Do you have a baby aged 14-18 months? Please help me work this out!

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

DH and I are trying to work out what is going wrong (or right?) with 15mo DS's eating/sleeping. We have somewhat differing views about what is 'normal' or okay in terms of sleeping, eating, etc.

Would you mind sharing your toddler's routine (awake time, nursing, meals, naps, bed time etc)? I think it will really help us to get an idea of what other babies are doing in order to have an informed conversation.

Thank you!

[annabeldp]

Hey

My DD is 18 months, her day looks roughly like this:

7-ish: Wake up and milk
8: breakfast
10: morning snack
12: Lunch
12.30 - 2.30/3.00: Nap, snack on waking up.
4.30: Tea
6.15: bath
6.45: milk
7/7.30: bed

hth!

[JKSLtd]

DD is 18months - self-weaned though so no BF any more ( :( )

8ish: up and breakfast
10.30; morning snack
11ish; bed for 2 hours-ish
1/2ish; lunch
(normally no afternoon snack as she has lunch so late0
5; tea
6.30; bath
7; bed

[pipoca]

DD is 18 months

wakes around 7-7.30. Breakfast (banana) straightaway
Snack at nursery mid morning
sometimes a 30 min nap at nursery around midday, sometimes not.
Lunch 2pm
Big nap 3-4.30 or 5ish
tea at 6pm
bath 7pm
bed 7.30

hth

[pipoca]

ah yes and no bf as self weaned at 17 months and won't drink milk.

[Fuzzymum1]

At that age, A typical DS3 was waking around 7.30. He would get up and have some breakfast and a drink of milk, he would nap from 9.30 to 10.30/11, he would have a snack on waking up. Lunch around midday, nap from 1-3 or similar and then dinner at about 5 and bed at 6/6.30 depending on how long he'd napped and how tired he was.

Conversely his best friend would wake at 8, run wild all day then go to bed at 10pm or later - they couldn't be more different to be honest.

[Bagofspiders]

I have a 17 month old, I currently look after a 15 month old (I'm a nanny) and have looked after many other toddlers between those ages. I'd say there isn't really a norm. Various books say they should do certain things at certain times but at the end of the day they're all different.
Obviously either you or your DH aren't happy about some aspects of your DS's routine. Is he putting on enough weight, happy (not tired all the time because he doesn't sleep enough), are you and your DH getting enough sleep? If so, I wouldn't worry.

[LadyFace]

My ds is 17 months:

7.30 - breakfast and milk
10 - snack
12.15 lunch
1.15 ish- nap
2.45 (has to wake up then so I can collect dd from school)
3.30 - snack
5 - dinner
6 - bath
6.30 - milk
7 - bedtime

Sometimes dinner and bath are swapped round if, for example, we have been out and get home late then he will have a bath and then dinner and milk straight after or he misses his bath altogether.

[FredFredGeorge]

17 Mo DD

Wakes permanently sometime between 6:30-8 (still waking in night for feed)
Eat's breakfast at about 8:30 regardless of what time she got up.
Snacks when she wants them/asks (goes to fridge etc.)
Lunch sometime between 12-2pm
A nap sometime in the day, at most 2 hours more normally in the afternoon but can be any time, sometimes doesn't want it at all and it's most commonly just an hour.
Dinner at 6pm
Bed somewhere around 8:30, when she's tired.

No routine on baths, she's as likely to come in with one of us in the middle of the day after exercise as at the end of the day.

[FredFredGeorge]

Oh and she has no milk outside of before night breastfeed and during the night, and the occasional milk/yoghurt/smoothie drink.

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

Thank you all. That's helpful

Bagofspiders - you're very wise DS is putting on weight (I think - haven't had him weighed for a while), happy, active, inquisitive, BUT we're definitely not getting enough sleep and our evening routine is a farce tbh. DH thinks we need to cut down BFing and up solids; I think DS sleeps even worse when he doesn't get a BF so we're trying to agree a new 'routine' to try.

[MamaGeekChic]

DD is 18mo

7am Wake
7.30 Breakfast
9.45 Snack
11.45 Lunch
12.15 Nap
2pm Wake
2.30 Snack with cup of milk
5pm Dinner
6pm bedtime routine starts
7pm Bed

[SoulTrain]

at all your normal time waking toddlers....

DS is 17 months and our days go like this:

Between 5am - 6:30 am wake up - milk
7:30/8 Breakfast
9:30 sleep
11am snack
12ish lunch
2ish sleep
5pm dinner
7ish milk and bed

Wondering if DS is the only one having two sleeps still due to early waking's??

[dizzy77]

Soultrain, nope, 18mo DS keeps a very similar schedule to yours :-(. If he wakes after 6am we're winning. Since readin something on here about avoiding the morning nap through distraction etc might lead to a longer, later nap and later wakings, I'd like to move to this, but that means we need to get out at 9am to entertain him.

DH & I both commute so our alarms go at 5.45 on working days but, sigh, oh for even 6.30 at the weekend.

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

Nope SoulTrain - you're not alone!

Our day goes something like this:

4.30/5am - wake up, BF, snooze (DS sleeps in his own cot but comes in with us for this feed and snooze)
6.30am - properly awake, up for the day
7.30am - breakfast
10am - snack (& maybe BF if I'm at home)
11am - nap for around 2 hours (this sometimes happens later or in two one hour blocks, but is always a total of about 2 hours a day)
1pm - lunch
3pm - snack
5pm - the battle begins!!! This usually includes BF (sometimes long and desperately demanded, sometimes v short and distracted), tea (sometimes scoffing everything in sight, sometimes refusing anything), bath, BF and book in bed (usually punctuated by DS getting up and wandering around the room)
7pm - put down awake by DH, self settles within a few mins
11pm - BF

It has taken weeks of DH cuddling/Shhhh patting/talking firmly to get DS to drop the night feeds (previously waking every 2-3 hours) but he's still waking regularly and dropping the 11pm feed or putting the 5am feed any later is looking impossible. We're both knackered, DH is totally despondent. Anyone got any ideas?

[ISeeThreadPeople]

I have a 14mo and no routine really! I just do whatever he wants. He always wakes up at about 7.20am (he has an internal alarm) and has a bf straight away. Some days he is asleep again by 9am and can sleep for a couple of hours. Other days he stays awake till after lunch and has a shorter nap then. He likes to have lunch at midday and dinner at 5pm. He has a bath with his sister at 6pm and goes to sleep when he's ready. Usually around 8pm but can be an hour earlier or an hour later, just depends.

He has a bf before naps and on waking and before bed, plus if he's tired/upset/hurt about anything. He is slowly finding his own routine and it fits in with his sister's school run and mealtimes really but I don't push anything.

[BrightenMyNorthernSky]

DS2 18 months:

5.45 - 6.30: wake up, cup of milk.

7am ish: breakfast
10.30: snack

then either:
11.30: nap for about 1.5 hours (he'd have longer, but then he'd get up even ealier)
1.30pm: lunch (this is the ideal scenario - he's ready for a nap by 11.30).

OR (on the days when I have to pick up DS1 from nursery at 11.30 - 4 days a week)
11.45: lunch
12.15ish: nap for 1.5 hours

3pm: snack
5.30pm: tea
6.30pm: bath
7pm: story, bf, bed (self settles, asleep by 7.30pm).

BF some time during the night approximately 1 night in 3.

But this is quite variable - some days we'll be out and he'll fall asleep in the car but then only have a 1/2 hour nap, some days I'll miss bedtime and DH will have a 2 hour screaming battle to get him to sleep... I don't feel that he gets enough sleep overall (far less than DS1 at the same age, who had a 2/ 2.5 hour nap and slept 7-7.30/8), but he seems OK on what he gets.

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

Welovecouscous, I might love you I pray you are right about sleeping through!

He already has snacks - in the car on the way home and on the table waiting for him when he gets in. In fact, I wonder if the constant availability of food causes part of the problem. One idea we have is to only offer food at set times and to take it away if it isn't eaten, hopefully instilling in him the idea that he has to eat when offered!

[SoulTrain]

Dizzy - we feel the same and also have to get up at 6am. We take it in turns to lie in at the weekend but it never happens properly. Can you remember waking naturally?!

[dizzy77]

I think, when he is 18, I might sleep past 7am. I don't ask much, honest. Pg now with DC2 and even I'd he goes through I have pg starvation/insomnia at 3am .

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

//hugs Dizzy

[kayesummersmummy]

this is my 15 mo routine:

7:30 - 9:00 wake up have milk
9:30 breakfast
11:00 snack
1:00 lunch
2:00 nap wake up after hour and half
6:30 dinner
7:30 bath
8:00 bottle and bed

this is if she has a good night sleep, she has sleep apnea and if she has a bad night she is so sleepy during the day and sometimes has a 2 naps for 2 to 2 30 hours long.

[WillSingForCake]

15 month old DD..

Wakes around 7.30am & has cup of milk.
Breakfast at 8.30-9ish.
Snack around 10.30am.
Lunch at midday.
Down for nap around 12.45pm & sleeps until 3pm. Has cup of milk once up.
Dinner at 5.30pm.
7pm bath & bed, and sleeps through night.