# How long is your toddler awake between morning and nap?



## KellyandBean (Nov 2, 2009)

My 16 month old JUST started sleeping 8-9 and even 11 hours straight through at night (OMG!! i'm still in shock!!) and i've noticed from the first time it happend 3 nights ago we have having a LOT of trouble with naps. She used to sleep 10 hours at night from 8-6 waking up about 3 or 4 times and nursing back to sleep, then taking a 3 hour nap at 11am in which she was so zonked she would pass out nursing. She just moved from 2 naps to 1 at 14 months so making it through the mornings was rough. But now that she is getting more quality sleep at night i guess that is changing her nap and it is really screwing with me. Also she is all of the sudden sleeping in a bit later until 7:00. This morning i woke her at 6:30 because i was thinking that maybe she was getting TO MUCH sleep at night making it hard to take a nap at all but she still did the same thing today and just went down for her nap at 12:00 which is an hour later then norm for her and if you ask me she acted overtired. I feel like 5 hours awake time in the morning is clearly enough time as when i try the routine she gets sleepy looking yet just refuses to sleep. How long is your toddler awake between morning wake up and nap time? When they go down for their nap do you feel like they are totally passing out or are they just comfortably drifting after a while? I mean should i be waiting for her to get to the point where she can barely stand up? hah, cause that is what it seems like she wants me to do! TIA!

-K


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## Nicole730 (Feb 27, 2009)

My daughter turns 16 months next week. She goes to bed around 6pm - wakes up b/w 6-7am. Then naps from 10am-noon. She dropped her afternoon nap at 14 months and I'm slowly pushing her morning nap forward. Because of her earlier nap in the daytime, there are days she goes to bed at 5:30. I could give her a late afternoon nap, but I like the 6pm-7am sleep stretch so I don't want to mess with it. So - she gets at least 14 hours of sleep per 24 hour period, but usually a little bit more than that.


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## Asiago (Jul 1, 2009)

To answer your question, between 4-6 hours. It seems four is optimal, five is a good compromise, and six is too long a stretch. Overall he sleeps about 13-14 hours per 24 hour period. He is 20 mos.


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## Momo123 (Aug 6, 2009)

My DS is older (just turned two), but he is awake between 5-6 hours between morning and nap (and has been that way since he dropped to one nap). He sleeps about 13 hours total per day.


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## Snapdragon (Aug 30, 2007)

my 15 month old has his morning nap anywhere from 2-3 hrs from waking up. sometimes it goes longer than that but optimal is 3 hrs. wakes up at 7 first nap by 10. afternoon naps are sometimes- and will be around 3 on an optimal day, none on a hard day, and by 4 on a medium day.


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## newmamalizzy (Jul 23, 2010)

4.5 - 5 hours seems to be the right amount of time for my 15 month old, and when we push it longer than this she tends to take a short nap due to overtiredness. She gets about 12.5 hours of sleep per day, which seems just a bit inadequate for her. I often put her down when she gets to the point where she can no longer function, a necessary evil since she won't take two naps any more but doesn't sleep enough total to make the numbers add up.


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## McGucks (Nov 27, 2010)

Our 15 month old typically (whatever that means--most of our days are different from the next...) falls asleep for a nap somewhere between 4-6 hours after he wakes. A "typical" nap might be ninety minutes. A second nap is dependent on things like whether we go somewhere in the afternoon (which often results in a car nap) or have an activity that zonks him out. Bedtime is between 9:30 & 10 (too late for my preference by a long shot) and he gets up in the neighborhood of 7 a.m.

Also, unless he falls asleep in the car, all falling asleep is while nursing.


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## jennybear (Sep 4, 2007)

DD goes to bed at 7pm and generally sleeps a good 12 hours. She takes her nap after lunch, at around noon, and is usually down for 2-3 hours.


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## colsxjack (Dec 9, 2009)

DD goes to bed about 8:30pm - 9:00pm and sleeps until 7-8am.

She then goes down about 12:30-1:00pm for 1.5-2hr nap.

Once she dropped down to one nap, the morning nap came later....about 5 hours after waking.

She sleeps 11-12 hours a day. Not enough in my books, but natural for her.


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## MJB (Nov 28, 2009)

My daughter (1 this month) is transitioning from 2 naps to 1. If she falls asleep 3-4 hours after waking, she will take a shorter nap and need another later in the day. I aim for 5 hours from the time she wakes up until nap if we are going to have only 1. Today she got up at 9:30 and I am going to try to put her down at 2:30 for nap (it's 2:15 and she's playing happily with my youngest son). I aim for 13-14 hours of total sleep, preferably 11 hours at night and 2.5-3 hours of nap(s). I prefer one nap to two and she actually naps more total in one afternoon chunk than if she takes two naps. School bumps everything 2 hours earlier than in the summer-- she'll be waking at 7 and napping at noon come mid-August.


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## GuavaGirl (May 6, 2008)

My boy is 16 months. He's been sleeping about 11 hours/night for a few months. ...and he naps at 12:00 for 2.5-3 hrs.

How long is your toddler awake between morning wake up and nap time? *About 5-6 hours between wake and nap, then about 4-5 hours between wake and bedtime.*

When they go down for their nap do you feel like they are totally passing out or are they just comfortably drifting after a while? *Comfortable drifting. Before we start getting ready for nap he's usually quite cheery and bubbly and I'm thinking, "hmm, he doesn't seem tired at all." If his teeth hurt or he didn't get a good night's sleep he might be cranky and eye rubby. *

I mean should i be waiting for her to get to the point where she can barely stand up? *Probably not.  I find that sometimes it's harder when I let him get too tired.*



I would probably let her sleep in as long as her body wants.

What do you mean exactly by "refuses to sleep?" When ds was a little younger I would always rock him until he was sound asleep, but at a certain age that just didn't work anymore. Like he just wouldn't fall asleep. I realized that having me holding him was too distracting at that age and that I just needed to leave the room for him to get the idea and drift off. I keep his room dark for naps with a fan going for white noise.


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## EmTheWife (May 28, 2010)

My 14 mo ds wakes at about 6:30 and almost always naps from 11-1:30, though occasionally he'll start his nap at 10 or 12, still sleeping for 2-2.5 hrs. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30. ...So, 4.5 hrs from wake to nap, and then 6-7 hrs from nap waking to bedtime. However, I think he's been short on sleep lately, and in need of an earlier bed time or a later morning waking!


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## november (Mar 22, 2009)

My DD is almost 20 months old. She wakes up around 7:30-8am every day and she naps right after lunch, which is about 4-5 hours after she is up for the day.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

My daughter is 21 months old and sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours at night but does still wake one or two times and usually ends up in bed with me at some point through the night.  Then she naps at the sitter about 3-4 hours after waking up usually because we've been sleeping in a little bit later lately. She will nap here at home about 5-6 hours after her wake time in the mornings. It just varies pretty much. Sometimes she will sleep in the car if out and about running errands. Just depends.


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