How much daytime sleep does your 18 month/2 year old get?

[Piggywinkle]

Just a bit curious really...

My LO is coming up to her 2nd birthday in August and goes down for a nap once a day for 1.5/2 hours, depending on what time she wakes up each morning. Her schedule is pretty rigid in routine and looks like this:

Wake up - 8.30am
Nap - 12.30pm
Wake up - 2pm
Bed - 7.30pm

However, my friends LO is only two months younger than my LO and she still needs sleep every couple of hours. We were due to go out last week, but my friend's LO had woken up at 6am and gone back to sleep at 8am, when they were supposed to be leaving. My friend visited later that morning at 11am, and her LO had gone to sleep again whilst in the car. After they had been here for an hour, friend's LO was getting grumpy and tired again, so she had another nap from 12 noon until 1pm. They left an hour later and my friend had text me to say that her LO had gone to sleep in the car again (around a 40 minute journey).

I know all toddlers are different, but is that not a huge amount of sleep for an 18 month old? I'm not criticising, even though it sounds that way... I'm just genuinely curious

 

[Piggywinkle]

P.S. My friend says that her LO is not a very good night-time sleeper - could too much daytime sleep be the problem?

 

[fannyadams]

My lo is 18 months and sleeps 9-6 at night then naps for 2 hours in the day.
If I let her she would nap for 3-4 hours though.
Her sleep is a bit of an issue.

 

[kmumtobe]

Well even your lo's sleep sounds a lot to me, they're all different.. My boy has only had one nap after lunch since 8 months old just the days have got longer and the nap shorter. Now since about 16 montha he does a 13 hour day 7:30am - 8:30pm and has about an hour and a half at 1:30, he'd sleep for hours in the day if I let him.. the problem is he needs alot of awake time to be tired so he won't go down earlier and has to be up at 3 or he won't drop off at night! As much as I love the quiet time nap brings I think I'd be bored if lo slept that much every day!

 

[Piggywinkle]

Well even your lo's sleep sounds a lot to me, they're all different.. My boy has only had one nap after lunch since 8 months old just the days have got longer and the nap shorter. Now since about 16 montha he does a 13 hour day 7:30am - 8:30pm and has about an hour and a half at 1:30, he'd sleep for hours in the day if I let him.. the problem is he needs alot of awake time to be tired so he won't go down earlier and has to be up at 3 or he won't drop off at night! As much as I love the quiet time nap brings I think I'd be bored if lo slept that much every day!

I use my couple of hours for a catch up on TV or films

 

[lau86]

Up until very recently he didn't nap in the day, but he started getting up a few hours earlier after the clocks changed and now he has an hour to two around lunchtime and goes to bed between six and seven, sleeps all night then

 

[mummylove]

Wakes up at 6/6.30 goes nap around 1 wakes up at 2.30/3 goes bed around 7 but my son is still waking up in night

 

[rtracey80]

Alex gets up around 6 am and then has a nap from 1:15 till maybe 4pm. He is than asleep at night by around 8:15pm.

Too much sleep in the daytime could be your friends problem

 

[lovelylaura]

Poppy gets up at 6 naps around 10ish (depending on what were doing) it can vary from 1 hour to 2 hours. I love the days both girls nap for 2 hours at the same time .

I would say that 1-2 hours is the right amount.

Oh and she goes to bed at 7 and sleeps through.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Ted is 2 next month. He tends to get up between 5.30-7am. If he naps it's 1.5-2 hours at around 10am. He goes to bed at 6.30pm.

 

[seoj]

tbh- that does seem like a lot of day sleep for a toddler? I've not met one like that personally- and yes, I know they are all different My LO used to sleep like that as a baby! But not since... she was at 2 naps by 12mos... and then around 13mos transitioned to one nap. Her schedule is very similar to your LO except she wakes up earlier- like 7am. Nap about noon (sleeps 1.5-2hrs typically). Bedtime at 7:30pm.

Could be, since your friends LO doesn't sleep well at night, she's making up for it during the day-- and gotten into that cycle... it's not an easy transition if they don't naturally do it on their own. My LO always slept very well at night- just slept a lot during the day the first 6mos-- then I think by 8mos she was down to 2 (maybe 3) naps-- then just gradually transitioned to 1 on her own really...

I wouldn't give unsolicited advise- lol- who wants that?! But, if your friend brings it up or asks you- she could always try keeping her LO more active during the day (I know it's hard for my LO to stay awake if she's at all tired in the car) to stretch out her naps a bit more so that maybe she'll sleep better at night? Or, maybe she just needs a better nights sleep to have more energy during the day. Just somet thoughts I'm sure they'll figure it out at some point...

 

[Scoobys mummy]

up about 7:30,nap at 1:30 till 3:00 ish then bed at 7:30/8. somedays more but i try to have her up by three so she goes down easier

 

[Bec27]

Josh is up usually between 5-6am, has a nap about 1.30/2pm for 2-3 hours then bed at 7.30pm but he often has quiet play and reads books for a bit after we say goodnight before he falls asleep. I love his nap and with him getting up so early I really need a break by then!

 

[Tanikins]

My lb sleeps 11-12 hours over night and doesn't nap - he runs on Duracell

 

[Piggywinkle]

Reading all of your replies has been really helpful - it seems my friend's LO does have a lot more daytime sleep than the 'average' toddler (if there is such a thing! )

My friend also has one on the way too and I previously (and very casually) suggested that she might have an easier life if she got her LO into some kind of routine before baby comes along, but she said she's happy to follow her LO's lead so if that's what works for her, fair enough.

She's probably writing a post on another baby forum somewhere telling them that my LO doesn't get enough sleep!

 

[ttcnewbie123]

My 19 month old, sleeps from 7pm until 6am and then has a one hour ish nap at around 1pm x

 

[XJessicaX]

DD1 is 2. She sleeps 7/8pm-8/9am and likes a nap (but can go without) at 2pm-4pm

 

[CaptainMummy]

Bedtime 7.30pm
Wakes at 7am

Naps at 12pm for 1.5-2hrs

She is almost 29 months

 

[d_b]

Sounds like your friend's kid takes a lot of shorter naps, so maybe the quality of sleep is not the same as getting a solid 2 hour nap?

My LO is 19 months and sleeps around 7pm-6:30am then naps 12:30pm usually for 2-3 hours. Sometimes he naps only 1.5 hours, sometimes 3.5 hours, but his night time sleep doesn't change much.

 

[little_lady]

Isabelle is also 2 in August. She wakes up between 6 and 7am, has a 1.5 to 2 hour nap at lunchtime and goes to bed at 7pm. She's had 1 nap a day since about 13 months.