# What time does your toddler go to bed?



## flatstanley72 (Jan 9, 2007)

My DD is 26 months and will not go to bed before 10 or 10:30 pm, occasionally 9:30 pm if we are lucky. She usually wakes between 7:00 and 8:00 am. I used to be okay with this because she seemed happy and well-rested during the day and evening, but lately she is whiny and fussy in the morning and from about 7 pm on in the evening. I don't think she is getting enough sleep, but I have tried putting her to bed earlier and it never works. We've tried having a consistent bedtime routine, but it usually doesn't work. We will do the routine and then she won't go to sleep, so she just ends up staying up and playing until 10 or 10:30 anyway. Any ideas? I'm getting very frustrated with feeling like I am spending the entire evening trying to get her to bed.


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## MelW (Jan 13, 2005)

How much does your child nap during the day? We always struggle with late bedtimes right around the time we need to adjust the nap schedule. If she is more tired she might fall asleep more easily.

Or if you are trying to move bedtime earlier, it might take a while of very gradual moves. Like trying for bedtime 10-15 min earlier every couple of days until you get to where you want it. It's slow to change, but it might work.

Good luck!!!


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## mama_ani (Aug 2, 2007)

My 2.5 yo goes to bed at 7 every night. He does not nap at all. He gets up between 5 and 6.

I second the suggestion of moving bedtime earlier by 10-15 minutes until you hit the best one for her.


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## PatchChild (Sep 1, 2006)

My DS is 17 months and goes down around 7:00 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00. He's been a 12 hour night kid since he was born though and has never been the stay up late type. Thank goodness, since I'm in bed by 9:00 myself most nights.


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## aricha (Oct 21, 2007)

We've always had a fairly consistent 7:30-8:00 bedtime for all our kids (excluding when they are teeny babies). Sometimes we move it a little earlier if someone didn't nap or is extra tired for some reason. Occasionally it is a little later if someone took a really long, late nap... or if I am doing bedtime by myself and really want everyone to go to sleep quickly!

Our kids are all really different as far as sleeping. Our oldest used to sleep 12-14 hours every night and take a 3 hour nap every day. The middle one we are lucky if he will sleep 9 hours at night and he almost never naps. The youngest is in-between... about 10-11 hours at night and a 2 hour nap. However, their sleeping adjustments mostly come with how long it takes them to fall asleep, how late they sleep in the morning, and whether/how long they nap. They all go to bed at the same time.

Sorry, that answered your actual question, but didn't actually have any advice about getting your little one to sleep earlier!


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## pacificbliss (Jun 17, 2006)

My 23 month old goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 6:00. He takes a 1.5-2 hr nap after lunch. When you try putting her to bed earlier how much earlier is it? The reason I ask is that we used to miss DS critical go to bed time and then he'd be up playing. He would be cute and goofy but very short tempered. If one little thing didn't go his way he would have a fit. He needed to go to bed a full 2 hrs earlier. Might not work...jut a thought.


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## KimPM (Nov 18, 2005)

For the last almost 2 years, DS has gone to bed between around 10 pm - 12 midnight. Like your DD, he won't go to bed early. Besides, I think it's better that he gets to see his daddy who gets home from work between 7-8 pm anyway. DS will get up between 7-9 am depending on when he went to sleep. He gets a 1.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon sometime, the start times vary from 1-4pm. Naps starting after 3PM are usually worse for him (he gets a little grouchy afterward), but even a late nap is better than no nap for him. Sometimes he gets so wound up he won't nap. If he gets no nap, his schedule is off for days and he's grouchy. I found I have to enforce naps, by any means, sometimes even driving him down (in the car) to sleep first.

It seems you have found your DD's natural nighttime sleep time, so don't fight it. (I found that trying to fight the natural sleep time is pretty much a waste of my time.) The only question I have is about naps. When does she take them? You could try starting her earlier on those and see how it goes. How is she sleeping when she's in bed? Does she toss & turn or does she seem to sleep well?


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## jadzia's_mommy (Jun 9, 2005)

Yeah, I found naps were a big issue with my oldest at that age, too. She started dropping the nap before she hit age 2 and beyond that if she napped we'd have a much harder time getting her to bed. My youngest is 26 months now, and she'll go to bed at 7:30 to 8 even if she has a 3 hour nap.


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