:00 on the weekends and then usually won't take a nap.

While we try to start having her calm down around 9, she chooses to be up til 10. Most days she wakes up around 8. And sadly, she's giving up naps - which is too bad since I want nap time! Naps used to be 2-3 hours, though I think she is sleeping more soundly without them and falling asleep quicker.

She never was an early-to-bed baby. We have friends who because of their schedule, would put their kid to bed between 7 and 8, and then wake him at like 530 am. Ugh! So not our schedule!

Just find what works for your family. We don't particularly like getting up early and our schedule generally lets us stay away from that, and therefore the later bedtime isn't a big deal either.

T., yah i would think 730 is a bit early, but each kid is different, i would put my kids to bed at 9 and they got enough sleep, actually i still put my kids to bed before us, this also gives us parent time together, just cause they are older does not mean they dont have a bed time, routines are good to have, and set times for doing things help the child to stick to a routine, its ok to put them to bed later, even when my kids were little they went to bed about a hour before we did, but do what is best for you and your child, yeah i would think the getting up early would take a toll on me, D. s

Everything I've ever seen says kids that age should be in bed by 8pm. Are the birds waking him up? I know our neighborhood birds become very active around 4:30-5 am.

Our 2 year old goes to bed between 7 and 8..depending on how his daytime naps went and how crabby he is.

he's up at 5:30 AM though as we have to get him to daycare. He takes a nap around 1:00 every day and sleeps for about 2 hours.

Sound like time to train him into playing quietly in bed. Leave a few soft toys or other items available by the bedside so he can entertain himself in the morning. Don't go in at the first sounds of his waking. Wait until you are clearly "summoned." Eventually you can teach him to match the time on the clock with a sign you hang near it so he will know the OK time to get out of bed or call for you. I put a clearly printed sign with the time next to a digital clock to that, by about 3 years old, they can see it's the appropriate time to get up and do so, or call for you. Each night, tell your child, "Remember, when you wake up so early, play with your toys and wait awhile so Mommy can sleep in." He'll learn with time and patient training.

SAHM of seven

My two year old normally doesn't go to bed until 930 or 10 but she doesn't normally wake up until 730 either, sometimes even later. They recommend 8-10 hours of sleep per night at this age, so just figure out what time you would like him to get up and then backtrack from there.

My 21 month old goes to bed at 8:30 now that it's light later and he still talks in there for a half an hour or so. He was waking up really early so we moved it back from 8 o'clock. Now he sleeps until about 8 am! Try moving it back in 15 minute intervals until it gets comfortable. and keep up a bedtime routine.

my 2 year old goes to bed at 8:00, but doesn't fall asleep til about 8:30 or sometimes later. He just recently started fighting bedtime and messes around up there longer. He has been waking between 5:30-6:00 his entire life. Sometimes I get lucky and he sleeps till 6:30. He takes a 1.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon around 2:00. It seems I have tried everything and he still wakes early. I believe in some kids it's just their internal clock.

My oldest is now 3 but since 3 months old her and she was in a schedule her bedtime's has always been 8 o'clock. She would sleep from 8pm-8am. Now I'm a stay at home mom with a 3 and 1 year old, my 1 year old goes to bed between 8-9 depending on when she had her 2nd nap and the 3 year old is around 9 (their dad works 12-14 hour days and I let them stay up a little longer so they can tell him good night when he comes hoem!). I think 8 is a good time. Good luck:-) I hope this helps.

My (almost) 23 month old goes to bed at 8:00pm and wakes between 7-8 am. I can't remember the last time she went to bed as early as 7:00 pm. She takes one nap in the afternoon lasting anywhere from one hour to two and 1/2 hours depending on how busy the day has been.

My son is 17 months and goes to bed about 7. Typically sleeps until 6-630 on weekdays and 7 or 8 on weekends. A two hour nap is typical for him. He has been fighting me on bed the past couple of days, so I have been keeping him up until 715-730 and that really helps. I would definitly try a later bed time to keep him down later in the morning.