Please tell me your 18mo's (ish) sleep habits?

[PDog]

What time to they tend to wake up?

What time do they nap and for how long?

What time do they go to sleep for the night?

Just a bit worried about DD as she seems constantly tired recently; rubbing her eyes half an hour after waking up.

She wakes about 6.30am, naps for about 1.5 hours at around 11am and usually falls asleep between 7 and 7.30pm and sleeps through.

She has always been a crap sleeper, was 13mo before she slept through regularly and daytime sleep was always rubbish. I have tried 2 naps but she won't go and has been down to one for a good few months.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Its a very long time since my two children were 18 months old but somehow I can remember their sleep habits exactly . Perhaps because it was such a big thing when they were little .

They would sleep 8pm to 7/7.30am with a two hour nap immediately after lunch, say 1pm to 3pm.

[sheeplikessleep]

DS2 is 15 months and I think his sleep is abysmal.

He was sleeping from 7pm until 5pm and getting an hours nap a day (in two slots, one 9ish, one 1ish).

In the last week, I've stopped his morning nap, in the vain hope he will sleep longer in the morning. Last couple of days, he has slept 7pm - 6am (YAY!) and about an hour still after lunch (today he slept for 2 hours after lunch, unheard of).

I'd be chuffed if he slept as much as your DD! But then they all need different amounts of sleep.

[sheeplikessleep]

5am I meant

[Bearcrumble]

7pm bedtime, wakes between 1 and no times in the night, rises between 5am and 6.30am.

One to two naps depending on when he wakes. Usually sleeps between 2-3 hours during the day in total.

[izzybizzybuzzybees]

Bed at 8.30pm, sleeps til between 7.30am and 9am and has one nap during the day, can be anytime but usually for less than an hour.

[PDog]

Thanks for your replies. Your DC all seem to sleep less than mine - do they seem tired all the time?

[dietcokeandwine]

DS2 is 20m and (since dropping his morning nap at around 15m) generally goes to bed at 7, falls asleep somewhere between 7:15 and 7:30pm, sleeps through till around 7:30am.

He naps for around 2 hours - goes down between 12:30 and 1pm, and I wake him before I go on the school run at about 2:45pm. Will only nap in the cot though - doesn't do buggy or carseat naps unless utterly exhausted. Generally, if we are out and about, he will skip the nap entirely (but copes fine and then sleeps a solid 13 hours that night so can't complain).

OP I wouldn't worry about your DD only having one nap - most children I know are down to just the one nap by the 18m stage. The current sleep pattern you have described sounds pretty good to me

[mistressploppy]

My 20mo does pretty much the same as dietcoke's DS2. He's always been a good sleeper but does seem pretty sleepy in the mornings, as if he needs more sleep

Sometimes he has extra sleepy periods when he'll lie in 'til 8.15am or so and take a 3+ hr nap

I think these sleepy periods are growth spurts - could that be what's going on with your DD?

[AngelDog]

We're all over the place. DS doesn't seem to want to sleep more than 10 hours at night, no matter what time he goes to bed. He naps for 2 hours in the day. On good nights he only wakes once when I go to bed (we co-sleep).

In theory he wakes at 7, naps at 12 and is asleep at 9, or wakes at 5, naps at 10 and is asleep at 7, or somewhere in between. But we've had a few mental weeks which have included a 5am - 11pm day (with just one nap at 9.30am) which was no fun for anyone. He has been tired lately, but I think he probably is happy & not tired when he's had 12 hours' total sleep per 24 hours.

Your DD's pattern sounds pretty normal but if she seems tired, maybe it needs tweaking. Have you tried shifting her nap a little bit later? I know that babies who have 2 or 3 naps and wake early can sometimes be helped to wake later if their nap is pushed gradually later. Might be worth a try in case she'd benefit from waking half an hour later or so in the morning. If it just means she doesn't want to go to sleep

On my favourite subject, did you remember that there's a HUGE sleep regression starting around this time? 'The mother of all developmental leaps' is how one developmental psychologist descirbes it: here and here and here.

[BreastmilkDoesAFabLatte]

DD gets to sleep (sometimes in her own bed, most of the time clung to my boob in our bed) between around 9 and 10, wakes up once or twice needing a cuddle back to sleep, and then wakes up for the day between about 6 and 7. She sleeps for about an hour just when her lunch is ready between about 11 and 2.

Note bags under my eyes.

[PDog]

Thanks everyone. Seems like DD is pretty normal sleep wise then. I have been trying to push her nap back to after lunch as I would like her to stay up a bit longer but she needs it earlier. Otherwise her behaviour gets very bad and she throws herself around screaming .

Gah!! Thought all the regressions were over and done with. Haven't looked at my Wonder Weeks book for awhile so will dig it out.

Urgh Breastmilk how do you survive? I would be a walking zombie!

I was worried it could be an iron deficiency but the HV reassured me when I took DD about something else this week.

[BreastmilkDoesAFabLatte]

I am a walking zombie, especially now that DS (2 wks) is here.

But DH is great at doing more than his share...